Hi! We notice you're using an ad blocker. Please consider allowing Autoblog. We get it. Ads can be annoying. But ads are also how we keep the garage doors open and the lights on here at Autoblog - and keep our stories free for you and for everyone. And free is good, right? If you'd be so kind as to allow our site, we promise to keep bringing you great content. Thanks for that. And thanks for reading Autoblog. Allow Us!<doc-sep>The 2020 Jeep Gladiator pickup starts at $35,040, which is $2000 more than the base Wrangler SUV. Trim levels include Sport, Sport S, Overland, and Rubicon, and the Gladiator can top $50,000 with options. The Gladiator is scheduled to go on sale in April. Overheard on the floor of the 2018 Los Angeles auto show moments after the 2020 Jeep Gladiator JT pickup was revealed: "Cool, but I bet it will cost at least fifty grand." Thankfully we're not the betting type, because Jeep just announced official Gladiator pricing and the opening ante is $35,040 for the Gladiator Sport, just $2000 more than the $33,040 MSRP of the Wrangler Sport. While it will be possible to option a Gladiator past the $50K mark, even the top-level Gladiator Rubicon starts off lower than that. Two additional trims round out the Gladiator lineup for a total of four: Sport, Sport S (starting at $38,240), Overland (starting at $41,890), and Rubicon (starting at $45,040). Available exclusively in the four-door or "crew cab" body configuration, the Gladiator will launch with FCA's familiar 3.6-liter V-6 as the only available engine. The D478 six-speed manual transmission is standard equipment, and an eight-speed automatic is available as an option. Four-wheel drive is standard. View Photos Jeep Jeep insists that it will fit the corporate 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 to the Gladiator at some point in 2020, but the launch cadence, pricing, and fuel-economy figures for that model have not been released. There's also a wild-card chance that the plug-in-hybrid powertrain currently being developed for the Wrangler could be adapted for the Gladiator, but that's just speculation at this point. Although Jeep is taking its time sorting out the particulars of content and option pricing, we do know that the Gladiator Overland model we tested was outfitted with many extras and stickered at $55,485. So that confirms it's quite possible to equip the Gladiator well beyond a reasonable sum (as is the case with many pickup trucks these days). We will know more about pricing for the truck's various option packages—initially detailed on the price-less configurator on Jeep's website—sometime soon, as Jeep dealerships prepare to start selling this highly anticipated pickup within the next month or so. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>The Jeep Gladiator pickup truck has been a long time coming. The Wrangler-based pickup had been rumored and teased ad nauseam before finally -- finally! -- debuting at the Los Angeles Auto Show last year. I was lucky enough to do some serious on- and off-road testing in Northern California, I can tell you this $33,545 (and up) truck was definitely worth the wait. More than just a Wrangler with a bed The 2020 Gladiator uses a completely different frame than the Wrangler, and while the front suspension hardware carries over unchanged, a more sophisticated five-link setup is fitted at the rear for better on-road handling and drivability. You can only buy a Gladiator with four doors -- unlike the Wrangler, which can be had with just two -- and there's only one, 5-foot bed option available. Now playing: Watch this: 2020 Jeep Gladiator: Taking truck love to a new level Jeep will initially offer the Gladiator in base Sport, Sport S, Overland and Rubicon trims, all of which come standard with four-wheel drive. There's even a Launch Edition model, limited to 4,190 units (for 419, the area code of Toledo, Ohio, where the Gladiator is built). Taking a cue from Tesla's launches of late, like the Model 3, these limited, fully loaded early-edition vehicles are becoming more and more common. But if you want one of these, you'd better act fast, and you better open your wallet wide. The Launch Edition goes for $60,815 plus $1,495 for destination. All Gladiators will initially be available with Jeep's tried-and-true, 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine, with 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. A 3.0-liter diesel engine will come online later, but Jeep won't offer the Wrangler's 2.0-liter, turbocharged I4 engine in the Gladiator. Not a problem -- the V6 works just fine, and you can get it with a six-speed manual transmission (woot! ). Off-roads like a Jeep The Gladiator off-roads like a Wrangler should, with only a few minor compromises. On a Jeep-designed off-road course, full of thick, clay mud, the 33-inch Falken Wildpeak tires on the Rubicon model are getting a real workout. But the Gladiator easily gets up and over rocks, can ford deep puddles and generally gives off that "we can go absolutely anywhere" vibe -- just like a Jeep should. Enlarge Image Emme Hall/Roadshow The Gladiator Rubicon retains the same 43-degree approach angle as the Wrangler, so I can easily attack steep hills without worry of scraping the front end. However, the truck's long, 138-inch wheelbase reduces my breakover angle a bit -- down to 20 degrees, from 22.6 in a four-door Wrangler Unlimited. It's easier to get high-centered in the Gladiator if you're doing serious off-roading, though the Rubicon's rock rails help keep damage to a minimum. At the back, the Gladiator's bed takes away a bit of rear-end clearance, with a 26-degree departure angle compared to the Wrangler Unlimited's 37, but Jeep protects the bed with its very own, smaller rock rail. Make no mistake, the Gladiator should still out-climb and out-crawl every other midsize pickup available today. All the other Wrangler-spec off-road goodies carry over to the Gladiator Rubicon, like a two-speed transfer case, locking front and rear differentials, a disconnecting front sway bar and a super-low 77.2:1 crawl ratio for slow-speed maneuvering. Heck, the crawl ratio goes even lower with the manual transmission, to 84:1. You can pretty much get up and over anything without batting an eye. A new Off-Road+ mode can adjust the throttle, transmission and stability control for different situations. When the truck is in 4WD high, the parameters are changed for higher-speed performance, say while running through sand. In 4WD low, it works in the opposite direction, dialing everything back to better traverse the rougher, more technical stuff at lower speeds. The Rubicon is obviously the Gladiator you'll want if you routinely tackle tough off-road situations, but other versions of Jeep's truck can still handle the rough stuff just fine. Following my thorough test of the Rubicon on Jeep's course, I took a Gladiator Overland up to an isolated cabin on a snowy mountain and bombed around without a hitch. Even with its less aggressive, 32-inch tires, and non-lockable differentials, the Gladiator Overland got me through two miles of 1-foot-deep snow with no issues. Enlarge Image Jeep Civilized on-road manners On the road back to civilization, the Gladiator's 3.6-liter V6 is as good here as it is in the Wrangler, nicely mated to the Jeep's eight-speed automatic transmission. The V6 gets the truck up to speed quickly, and there's enough midrange power to pass slow-moving semis without much drama. By and large, the eight-speed transmission fades into the background, shifting smoothly and unobtrusively. It used to be that Jeeps kept to the slow lane on the pavement, bouncing along at 55 mph with riders shouting at each other to be heard over road and wind noise. No more, my friends. The Gladiator is happy to cruise at 70 or 75 mph without wandering all over the road. The Rubicon's Falken tires make a bit of noise, yes, but in the less aggressive Overland, I can talk to my passengers at a normal volume. The Gladiator certainly isn't going to win any handling competitions, thanks to its relatively soft suspension, but it holds its own just fine. Like in the Wrangler, the steering offers adequate weight but lacks feedback, and the ride quality is comfortable enough for cruising, but still appropriately trucky. The Gladiator is a techy truck, too, with available driving aids like blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control. No, the 3.6-liter V6 engine doesn't have the 48-volt mild-hybrid system of the 2.0-liter turbo, but it does have stop-start that should help with fuel economy. With the automatic transmission, Jeep estimates the Gladiator should see fuel economy ratings of 17 miles per gallon city, 22 mpg highway and 19 mpg combined. With the six-speed manual, those numbers change to 16, 23 and 19, respectively. Over my week of driving the automatic-equipped Gladiator Overland, I saw 20 mpg. Not bad. Truck stuff At its best, a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon can tow 3,500 pounds, which is good enough for a small camper or maybe a side-by-side or two. But thanks to its redesigned frame, the Gladiator ups towing capability to 7,650 pounds, which bests every other midsize truck on sale today. Jeep brought a 22-foot boat to its media drive program in order to test towing, weighing 5,700 pounds, including its trailer. The Gladiator's Tow/Haul mode engages at the push of a button, and while driving uphill at a 6% grade, the transmission keeps the engine's revs high in order to send plenty of power to the pavement. That said, the Gladiator's mirrors aren't very wide, so visibility isn't the best, and the truck's blind-spot monitoring does not cover the length of the trailer as it does on other trucks. For in-bed hauling, Jeep says the Gladiator can handle up to 1,700 pounds of payload. Enlarge Image FCA US LLC However, do note that these maximum towing/hauling ratings only apply to the Gladiator Sport S with the eight-speed automatic transmission. If you step up to a Rubicon, for example, towing drops to 7,000 pounds and payload is reduced to 1,160. Get a manual transmission on your Rubicon, and towing drops to 4,500 pounds, though payload increases slightly to 1,200. Techy and topless, if that's your thing Inside, the Gladiator is basically identical to the Wrangler. It even comes with a soft-top option, like the Wrangler, for open-air motoring. Yes, you can fold the windshield down, too. Go full wind-in-your-face and there's an Ikea-inspired bolt box for all the hardware that neatly fits under your seat, so you won't lose any of the necessary parts when it comes time to close the Jeep back up. (That same hardware storage caddy will come in handy if you decide that you only want to remove the doors on your Gladiator, a configuration that gives you a lot of the feeling of a convertible without the same vulnerability to rain or intense sun.<doc-sep>
SACRAMENTO, California — Armed with a unique combination of the features people love about pickups and Jeeps, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator is primed to win fans in both camps when it goes on sale in May. Comfortable, capable and engineered to combine the best characteristics of a Jeep and a midsize pickup, the Gladiator midsize pickup checked every box in a day’s drive from Sacramento into the rugged hills where the legend of the California gold rush was born. It negotiated deep, gluey mud that would devour many small SUVs, towed more than competing midsize pickups and was at home in downtown traffic, on the highway and twisting country roads. More:LA Auto Show: Hits, misses and how Jeep Gladiator stole the spotlight More:2020 Jeep Gladiator truck finally revealed at LA Auto Show And every mile of the way, it was immediately uniquely recognizable as a Jeep. The Gladiator’s upright styling, seven-slot grille and Wrangler-style cab make it unique on the road, a pickup fans will be able to call out by name from any angle at a mile. The Gladiator is Jeep’s first pickup since 1992. Jeep builds it in the plant that used to build Wrangler SUVs in Toledo, next door to a larger new plant that makes the current Wrangler. Roomy cabin, smooth ride The Gladiator is much more than a Wrangler with a bed. At 218 inches, it’s the longest Jeep, a full 28 inches longer than a Grand Cherokee. It can tow 7,650 pounds and carry 1,600 pounds, more than competing midsize pickups like the Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma. The Gladiator’s standard V6 engine provides plenty of power for highway driving and towing. The steering is surprisingly direct and firm for a vehicle with serious off-road chops. The cabin is roomy, with loads of headroom. I drove a pair of Gladiators with removable hardtops. There was surprisingly little road noise in town and on rough country roads. On the highway, tire and wind noise were more noticeable. The ride is smooth, even when the bed is empty, a condition under which some pickups feel bouncy. Capable off road The Gladiator is extremely capable off-road. The suspension has plenty of power to negotiate rocks and ruts. The truck pulled through deep mud with ease. Snow storms and other conditions most drivers can expect to encounter won’t faze it, and the Gladiator will be right at home when Jeep enthusiasts hit backcountry trails. The controls are easy to use, thanks to a simple layout with dials and switches for climate and basic audio features. Fiat Chrysler’s easy to use Uconnect touch screen and voice recognition work well. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. Priced like a Jeep that's customizable Jeep will only build four-wheel-drive Gladiators with four-door crew cabs and 3.6L V6 engines initially. A 3.0L diesel V6 will be available sometime in 2020. Prices start at $33,545. The most expensive model, a Rubicon loaded with offroad gear, starts at $43,545. Add every option and you’re looking at around $60,000. That’s a lot for a midsize pickup, but not unusual for Jeep SUVs whose owners’ enthusiasm makes the Wrangler one of the most customized vehicles. Jeep dealers will have more than 200 aftermarket parts ranging from winches to tubular steel door for the Gladiator. I spent most of my drive in a loaded Gladiator Overland, one step below the top Rubicon model. It had heated front seats and steering wheel; leather upholstery; voice recognition; navigation; a removable Bluetooth speaker that charges in its cradle behind the rear seat; front collision warning; adaptive cruise control; push button start; spray-in bedliner and lots more. It stickered at $49,590, excluding destination charges, which are a hefty $1,495. Want automotive news sent to your inbox daily? Sign up for our newsletter Best features, from horsepower to open-air rides All Gladiators come with a roomy four-door crew cab, four-wheel drive and a 285-hp 3.6L V6. A six-speed manual transmission is standard. An eight-speed automatic is a $2,000 option. Jeep expects about 90 percent of buyers to pick the automatic There’s no announced plan for a smaller engine like the Wrangler’s 2.0L turbo, or a smaller cab. For the foreseeable future, the Gladiator will be a premium vehicle, priced and equipped to join the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee as the brand’s image leaders. The roomy five-passenger cab offers lockable storage under and behind the rear seat. The rear seat folds for cargo and pets.