Jeep Gladiator

From the inside, there is very little to differentiate between the Jeep Gladiator as well as the Jeep Wrangler. The cabin is a good mix of retro design cues and modern styling ethos, which make the interiors of the Gladiator very interesting and youthful. 

The Jeep Gladiator carries a cool looking round theme for the three-spoke multi-functional steering wheel, AC vents across the dashboard, instrument console gauges, and knobs for the automatic climate control. Apart from that, the rest of the dashboard has a flat and horizontal theme carried out for it, at the center of which there is a large squared touchscreen infotainment system placed.

This system gets nice and sporty looking faux carbon-fiber surrounds and has a comprehensive looking panel for automatic climate control buttons and controls for off-road functions below it.

As said above, the Jeep Gladiator is basically a pickup version of the iconic Jeep Wrangler SUV, and that means the design is more or less shared with the latter. In this case, the design of the Jeep Gladiator is almost the same as that of Wrangler till the B-pillar on the sides, post which the Gladiator has its own identity with the added flat deck at the back coming into play here.

The front profile of the Jeep Gladiator is completely identical to that of the Wrangler, with the traditional seven slat vertical front grille giving it an in-your-face attitude. The upper portions of the sides of the grille are flanked with round LED headlamps, while the daytime running LEDs are placed on the front edges of the fenders on sides. A pair of small fog lamps are mounted on the front bumper, which here is completely finished in black treatment. 

The almost vertical design trait of the Jeep Wrangler from the sides has been carried forward here in the Gladiator as well. The squared window panels, flared wheel arches, and angular pillars do make the Gladiator look old school, yet very desirable. The presence of muscular off-road spec tires and chunky alloy wheels only add to its overall muscularity.

At the back, the Jeep Gladiator gets a flat decklid behind the rear passenger compartment, which serves as the biggest differentiating factor between it and the Wrangler. The sides of the deck lid at the rear get small box-like LED tail lamps, which round off the look of the Gladiator at the rear.

Matching the tough and go-anywhere persona of the Jeep Gladiator, is its rugged mechanical setup under the skin. In both the variants, the Jeep Gladiator is blessed with a selec-trac full time four-wheel-drive setup, with the lifestyle pickup also being offered with heavy-duty shock absorbers, selec-speed control wide front axle and limited-slip differential.

For the Philippines, Jeep has plonked in a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine under the bonnet of the Gladiator, which happens to be the sole engine option for both the variants. This engine has the capacity to belt out a maximum power output of 287 PS and a peak torque output of 352 Nm. Also common to both the variants is a standard 8-speed automatic transmission.

The Jeep Gladiator is one of the most premium Jeep vehicles on sale right now, so expecting a good suite of safety electronics is a no brainer. The Jeep Gladiator succeeds on those expectations and gets front, side, and curtain airbags, electronic roll mitigation, reverse parking sensors with camera, automatic headlamps, ABS with EBD and brake assist, electronic stability control, tire pressure monitoring system, and traction control.

The Jeep Gladiator takes on the heavyweights of the lifestyle pickup truck segment with complete prowess, thanks to its strong genes from the iconic Jeep Wrangler, an SUV which is known as one of the gods of off-road driving heavens. Every aspect of the Jeep Gladiator feels sturdy, be its visual appeal or its off-road driving mannerisms.