The Jeep ute you need
Jefferson Graham.
It has taken more than 25 years, but the vehicle Jeep fans have been demanding since the company killed off the Cherokeebased Comanche pickup in 1992 has finally surfaced – the Wrangler-based Jeep Gladiator pickup has finally been revealed, and it is magnificent.
Magnificent, but not at all surprising, because it looks exactly how you would imagine (and want) a Wrangler-based pickup to look – Wrangler out front, pickup out back.
Equally unsurprising, it looks quite similar to the aftermarket ute conversion of the lastgeneration Wrangler by AEV that we saw here as the Wrangler Brute back in 2016 because, after all, there are only so many ways you can make a Wrangler ute. Well, one really.
Leaked pictures and brief specifications first appeared on Fiat Chrysler’s United States media website a while back, but were quickly removed, before appearing online again in a sincedeleted post on US website Truck Trend.
But since then Fiat Chrysler has released official pics and specs after its reveal at the Los Angeles motor show.
The Gladiator’s chassis is 790 millimetres longer than the JL Wrangler Unlimited’s. The wheelbase is up by 490mm, the larger axles, brakes and the suspension are unique to the Gladiator, and it will be able to haul 725kg in the tray and tow 3470kg. Up the front, the Jeep pickup will get the same upgraded 3.6-litre Pentastar petrol V6 as the latest Wrangler (again, no surprises there) that produces 212kW of power and 352Nm of torque and is available with either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission.
A 194kW/600Nm 3.0-litre diesel V6 is coming in 2020, and this will only be available with the 8-speed auto.
And, yes, there will, of course, be a hard-core off-road Rubicon version of the Gladiator – after all, what would be the point otherwise?
The Rubicon will get Fox aluminium-bodied 2-inchdiameter shocks, lockers, a disconnecting front sway bar, a 4:1 low-range transfer case ratio and 33-inch mud tyres. All of this, allied to the claimed approach angle of 43.6 degrees, breakover angle of 20.3 degrees, a 26-degree departure angle and 282mm of ground clearance, should make the Gladiator Rubicon a rather formidable off-road beast.
Like the Wrangler, the Gladiator’s windscreen can lie flat on the bonnet and the roof and doors are removable, making for a unique open-air experience in the medium pickup segment. Your Ranger can’t do that.
The Gladiator will be available in Sport, Sport S, Overland and the aforementioned Rubicon versions and is confirmed to arrive in New Zealand showrooms in 2020, with local prices and specifications announced nearer the launch.
The floor of the sprawling Los Angeles Auto Show is filled with fancy vehicles showing off their ultraflashy, state-of-the-art infotainment systems, with giant screens that drivers really shouldn’t be looking at while driving.
(But come on, you know they do.)
Inside the car, ‘‘it makes more sense to use voice,’’ says Ned Curic, the vice-president of Amazon’s Alexa Auto division. ‘‘You want to keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, so using your voice makes more sense.’’
To that end, Amazon is looking to bring the Alexa personal assistant to cars to help drivers with important tools, such as mapping and music navigation, and to help find the nearest petrol station.
Curic was at the Auto Show last month to make a pitch to automakers and third-party vendors.
He’s not alone. Apple, via its CarPlay system, and Google, with Android Auto, have been targeting the lucrative car market for several years. The features are available as part of step-up packages at the time of car purchases or as stand-alone accessories on sale at auto and electronics shops.
Amazon will have its own, nonvisual device for the car, Echo Auto, available next year. It currently sells for US$24.99 (NZ$36.20) as a pre-order now, but will be bumped up to US$49.99 when it launches.
At his presentation, Curic showed slides of car hacks Amazon discovered online, where car owners brought the entry level, compact Echo Dot speaker into the car, hooked it up to the cigarette lighter for power, used the internet signal from their smartphones and got Alexa playing music and offering information.
‘‘We realised there was something there,’’ he said, and got
‘Our future is all about having Alexa embedded directly into the car, so you don’t have to buy a device. It’s there, it’s integrated, you don’t have to do much, just engage with Alexa.’