This week we are going to take a look at the 2020 Jeep Gladiator Mojave Edition. Gladiator is basically a Jeep Wrangler with a bed on the back. The Mojave is designed to be a desert runner, while the popular Rubicon is more of a mountain climber.
From the front it looks like a Wrangler with the 7-slot grill and round headlights, but this package offers a hood scoop, which looks great. The 17” wheels and 33” tires also look great, and side steps flow into oversized Jeep fenders, however, if you are vertically challenged the side steps are worthless and you’ll have some problems getting in and out of this tall Jeep.
Unlatch the hood and you’ll find the tried-and-true 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 that is putting out 285-horses and 260-pound feet of torque. It is paired to an 8-speed automatic, but a manual is available. In the future, you’ll be able to get the excellent EcoDiesel in the Gladiator.
Climbing into this Jeep, you see a nice interior with leather seating and sparse stitching. A nice gauge cluster greets you with a Gladiator running across the welcome screen when you push the start button. The driver info in the center of the gauges is highly configurable and offers up a lot of information. Center dash is the 8.4” Uconnect system which operates the sound system, navigation, apps, climate, Bluetooth, and vehicle settings. The system works great and is very intuitive. I often say this is the best system in the auto industry.
This screen also operates a terrific rear camera, a forward facing camera, Wi-Fi hotspot, and Travellink to get real-time info. One cool page is the off-road page which will tell you your pitch and roll degrees, and your altitude when you are off the pavement.
Below the screen is your automatic temperate controlled air, hill descent control, the start/stop disable switch, the power window switches, and USB ports. Also, there are 4 auxiliary switches to add accessories like additional lighting or a wench.
The center console has the gear shifter with a Jeep silhouette on top of it, your 4-wheel drive stick shifter, a couple of cup holders, and a two-tier armrest with storage.
Moving to the back seat, it has incredible head and legroom. The seats fold from the top down, or the bottom up and there is storage for the bolts that hold the tops on or whatever else you wish to keep out of view. If you look up, you’ll find two speakers on the built-in roll cage. Rear occupants get air conditioning vents and USB ports.
Overall, the interior is nicely done and quite functional. I especially like the orange accents around the air conditioning vents.
My review vehicle has just over $13,500 in options, including trailer towing package, premium LED lighting all around, the 8-speed automatic, tonneau cover, and a traction lock rear axle. It also has the active safety group which is rear park assist with cross-traffic alert, and blind spot monitoring.
Other options include keyless entry and remote start, and cargo management system that gives you cargo rails, bed lighting, and a 115-volt plug inside the bed.
Finally, this one has the Freedom Top. The top itself is comprised of three pieces with one covering each front row passenger and one covering the rear seat occupants. Each panel can be removed independently. For the front pieces, there is also an included bag that can be used for easy storage. The rear panel requires some tools for removal which are included with the vehicle.
What is fun about Jeeps is you can make them so different. Take the tops off, take the doors off, fold the windshield back and enjoy the fresh air.
This is an enjoyable daily driver, although a little loud inside like Jeeps tend to be. If you want to go off-road, it’s incredibly capable with 11 and 1/2 -inches of ground clearance. If you wish to tow, it’ll handle 6000 pounds.
The suspension on the Mojave is terrific, cofisticated, and a nice addition to this package is the off-road plus button. With a push of the button, you can adjust throttle, transmission shift points and traction control for peak performance on higher speed passes on sand dunes or low-speed rock crawling.
City gas mileage is 17, 22 on the highway, and 19 combined. Total MSRP is $58,860.
If you want the off-road champ, get the Rubicon edition, but if you want higher speed adventure, get this Mojave.
Credit: Jeep