Being a pickup, the Gladiator isn’t made for top speed. But even in the Utah desert, the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and eight-speed automatic transmission can take the mid-size truck to 97 miles per hour. That’s 156 km/h if you prefer metric, and we’re not surprised the Jeep can’t go faster.
At the end of the run, The Stradman mentioned 105 miles per hour in his JK Wrangler. But that’s a different body style and a different curb weight from the JT Gladiator. As the YouTube video’s comments section suggests, a V8 engine swap such as the 6.4 HEMI or 6.2 Hellcat would work wonders provided that electronic nannies of the Jeep are disabled.
Speaking of which, the Rubicon is electronically limited to 97 mph while the Overland manages 110 mph. The Hennessey Maximus 1000 is capable of higher velocities, but then again, that’s a special edition limited to 24 examples of the breed. The starting price of the 1,000-horsepower Gladiator pickup truck is $200,000 including the donor vehicle.
Although larger than the Jeep, the F-150 Raptor is much obliged to hit 107 mph (172 km/h). The engineers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles could surprise us with a faster workhorse in the near future, namely the Rebel TRX from Ram. The half-tonner with the Hellcat V8 is under development as we speak, and Ram is also working on the revival of the Dakota.
All new for 2020, the Gladiator is the most expensive mid-size pickup out there. You won’t get much for $33,545 excluding destination, but the resale value of the Jeep translates to a $143 lease for 24 months with 10 percent down. More to the point, the Pentastar V6-engined Gladiator is expected to retain as much as 90 percent of its value after two years.
Next year for the 2021 model year, the Gladiator will be offered with the EcoDiesel V6 from VM Motori. The six-cylinder turbo diesel will return to the Ram 1500 as well as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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