Reader Review: 2021 Jeep Gladiator High Altitude 4x4

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After years of rumours that Jeep would build another pickup truck, when the Gladiator finally debuted at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, Dave Szabadi was immediately interested.

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“I’m a big fan of the look,” the Calgarian says, and adds, “the whole thing is just striking overall. It’s got a rugged look, almost military in aspect, and I do like how it’s a truck with a removable top and doors.”

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Reader Review: 2021 Jeep Gladiator High Altitude 4x4 Back to video

For 2021 Jeep now offers seven trim levels, from Sport S to top-of-the-line High Altitude. All come powered by a 3.6-litre V6 engine paired with a six-speed manual transmission, except the High Altitude. The only transmission in that is an eight-speed automatic. Two types of four-wheel drive system are offered, with Command-Trac 4×4 in all but the Rubicon which features heavy-duty Rock-Trac 4×4. An eight-speed automatic is an available option across the range, as is a 3.0L EcoDiesel V6. That diesel can only be backed up by the eight-speed automatic gearbox.

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Szabadi spent seven days driving a 2021 Jeep Gladiator High Altitude 4×4. His tester came equipped with the Customer Preferred Package that, for an extra $8,995, gave the Gladiator a full suite of body colour – in this case, Snazzberry Pearl — features including mirrors, bumpers, grille, fender flares and door handles. That money gave the Jeep a whole bunch more, too, with pieces such as sport tuned suspension components, 20-inch wheels, leather seats and steering wheel and shift knob and the Freedom-Top three-piece modular roof system.

Under the hood was Jeep’s optional EcoDiesel powerplant, and that added $7,395 to the total bill of $76,210.

“I didn’t attempt to take off the doors,” Szabadi says, and adds, “but we did remove the T-tops to see how they worked, and they were easy to get off.”

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Inside, Szabadi liked how Jeep kept the dash relatively ‘old-school’ with buttons and knobs to work most controls. These are waterproofed, too, and neatly spread apart.

“There are physical buttons for everything, and you can quickly punch one rather than navigating a screen to, for example, just turn the fan up or down. The black leather upholstery in this one was buttery soft with nice caramel colour contrast stitching and the seats had great bolstering – they hug your body.”

However, these seats were not power adjustable. All movements were manually controlled, and that’s something that surprised Szabadi.

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“For the price of the vehicle and how many other luxury items it had, that actually shocked me,” he says, and continues, “Maybe it’s just a Jeep thing.”

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At six-feet tall, Szabadi did have plenty of headroom in the Jeep and found all controls were intuitive to operate. He also found the instrument cluster with its large information screen between the speedometer and tachometer easy to see. Overall interior fit and finish was rated as solid and well put-together.

But once underway, Szabadi says it wasn’t exactly a quiet ride.

“It’s a bit noisy, even with the T-top panels in place, because they’re just single layers of plastic,” he says. “I did honestly think it would have been a bit quieter than it was.”

Power from the EcoDiesel engine was plentiful, and Szabadi, who is a fan of diesel technology because of the torque and fuel economy, was impressed.

“There’s definitely a lot of jam and it really pushes hard,” Szabadi explains. “It’s a little bit noisy under acceleration, but it’s quiet at idle and at speed on the highway, though. There’s tons of torque (442 lb.-ft. at 1,400 rpm). The eight-speed transmission shifted imperceptibly, and you could only tell it was changing gears by watching the tach.”

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Szabadi did manually shift into lower gears to use the turbocharged diesel engine’s powerful engine braking capability when driving down Highway 1A’s hill into Cochrane. Of the fuel economy, he says he averaged 8.5 to 8.6L/100km on a road trip to Canmore with his wife and two kids, ages three and five.

“It’s a fun engine to drive,” he says, and adds, “but I don’t know if you’d get what it cost you to buy it back in fuel economy. That said, it offers a grin factor. Jeep’s four-wheel drive system is great, but there’s no locking diff on this one – it’s got four high and four low. This is not the hardcore off-road Gladiator. This is more a sporty luxury Jeep that would be quite capable in rough stuff.”

The High Altitude comes equipped with a Class III trailer hitch receiver, but towing capacity is decreased from 7,650 pounds to 6,500 pounds when outfitted with the diesel engine.

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The Gladiator handled parking chores with ease. Of the ride, Szabadi says he could feel the bumps when traveling on pavement, but off-road is where the suspension really shone.

“We hit some gravel with pot holes and washboarding, and the Jeep just soaked it all up,” he says. “There’s a ton of suspension travel and ground clearance, and there are skid plates (on the High Altitude these cover the fuel tank and transfer case).”

Szabadi installed his kids’ car seat and booster seat with no trouble, and he said that aspect of the Jeep would be, “easy to live with.”

The five-foot truck bed has a lockable tonneau cover, and Szabadi appreciated the three-position tailgate that would allow, for example, the hauling of a dirt bike or quad.

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“Overall,” he says. “the Gladiator was fun and offered great visibility, there’s lots of cabin space and there’s massive torque from the diesel engine. In the midsize truck market, it’s the best looking of the bunch.”

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DRIVER’S JOURNAL

Day 1

Loved the look and colour. It was a bright, sunny day and the Snazzberry Pearl paint looked fantastic. Started it up and noticed the 3.0L EcoDiesel engine was very quiet at idle. As I drove off you could definitely tell it had a diesel engine. It was noisy under acceleration, but quiet again once up to highway cruising speed. There is some noticeable lag under initial acceleration, but it pulls hard once the turbo spools up. Also noticed a lot of wind noise coming from the roof panels at 80 km/h and above.

Day 2

Installed car seat and booster seat in the rear. There was a decent amount of room for them, definitely more room for the kids than in my Toyota Tacoma that I previously owned, which the Gladiator competes with. Set my phone up to the infotainment system. The Uconnect is very easy to use, and 8.4-inch screen has sharp resolution and graphics. Apple CarPlay connected right away. The audio system sounds great, helps drown out all the wind noise. It also has a detachable Bluetooth speaker behind the rear seats. Nice feature for tailgating or camping. I like how they’ve kept the classic looking interior of the Jeep, just modernized it with all the latest tech and luxury features.

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Day 3

Left early in the morning to go to work. It was 3 C when I got into the truck. The heated seats and steering wheel were welcomed and warmed up very quickly. The LED headlights and fog lights are very bright and did a fantastic job of illuminating the highway. The adaptive cruise control and automatic high beams were nice to have as well.

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Day 4

Was a hot day so I removed the two front panels of the “Freedom Top”, which was simple to do. Just required twisting some tabs on the inside of each panel and lifting them out. It left the driver’s and front passenger’s seats open to the sunshine above. Nice feature and wasn’t too drafty on the highway. The infotainment and climate control switches are encased in rubber and are waterproof in case you don’t get the panels back on in time before a rainstorm.

Day 5

Took a drive out just West of Cochrane to try it off road. Although it rides rough and has a heavy steering feel on road, off road the Gladiator felt right at home. It soaked up every bump and felt firmly planted on the washboard gravel roads. The tourquey diesel engine and copious ground clearance made it feel like you could climb anything. The infotainment screen has an off-road pitch/roll indicator which is nice touch. I was a little surprised to see no locking differential on this model, considering its price.

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It’s a fun vehicle to drive, looks fantastic, and is a highly capable off roader.

Day 6

Took the family out to Canmore for the day. The EcoDiesel engine cruised effortlessly on the highway and returned 8.9 L/100kms for the trip. In town it was easy to manoeuvre and park. It’s turning radius is quite good considering its long wheelbase. The Gladiator is a head turner, as you don’t see very many of them on the road.

Day 7

Dropped the truck off. Really enjoyed my time with it. It’s a fun vehicle to drive, looks fantastic, and is a highly capable off roader. However, I felt some sticker shock when I saw it was over $76,000 — the diesel engine alone being a $7,395 option. But if someone is a long time Jeep fan and is looking to buy a pick up, this is definitely one to test drive.