Jeep Utility Vehicle Cars

Doug DeMuro recently got a chance to take an up-close look at the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392. The Wrangler has pretty much had a niche market to itself for the longest time, but we first saw the Rubicon 392 about a year ago and it was obviously conceived in response to the revival of the Ford Bronco.

Sam CarLegion, once again, gives us an epic YouTube video of awesome vehicles drag-racing each other. This time, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk has the uneasy task of defending its turf against the BMW X5 M Competition and Range Rover Sport SVR. All three SUVs are the top versions of their regular counterparts, but who is going to come out on top?

There’s no denying that pickup trucks are America’s favorite vehicles. Ford F-Series has consistently topped the sales charts for 42 consecutive years now. There are a lot of other automakers with such offerings as well. The segment is highly competitive and you can get confused with what to pick. There is a different variant or a different model altogether in every $1,000 bracket. To help you with this dilemma, we’ve compiled a list of 10 best pickup trucks, ranging from midsize trucks, to full-size, and to heavy-duty ones.

Amongst the plethora of car commercials that aired during the Super Bowl, the Jeep Gladiator ad touched our hearts the most. The commercial saw Bill Murray step into the shoes of Phil Connor, the disgruntled weatherman from the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. In the movie, Phil finds himself stuck in a time loop wherein he relives the Groundhog Day over and over again. Jeep recreated this scene by filming with few of the original cast at the same locations, while subtly putting its Gladiator into the mix.

It has recently been confirmed that Jeep will unveil a pickup truck version of the JL Wrangler at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. Called the Gladiator, according to leaked documents, it will be Jeep’s first pickup truck since 1992. And, needless to say, fans have been clamoring for a Jeep with a bed ever since the Cherokee-based Comanche was discontinued.

The Gladiator name will also make a comeback after no fewer than 47 years, but Jeep built more than two pickups throughout its history. It actually made six of them, and even though they were built under different ownership and names, they’re all iconic in their own right. With Jeep’s first truck in more than two decades underway, we decided it’s the perfect time to look through the company’s history as a pickup manufacturer.

Few vehicles on the market today roll off the production line ready to handle the open road and the rockiest of paths, but the Wrangler is probably the most prominent of the few. There have always been a few caveats, though. It’s great for on- and off-road use, but you don’t exactly get the quietest cabin in the world. The on-road ride has also, traditionally, been a little rougher than other models in this segment. Or, at least that’s what we thought until we actually had a chance to take the new Wrangler JL for a test drive. After spending a week with the JL Wrangler we’ve come to realize that the Wrangler actually sits in a segment all its own. Despite our efforts, we can’t find another model this size, with a full-frame, that comes off the showroom floor ready to handle the business.

The real question is, however, whether or not the new JL Wrangler can still handle those off-road thrills but provide a more modern feel inside and more comfortable on-road ride. That’s a tall order for something designed for off-roading first, but the natural evolution of the Wrangler has put it in a unique position on the market. It honestly has no direct competitors in a true sense, and its go-anywhere mentality has been improved with fresh on-road manors. Is it enough to widen the Wrangler’s appeal and make it interesting to those that have traditionally searched for softer crossovers? Does the full-frame, solid-axle arrangement still stand on its own in this ever-evolving market where unibody construction and independent suspension is the norm? Is the JL Wrangler still a jack of all trades that’s good for a weekend of fun and carrying a small family during the week?

These are questions that we now have answers to, thanks to a week spent with the 2019 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. We didn’t just have any run-of-the-mill Rubicon, though. The Wrangler that showed up at TopSpeed HQ also included a ferocious amount of MOPAR parts that makes it more off-road ready than ever. So, that raises one more question that we have to answer – at what point does molesting the MOPAR catalog move the Wrangler from a modest daily driver to something that’s more suited for weekend thrills? This is our full, hands-on review of the 2019 Jeep Wrangler JL (with tons of Mopar parts) and our story of a week’s worth of fun, honest acclimation into a world that we seldom get to experience.

Built on the success of its predecessors with the hopes and dreams to carry on the legacy of an icon, the 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL is the definition of model evolution. It’s not dramatically different, but it’s far from being the same. With the JK Wrangler running from 2007 to 2018, it’s quite possible that the JL Wrangler will have as long a stay on the market and it’s a good thing that Jeep did it right. It’s the perfect blend of off-road prowess and creature comforts suitable for those who engage in lengthy road trips. It is the definition of having your cake and eating it too. This generation of the Wrangler comes with improved aerodynamics, improved safety, and plenty of modern tech. More importantly, though, are the removable body panels that carried over from the previous model. There’s also a new power-retractable hardtop, a soft top, and the three-piece freedom top. And, now that the windshield is non-structural, it folds down much easier, and the new A-pillar will provide protection in the event of a rollover. The JL Wrangler has been on the market for more than a year now, and we’re still all googly-eyed over it, so we’ve decided to feature it as our wallpaper of the day. We’ve picked our favorite desktop and mobile wallpapers for you below, but we have a huge gallery at the bottom of the page for you to choose from as well.

Jeep is cooking the rebirth of the Wagoneer in the form of a full-size SUV that should hit the market in 2020. Until then, we hear that the new model might benefit from a mighty inline-six engine that could outmuscle the HEMI V-8 while displacing less to make it attractive for heavily taxed markets such as Europe and Asia

It’s been rumored for quite a while that the Fiat-Chrysler group is pouring resources into a new six-pot engine and the latest reports tell the tale of a compact engine that will be able to fit on a multitude of platforms and models from the automakers that sit at the FCA table.

The long-anticipated Jeep Gladiator, the company’s first pickup truck in 26 years, made its global debut at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. Not surprisingly, Mopar has already created a range of parts and accessories for the truck and showcased them on a Rubicon model. The most important of which include a two-inch lift kit, spray-in bed liner, and a truck bed storage system.

Mopar has been providing parts and accessories for Chrysler and Fiat cars for decades now, and it also helped Jeep develop quite a few concept vehicles. Naturally, the Gladiator had to be included now that Jeep finally offers a pickup truck. Mopar presented 20 products for the Gladiator in Los Angeles, but more are definitely underway. Let’s have a look at what you can order once the Gladiator goes on sale.

The 2020 Jeep Gladiator comes to take on the Chevy Colorado and Toyota Tacoma with some serious credentials that puts good faith in the phrase “good things come to those who wait.” The Gladiator rocks out the new Wrangler JL look with a five-foot bed in the rear. It’s downright gorgeous, but it’s not just about what it looks like. This baby can tow up to 7,650 pounds that’s 850 pounds more than the Toyota Tacoma and 650 pounds more than the Chevy Colorado.

With the impending introduction of the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator, I just have to look back at Jeep history and actually compare it with the 2005 Jeep Gladiator Concept. Normally, this would have to wait until its official debut, but thanks to leaked (and what we believe to be official) images, we can diving into comparing old and new straight away. The spiritual concept predecessor appeared in November 2004 and actually represented the then-new Wrangler JK. Of course, I am sure that by its unveiling Jeep wanted to research the market and gain potential customer feedback. Obviously, before a great return of one-ton trucks in the U.S. (like the Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado, for instance) the Jeep one-ton pickup wouldn’t be a logical option. Now, it is, and before the official introduction next week, I am giving you the first chance to see just how different the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator is compared with the Gladiator Concept from 2004.

After photographs of the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator leaked into the ocean that is the Internet, every single publication started to scrutinize every single piece of information available. Before I get into details of the 2020 Jeep Gladiator, I have to tell you something else. For the past few weeks, the three most important car news that appeared aren’t about cars. One is the leak of the baby Bronco, the other is the Aston Martin DBX, and the third is, well, this one - the Jeep Gladiator. See, we live in a world with fantastic roads that stretch everywhere. So, you can basically drive your sedan, sports car, or wagon (if you really must) everywhere, but you are still choosing SUVs, trucks, and other utility vehicles. The timing for this Jeep pickup truck is probably just on point. The Colorado spruced the segment; the Ranger drizzled it with sparkles, and the Frontier, well, it was there all along. Jeep will join this amazing lineup with its one-ton, mid-size Jeep Gladiator - a new truck that will debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

FCA is one of the slowest groups to move towards electrification. Currently, it has got just 3 cars under its umbrella which are anywhere close to electrification. Nevertheless, FCA announced the production of a Jeep Renegade Plug-in hybrid. It will be built alongside the regular Renegade and its Fiat 500X platform mate in FCA’s factory in Melfi, Italy. Jeep will start building pre-production units in 2019, and launch it in the market in early 2020.

We’ve always been big proponents of the idea “Hellcat All The Things”, and for the most part, FCA has obliged, stuffing its incredible supercharged V-8 into a number of interesting four-wheeled applications. Now, it’s looking like the latest to get possessed with underworld levels of power might be the upcoming Wagoneer.

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FCA has given the Jeep Wrangler a new job this summer – to keep people safe at the beaches of Romagna, Italy as a beach patrol vehicle. The automaker has presented a custom Wrangler to the Italian ‘Carabinieri’, to patrol an 18-mile area of the Romagna Riviera that includes popular resorts. We’re pretty sure the ‘lifesaver’ will be a tourist attraction as well!

FCA has been in a bind for the last couple of years with hope of improvement coming from the updated Ram 1500, the new Jeep Wrangler JL, and the upcoming Wrangler-based pickup truck. We’ve all seen the mules of the Jeep Pickup truck, AKA the Scrambler, testing on public roads but information about it from FCA or Jeep itself has remained top secret. All that has changed after a dealer meeting that gave just one piece of “new” information – the Jeep Wrangler Pickup will go into production in the final quarter of 2018, with dealerships getting their first haul to sell in April of 2019 – that’s just a year away folks.

Certain automakers own certain events. In the case of Jeep, that event is the Moab Easter Safari, an annual gathering hosted by the Red-Rock 4-Wheelers off-road club in Moab, Utah. Every year, Jeep comes to the event with concept vehicles in tow. It’s no different this year because we have already received a couple of teaser images of what could be the concept rides the automaker is preparing to bring to the Easter Safari. Jeep didn’t mention which models these concepts will be based on, but judging from the teaser photos, they look to be a pair of JL Wranglers.

Here at TopSpeed.com, we’ve covered the all-new 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL seven ways to Sunday. From the first spy shots to our driven review out in Arizona, we’ve seen it all. But there is always more to learn. Denis Wood over at TeraFlex Suspensions took a detailed look at the Wrangler’s greasy bits in a view not even Jeep engineers discussed at the press event.

Of course, Wood’s views are from an aftermarket company’s standpoint. TeraFlex develops, builds, and sells suspension lifts and all the ancillary parts people love to bolt to their Jeeps. TeraFlex knows Wranglers and it knows their weak points. The outgoing Wrangler JK was a fantastic vehicle, but it has some drawbacks. The exhaust crossed under the front driveshaft and the two would collide during extreme off-roading. The fuel system’s evaporation canister hung low on the Jeep’s underbelly and was an easy target for rocks or sticks. Both problem areas have been completely eliminated in the new Wrangler JL, along with dozens more.

Wood’s is an interesting perspective not many get to see. Add to that his silky smooth voice and fatherly demeanor that wouldn’t be misplaced on a national news broadcast program covering feel-good stories.