2026 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon Review

The Jeep Gladiator is a Wrangler with a tray on the back, and that one sentence explains everything brilliant and everything ridiculous about it. It is the only open-top, doors-off ute on sale in Australia, it will climb terrain that stops a normal dual cab cold, and for 2026 it comes only in hardcore Rubicon trim at $84,990 before on-road costs. Amelia spent a week working out who on earth it is for.

The honest answer: not many people, but the ones it suits will love it more than any HiLux driver loves theirs.

What you are getting

One engine, the 3.6 litre naturally aspirated V6, making 209 kW and 347 Nm through an eight-speed automatic. There is no diesel and no turbo, so it revs rather than surges, and it drinks accordingly at a claimed 12.4 L/100km. Under the skin is the serious stuff: part-time four-wheel drive with low range, front and rear locking differentials, a disconnecting sway bar and proper clearance.

For 2026 the Rubicon adds remote start and clever quick-release door hinges, so taking the doors off for a summer beach run is genuinely a two-minute job. The roof panels come off too. Nothing else in the class offers that.

Off the road

This is where the Gladiator stops being ridiculous and starts being brilliant. The locking diffs, the clearance and the all-terrain hardware turn tracks that would beach a Ranger into a shrug. If your weekends actually involve rock, sand and water, very little at any price does this straight off the showroom floor, and none of it lets you do it roofless.

On the road, and the catch

Here is the ridiculous half. It is long, so it parks like a small bus and its turning circle is comic. The steering is loose and vague by modern ute standards, the ride fidgets on the highway, and the V6 is thirsty. It also tows up to 2,721 kg braked, which sounds fine until you remember a HiLux or a Ranger will pull 3,500 kg for less money. As a work ute or a tow rig, it is outgunned.

Cartell Assessment

The Gladiator Rubicon is not a sensible purchase and it does not pretend to be. It is bought with the heart, by someone who wants the one ute that takes its roof and doors off and climbs a mountain on the weekend. On that brief it is joyful and nothing else comes close. Judge it as a practical dual cab and it looks expensive, thirsty and compromised, because it is.

Know which buyer you are before you sign. If you want a work truck, buy the Ranger. If you want the most fun you can legally have with a tray and a set of diff locks, this is the one.

AU Outlook

The Gladiator lands at $84,990 plus on-road costs, Rubicon only for 2026 and up about $2,000 on last year. It sits in an odd corner of the market with no direct rival, priced against far more practical utes that tow more and use less fuel. It will keep selling in small, devoted numbers to people who were never going to buy anything else.