So you are probably thinking, get an suv! But I am a open top guy so only a Jeep (or Bronco) will do. As for the gladiator, I may (huge if) decide to get a small trailer (16-22 feet) and only the Gladiator can tow real weight. Thoughts? I drove a gladiator yesterday and it seems a bit noisy pushing to 80 mph. Not sure what drive mode was on (full or part time). Ride was smooth not truck like on our flat well paved Florida roads...Just what you said is pretty accurate.

 

Broncos are known to disintegrate just being parked. I wouldn’t trust one on the freeway, let alone a cross country trip.

 

Currently driving a 2017 Willys MT 2 door with soft top & Half Metal Doors (plastic doors on the top) 🥳 I have over 72,000 miles on the Jeep and 90% was driven during my 250 miles of commuting to work twice a month driving about 65-70mph partly on the interstate. During the summer months I love having the top down and once cleaned up the Granite Crystal looks amazing, but even more so the continuous line with the half metal doors (IMHO full metal doors look a little out of place on a 2 door model, especially with the top down 🤨) looks sleek. Having said all that, it is a rather noisy vehicle and at times it is hard to hear my wife over the speakers when I talk to her via BlueTooth (maybe that is a good thing 🤪). Albeit I do not mind the noise and the rough ride (I have always driven Wranglers), we do have a 2023 Rubicon MT 4 door with hard top & Half Metal Doors 🤘 (for the summer days) on order (currently stuck in production with the MT recall) and anticipate a smoother & quieter ride. Being a Wrangler driver all my life, I cannot imagine driving anything else...

 

We take my JLUR on ski trips all over the country (no top down on those trips, lol). I like having all of our bags and gear protected inside. A Gladiator would definitely not work for me.

 

Wranglers don’t like 85 MPH. Period.

Yes, there are people who say they drive their Wrangler at 90 MPH. I say good for them.

I own a 2018 JL Sahara with a Mopar lift and 35-inch tires. It absolutely loves doing 55-65 MPH on backroads. It will do 75 MPH on the freeway, but that’s pushing it. Nothing to do with the engine or transmission, it’s just that the wind noise gets very loud, the vehicle becomes increasingly susceptible to cross winds, and the steering gets too twitchy for comfort.

If you are looking to cover long distances at 85 MPH, a Grand Cherokee or Ram 1500 might be a better choice.

Good luck.

 

For comfort in long trips, the Sahara would be the best choice. But if towing is a main concern, then the Gladiator would be the way to go. Engine cooling is one of the issues when towing. Wranglers, Gladiators are very limited, because of their lack of square inch frontal area. Plus the rather small grill area designed into the Wranglers/Gladiators. But to get the Gladiators certified for towing 7000 lbs. plus, they had to design a different grill, different fan blade pitch, added a upgraded 850 watt cooling fan motor, higher amperage alternator to pull more CFM air through the Radiator. So it really depends on your needs and wants.

 

True. Gladiator also gets better ratings for freeway driving than Wrangler. Its longer wheelbase makes it more stable at speeds.

Having said that, I test drove a Gladiator last year: I prefer the ride on my Wrangler, and for driving around town.

 

I have a JK on 4.5” lift and 37’s and plenty of other mods and drive it all over at 80- 85. With HT on it’s comfortable for me unless it’s really crosswindy (which is common in N. Tex.), but when I run softtop and half doors with plastic upper it’s pretty loud, just no getting around it. I added sound deadening material under the floor and in the doors and it helped a lot but still it’s not my BMW or my wife’s Escalade. It’s still what I drive more often than not. I would also note that IMO the Gladiator doesn’t come close to having enough engine to cruise comfortably with lift, tires and a decent load regardless of the regearing. It really needs a V8, the new hurricane or the hybrid. That six just doesn’t do it for me.

 

85 mph is over the speed limit anywhere I've ever been. Know why? It's not a safe speed in any vehicle.....period. Unless you're on a race track, there's no reason to do that speed.

 

You must not get out west much. Texas 130 in Austin are has posted limit of 85 mph - OK, NV, UT, MT, SD and others all have 80 mph highway stretches. It’s a limit and not a requirement, always subject to conditions and vehicle specs. Germany of course has no limit on sections of autobahn. Many, not all, modern cars are capable of traveling at 80+ quite safely. 80-85 mph speeds are far from race track only. No debate that not all vehicles are suitable for those speeds but it’s quite legal and acceptable to travel at those speeds in many places in the US.

 

Love my rubicon but am always in my Tundra for highway trips and when towing. The Wrangler and Gladiator just aren’t living their best life cruising at 80-85 or when hooked up to a sizable trailer. If it was a one time trip, it’d probably be an adventure. But if you’re looking to eat up highway miles regularly, and are coming from a Cayenne, I can’t imagine you won’t be really disappointed with the highway driving experience of an unlimited or Gladiator. The Bronco is reported to have better steering feel around town, but the NVH on the highway of a JLU/JT/Bronco is reported to be about the same. If you’re adding a trailer to the mix, I think the case for a Ram or GC becomes even more compelling. Adding crosswinds or headwinds with a trailer hooked up to a Wrangler or Bronco would make for a pretty miserable trip IMO. YMMV. 👍👍

 

I have a 2021 Gladiator Mojave hardtop, and it rides like a dream on family road trips. I typically limit my top speed to 75mph, but it will cruise at 80-85 without issue. I have the optional factory headliner, and I have installed Dynamat to the rear cab wall and rear underseat area. This helps keep noise down, but the wind noise isn't too bad - my family didn't even notice it until I asked them if the wind noise bothered them. I have Selec-Trac, and when engaged at highway speeds there is a little more drivetrain noise than in 2H.

BUT, for long road trips, I can tell you that a Gladiator won't eat up hundreds of miles with ease like you old Cayenne. I traded my 2019 Audi Allroad on my Mojave, and there is no comparison.

 

Well, everyone is different. I’ve had 2JkUs and 2 JLUs and road tripped them all. All were lifted and either 35 or 37” tires and I personally have no issues road tripping any of them. I set them all up to ride nice on the highway yet still wheel without issue. The longest road trip in A single day was 25 hours straight drive from Ontario to Northern Alberta 2600klm approximately..


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The main disadvantage of the Gladiator is it's 2' longer than a Wrangler. If you want a mid size pickup with off road capability there are less expensive alternatives. The closest thing to a Wrangler is the Bronco which takes forever to order and has too many problems.

 

I think you need to ask yourself why you want a Wrangler/Gladiator over other types of vehicles. If you aren't doing some difficult off-roading, a Jeep is a lot less than ideal for the highway at 75-85 mph. Have you looked at the Toyota 4Runner, RAV4, etc.? IMO, you put up with a relatively poor quality build when you own a Wrangler, just to have the tremendous off-roading capability.

 

Jeep likes 75 on the freeway.
I would get a Jeep and slow your roll. Lol.

 

Any jeep at 80 is going to be loud.

 

I think my JLUR is waaay quieter than my brother-in-law's JKU. But you really can't carry on a conversation at all in his, and it's an effort to converse in my JL, even with all the extra sound damping I put in the the tub, at speeds above 75 mph. At 85 mph, think some kind of hearing protection.

 

Jeeps may not like 85mph, but on a trip from NYC to LA, you would only save 5 hours if you could cruise at that speed the whole way. So speed isn’t really a factor other than the fact that the Porsche is comfortable at that speed, and the wrangler isn’t. If you are an open top guy and need the towing capacity, buy the gladiator, slow down, and enjoy the drive.
If speed is important, a Mercedes E class convertible is an excellent long distance tourer, capable of hours of comfortable high speed driving with the top down. although luggage capacity is limited with it down.
BMW 4 series is good too, although windier at highway speeds.

 

"85 mph is over the speed limit anywhere I've ever been. Know why? It's not a safe speed in any vehicle.....period. Unless you're on a race track, there's no reason to do that speed. " Really? Have you ever driven on a large modern highway? The safest speed is the speed of the traffic. And most highways (especially out west) are 70 - 80 mph and every driver (except you) is going faster. '

"I think you need to ask yourself why you want a Wrangler/Gladiator over other types of vehicles " As I stated I am a convertible guy and park top down 90% of the time, hot or cold (thoughcold is relative I live in SW Florida). My current car is a BMW Z4:

I also had a 2020 Macan (Cayenne before that) and now that is gone (D) and the Z4, while blast to drive is not practical. I have two dogs:

If the dogs are in the car I cannot have a passenger....(which defeats post D living as I take my girls everywhere I can).

I also do kayaking and biking and that just don't fit!

So the only vehicles that would work are wrangler and bronco. Only reason I would even consider a gladiator over a wrangler is I am interested in the rv life and I haven't decided (i) if its for me; (ii) whether I would trailer or go class c. If I go Class C then wrangler all the way.

I like driving off road, but few opportunities here. I would not lift Jeep or modify suspension and would want bet on road tires.

 

I can't overstate the difference in quality of what you've been driving vs a Chrysler product. My wife calls my Jeep a lemon. I've been frustrated to the point of selling it many times. But, I have a specific use for my Jeep, and it's not driving on the highway. Again, the only reason to put up with Jeep's low quality is the inherent off-road capabilities.

 

If you are used to Porsches and BMW dealers, you are going to absolutely HATE how Jeep —and Ford— dealers treat you.

Heck, I’m used to Jeep dealers and I even HATE them...!

 

I found BMW dealers extremely annoying. Rather than talk to any available service counter person, I had an assigned service rep, who was usually a good looking 20 something person waiting for the next available sales position. No service knowledge, and always busy.

mercedes service is better. Jeep service is solid, if a little… “rustic”.

 

My $0.02, get a Mojave. Change the tires to some 285/70 pirelli scorpions and have a blast. It’s the best stock suspension on a jeep.

 

The guys on the other Wrangler forum are right now swearing that 392 has the best stock suspension on a Jeep...

 

Mojave is built for high speed desert driving, while Rubicon is built for articulation. I would choose the Mojave over the rubicon for a highway vehicle. Plus 392 isn’t available in gladiator is it?

 

I CAN’T DRIVE 85!!

 

I'm sort of going through this now. Once my JKUR was lifted with 35s, I did not like going much over 70, ever. I'm fine with that since I don't like to drive much faster anymore. I'll do 75 in the other vehicles but except to pass, rarely over that for any extended period. I think the JKUR was fine on 4-6 hour highway trips but I had a hardtop and sound-deadening panels on the hardtop and sides. It had MTRs which are quieter than most MTs. With ATs, it would have been even quieter. It was not really quiet like other vehicle I own but acceptable and fine for conversation in cab or on phone/speaker. Nobody ever complained or mentioned anything negative. My buddy with his soft top- different story...quite a bit louder. The STOCK JKUR was quieter and since it was lower with stock suspension, was smoother and handled speed better than the lifted version.

The Bronco is quieter and better to drive on the highway. I only like the Broco Raptor though, and struggle with its extra 8-10 inches or so of width. However, it may be the one for me after all my thinking is done. I just have to maybe not do Elephant Hill at Moab. Sad. So the Gladiator tows more and that is likely due to a much longer wheelbase, which makes towing safer. I THINK it is a smoother drive on the highway (I have not driven one) like any longer wheelbase vehicle should be. The Gladiator is not for me due to lack of interior space. If I did that, I'd just get a full-size F-150 and put a tent on the back for camping/exploring with my toddler (my wife is not into camping at all).

 

As for dealerships its always hit or miss. Also, I am handy and can deal with minor issues. I have owned wranglers but always as a second car that never went on any long trips, but around town was fine. Except for the towing issue, I much prefer the look of the wrangler.

 

...

 

To everyone saying jeep is only for off-road, that is completely untrue. It is one of only two functional tow vehicles that allow you to remove the top and/or doors. As the OP pointed out, the need is for a vehicle that can carry 2 dogs comfortably on long trips, tow something (or be towed) and is still a convertible.

the JT fits the bill for towing, and the JL fits the bill for being towed. Being able to go off-road for kayaking is a bonus.