2 weeks in....'23 Gladiator manual transmission- what should I expect?

[23mojavegladiator]

Got a new '23 mojave gladiator w/ manual transmission 2 weeks ago here in NC. Pricing OTD was $41.8k, FYI.

1) 250 miles in, getting 13.5 MPG mostly city driving. Start/stop cutoff not working which I wouldn't normally care but am looking for relief on this horrible gas mileage. (Not sure why it is not working?--ANY IDEAS?) And is this what I should expect for gas mileage? Sticker is like 15-20, so I want 15 or better. I traded a Ram 1500 with 2" lift and was getting 12 around town with the 5.7 Hemi, so I have higher expectations.

2) the get up and go on the Mojave is pretty pathetic. If I want to be first off the start when the light turns green I'd have to push it. Shifting using the mpg meter leads to some snail like speed and not keeping up with the flow of traffic.

3) clutch is very tight and first to second can be a real jerk if you are not super careful. My kids say they're getting whiplash. My first car was a manual transmission Bronco, so I have driven standards before.

So overall, I would say mixed reviews on what I bought. Definitely like the open air feel, but not sure if I need to address any issues to enhance performance.

Finally, not wanting to put a lot of money in this rn but I would really like some different wheels. The blackout rims on the '23 Mojave not my favorite.

Thoughts much appreciated... -SM

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[PuddleJumper]

It'll all get better as she breaks in. I didn't see above 16 mpg till after my first oil change at 5k.

 

[mdyucca]

Mileage reported on the forum varies wildly. The highest percentage of Gladiators built have the 3.6 auto drive train and account for most reports of MPG’s. I have the 3.6/auto and my around town mpg is 14. On continuous freeway driving I have seen up to 20.7. I think you are getting what you can expect with your driving conditions and style.

 

[Radar]

my experience, i bought mine with 70miles on the odometer, and 17.5 for the MPG. which i accounted for sitting on the lot idling while being shown prior to me buying it. reset the clocks (MPG) with the first tank of gas i put in, and averaged around 21-22 MPG. mixed driving in Florida (Flat). currently new tires rims (34.7" actual) and now new gears (4.88) I'm averaging 18.5-19.5.

Manual trans mixed city/interstate driving.

 

[Chestnut]

I remember the first tank being awful mileage the 2nd tank was only slightly better. After1k miles my mileage was significantly better but varies a lot based on fuel and conditions. Winter fuel sucks. Bucking the wind sucks. I've hit some upper 20s driving 58 mph for 200+ miles. My usual around town is 17-19 in winter and 19-22 in the summer. I have an overland trim with 32" tires. Driving is mix 50/50 freeway and stoplights. More stoplight driving tanks my MPG by about 2, more freeway bumps it up about 1. Driving over 72 tanks it back down to ~20.

The dash mpg gauge on my vehicle is almost always 0.5 mpg higher than measuring based on gas pumped and miles driven. I have 2.5 years of data.

I get much better mileage and smoothness ignoring the mpg gauge and just driving. The 3.6l is much happier above 2k rpm. If you accelerate downshift so your 2.5k or above and it'll make life better all around. Also you can make the ride smoother by going quicker between gears. If i lollygag between gears things get jerky.

 

[Birds83]

Got a new '23 mojave gladiator w/ manual transmission 2 weeks ago here in NC. Pricing OTD was $41.8k, FYI.

1) 250 miles in, getting 13.5 MPG mostly city driving. Start/stop cutoff not working which I wouldn't normally care but am looking for relief on this horrible gas mileage. (Not sure why it is not working?--ANY IDEAS?) And is this what I should expect for gas mileage? Sticker is like 15-20, so I want 15 or better. I traded a Ram 1500 with 2" lift and was getting 12 around town with the 5.7 Hemi, so I have higher expectations.

2) the get up and go on the Mojave is pretty pathetic. If I want to be first off the start when the light turns green I'd have to push it. Shifting using the mpg meter leads to some snail like speed and not keeping up with the flow of traffic.

3) clutch is very tight and first to second can be a real jerk if you are not super careful. My kids say they're getting whiplash. My first car was a manual transmission Bronco, so I have driven standards before.

So overall, I would say mixed reviews on what I bought. Definitely like the open air feel, but not sure if I need to address any issues to enhance performance.

Finally, not wanting to put a lot of money in this rn but I would really like some different wheels. The blackout rims on the '23 Mojave not my favorite.

Thoughts much appreciated... -SM

1. I put 35s on @ 280miles and get 17-18.5 per tank. I do 1/2 of country roads and 1/2 highway with some city per tank. Mileage should get a little better as breaks in.
For the start stop- it has to me lots of parameters if you have it turned on for it to work. Does your display say start stop ready, do you have the hvac on, are you buckled, is the clutch pedal depressed? I’m sure those are only a few….

2. I personally don’t mind the get up and go but these engines make power at higher rpm so this could be your answer.

3. The clutch set up is well crap. Lots of threads on here about that.
Me I ran into my first issue at 4K miles off-roading on the beach and after a long drive out there in thick sand I got clutch overheat(I wasn’t skipping the clutch with the pedal) and then service trans which required a dealer visit to reset.
I now have a ACT clutch on order with pro mass fly wheel. Mixed reviews but it will help with pedal feel, stalling on take off, clutch feedback, and clutch slipping.

love my Mojave just taking a little to make it right I guess.

 

[Medical_Bartender]

2022 with a manual here. I was getting 19-20ish with a good mix of city/hwy driving with my stock Willys after my first oil change at 3k miles. I didn't pay much attention it until then. Now, with 35s, I get around 16-17 give or take depending on how aggressive I am. I'll agree, there's not much pep and first gear is pretty short unless you ring it out.

What @Chestnut said about shifting faster to smooth it out is right on the money. I have 4 different MT vehicles. My JK, and both 3/4 ton trucks shift more or less the same. It's intuitive and I can roll on the clutch and roll off at jut about any rate with my foot and there's no jerkiness. The Gladiator is a completely different beast. I found that putt putting around parking lots and side streets in 1-2-3 gears is the worst if I'm not careful. If you bring the RPMs up to ~2.5k and depress the clutch QUICKLY (not hard, but quickly), then shift and release clutch deliberately and quickly within a couple-few hundred RPM of the appropriate RPM range for the next gear, it's smooth as butter. But If I get sloppy/lazy and try to drive it like a forgiving truck tranny by taking my time...slow clutch movement , let RPMs drop too far, it's get jerky.

Best advice I can give is drive it and learn it. Play around with different clutch/shift/gas speeds until it feels right. I almost gave up and hated the MT in this truck until I learned it. I still don't love it, but it's definitely not the worst.

 

[MeiMei]

I am a manual guy and went from Tacoma-JKU sport -Now a new Gladiator Rubicon. The Jeeps both had a light clutch at first compared anything I have ever driven. The distance between gears is also smoother/closer on the stick shift itself. The JKU clutch firmed up after a while. The Tacoma that had similar gearing and like the Gladiator had tight 1-3 shifts, but Toyotas have a firmer/easier clutch feel. I feel I have to rev a bit more to get shifts from 3-4 compared most manuals. I got 12-13mpg at first, but it’s creeping up to almost 15 mpg now. I rarely drive in the highway, so I am sure it will be higher Both my Tacoma and Wrangler settled in around 18-19 mpg in mixed driving, but the Wrangler had the dreaded 3.1 gearing. It had longer throws, but was a bit easier to drive. My Gladiator is actually shifting better better than both at certain speeds. In all the manuals I had, the first trans fluid change improved performance. I think these Gladiators are fine once they get more milage and get more broken in. Many people give up on them fast and trade, but I will give it at least a couple of years. It’s already improving. It think it’s just a steeper learning curve.

 

[OPA Mac]

I purchased my 2022 3.6-L standard transmission, Gladatir, in January 2022. I use a Google Play app to track mileage, fuel usage, and MPG. I was monitoring for the last 12 months, from May 23 to April 24. The average MPG was 19.39. The minimum MPG was 11.44, and the maximum MPG was 46.11. Miles traveled 5932 total miles, and the fuel used 305.86 Gl.

The longest trip was to Colorado Springs, CO, from our home in Augusta, GA. On the return, I noted that fuel economy was the highest crossing from Denver to St Louis, MO. Of course, it was downhill to St. Louis. The total trip was a little over 2300 miles. We are retired and don't travel much. The Gladiator is my driving toy, but I still wish I had my dad's old WWII Army Jeep.

 

[starrskream]

I have the auto, new vehicle I got 12-14 up til about 1500 miles(I changed oil at 500) now I’m seeing 16-17 average. Mixed city and highway. Now at 2000 I’m seeing the same numbers in town and occasionally see 20 highway. HOWEVER: I also watch the current numbers and on different parts of the highway I travel I see 25-28 in current (not average) depending on hills, flat spots etc…

that said, your mileage will depend on where and how you drive. If you have lots of hills, or even mountains it will dip. Driving to my sisters I go up a very steep hill and see 3-5 mpg in current.

What I’ve learned in 30 years of driving:
2,000-2,200 rpm is key to nearly ideal mileage.
Take it with a grain of salt, I have noted slight increases in my older cars with mileage over 20-30k using Lucas every other few tanks helps with mpg.

bottom line: it’s a jeep you can not or should not expect to see 24+ ever. You may never see 20. The smiles per gallon could be 100+ though.

 

[Flyboy2109]

I don’t worry about or record gas mileage. I made my purchase for other reasons.

1st and 2nd are ‘short’ or ‘close’ gears. The rest are ‘tall gears’ for mileage. I can see that if you are stop and go in town mileage would suffer being in the close ratio and lower Range gears.

On the manual there are a lot of parameters to get ESS to work, such as stick in nuetral and clutch depress as well as several more. I don’t think ESS is triggered very often in the manual as a result.

 

[Throwback]

You'll get used to the clutch, it's weird at first. Power on the engine is at higher revs. It's there. Mileage sux and if you want it to get better you're driving really slow. Auto stop with the manual is finicky. Warm it up, wheels straight, clutch out in neutral, it should stall. At least you didn't pay stupid money for it. What was the sticker?

 

[Justins_JT]

The 3.6 likes higher rpm's. So if you're going along in a higher gear at say 2k rpm or less the gas mileage will be worse than if you downshift and run another 500 rpm. Seems counterintuitive but that's been my experience here in the hills of Tennessee. I put a centerforce clutch kit in mine and did 5.13 gears with 35's. Totally different vehicle to drive now. Gears make more sense and I can maintain highway speeds and use 6th gear. Plus it's way better to tow with. I have a hilly drive to work on a 65mph higway and I average about 14.5. If I drive east to the next town over it's flatter and I average like 17. Biggest obstacle is that these trucks weigh 5000 pounds, are 4wd, and shaped like bricks.

 

[shootify]

i got mine a few weeks ago, and definitely the gas mileage sucks, but i am coming from Nissan Frontier's previous gen, so, pretty much the same.
In regards the manual trans, I think it's something you need to get used to, at first I was like "What is this thing" but then you get used to it. Just learn it, and you will find the right spot.
cheers.

 

[23mojavegladiator]

The 3.6 likes higher rpm's. So if you're going along in a higher gear at say 2k rpm or less the gas mileage will be worse than if you downshift and run another 500 rpm. Seems counterintuitive but that's been my experience here in the hills of Tennessee. I put a centerforce clutch kit in mine and did 5.13 gears with 35's. Totally different vehicle to drive now. Gears make more sense and I can maintain highway speeds and use 6th gear. Plus it's way better to tow with. I have a hilly drive to work on a 65mph higway and I average about 14.5. If I drive east to the next town over it's flatter and I average like 17. Biggest obstacle is that these trucks weigh 5000 pounds, are 4wd, and shaped like bricks.

I really like your gladiator profile pic! 35s and those are factory rims, no? Did you have to add any lift? Which rims are those (seems to be many different rim designs out there). Moving up to a 5.13 would help the get up and go. Not a bad idea. I'd be happy with 16 or so around town. Thanks for the feedback!!! -SM

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