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Thoughts from a new Gladiator (and Jeep) owner after a 1100 mile drive home.

dcmdon

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Hi all, so I finally picked up my Gladiator at Gupton and have a bunch of thoughts and some questions I'd like to share.

In general the truck's mechanical aspects are very straightforward with no real leaning curve. The electronics though took a while. So here is a list as I took notes during the ride.

1. Apple Car Play is a huge disappointment. I thought it would essentially present my apps on the car's display. Well,kind of but not quite. When I am driving somewhere I dont' know I like to have my map presented North Up and zoomed out so I can actually understand where I am and what is around me.

Car Play's presentation of all major mapping apps doesn't allow this. (Apple Maps, google maps, and Waze) After a while I figured out how to make Google Maps (my preferred) north up. But you can't zoom out. Its set at a zoom of about 500 ft. This is a useful size for when you want turn by turn guidance in a city but is less than useless when you are driving 1100 miles in 16 hours on the interstate.

2. Its reasonably quiet up to just a bit over 70. Its pretty loud by 75. This is good for me. I am hoping the Gladiator will slow me down as a driver. So far so good.

3. Its quicker than I anticipated. My memory of the demos that I drove weren't of it really being able to accelerate on the highway. But I really didn't have any trouble. I was very pleasantly surprised. Of course I'm not afraid to run it up to 5500 rpm. So that may be it.

4. which leads to the transmission - this may be the nicest automatic I've ever driven. Its quick to downshift when I need the power. Which is pretty much always. I spent a fair amount of time in 7th and 8th gear manual so that I could run run at high throttle settings up hills which helps with break in. And it is truly gutless in 7th and 8th. But the transmission always seems to grab the right gear on first attempt when you need more poke.

5. The Mojave's ride is amazingly good. Compliance is acceptable. Body motion control is exceptional.

6. The tires are bigger in person. I was originally going to put 35s on it right away. I think I'll wait a couple of years for that.

7. Factory LED low beams are exceptional. I couldn't believe how bright they were and nobody flashed their lights at me. High beams are good. But not as much of an improvement as you might think.

8. 4-Auto works great. I found myself in a couple of snow squalls starting in WV and they had no equipment out. The road was unplowed and untreated. I pulled off for gas during one snow squall and was able to accelerate from the bottom of the exit ramp pretty hard with no slippage. It was also seamless. Though for some reason there is a small amount of noise when its engaged on the highway.

9) The steering definitely takes some getting used to. At the beginning of the trip it was mentally exhausting to keep the truck between the lane markers. By the end of the trip it was second nature.

A question - I'm used to an HVAC with an auto setting that automatically turns on the AC compressor. The AC light comes on and if you don't want it on, you tap the AC button. This leaves it in Auto mode but it can't run the AC. This is a good way to do things on dry winter days.

Overall it was a fun

In the Jeep, when you tap Auto, the AC light doesn't light up. Is it on? If you tap AC the AC light comes on but the Auto light goes off.

There doesn't seem to be a way to have it in Auto without AC engaged. Am I missing something?
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Hi all, so I finally picked up my Gladiator at Gupton and have a bunch of thoughts and some questions I'd like to share.

In general the truck's mechanical aspects are very straightforward with no real leaning curve. The electronics though took a while. So here is a list as I took notes during the ride.

1. Apple Car Play is a huge disappointment. I thought it would essentially present my apps on the car's display. Well,kind of but not quite. When I am driving somewhere I dont' know I like to have my map presented North Up and zoomed out so I can actually understand where I am and what is around me.

Car Play's presentation of all major mapping apps doesn't allow this. (Apple Maps, google maps, and Waze) After a while I figured out how to make Google Maps (my preferred) north up. But you can't zoom out. Its set at a zoom of about 500 ft. This is a useful size for when you want turn by turn guidance in a city but is less than useless when you are driving 1100 miles in 16 hours on the interstate.

2. Its reasonably quiet up to just a bit over 70. Its pretty loud by 75. This is good for me. I am hoping the Gladiator will slow me down as a driver. So far so good.

3. Its quicker than I anticipated. My memory of the demos that I drove weren't of it really being able to accelerate on the highway. But I really didn't have any trouble. I was very pleasantly surprised. Of course I'm not afraid to run it up to 5500 rpm. So that may be it.

4. which leads to the transmission - this may be the nicest automatic I've ever driven. Its quick to downshift when I need the power. Which is pretty much always. I spent a fair amount of time in 7th and 8th gear manual so that I could run run at high throttle settings up hills which helps with break in. And it is truly gutless in 7th and 8th. But the transmission always seems to grab the right gear on first attempt when you need more poke.

5. The Mojave's ride is amazingly good. Compliance is acceptable. Body motion control is exceptional.

6. The tires are bigger in person. I was originally going to put 35s on it right away. I think I'll wait a couple of years for that.

7. Factory LED low beams are exceptional. I couldn't believe how bright they were and nobody flashed their lights at me. High beams are good. But not as much of an improvement as you might think.

8. 4-Auto works great. I found myself in a couple of snow squalls starting in WV and they had no equipment out. The road was unplowed and untreated. I pulled off for gas during one snow squall and was able to accelerate from the bottom of the exit ramp pretty hard with no slippage. It was also seamless. Though for some reason there is a small amount of noise when its engaged on the highway.

9) The steering definitely takes some getting used to. At the beginning of the trip it was mentally exhausting to keep the truck between the lane markers. By the end of the trip it was second nature.

A question - I'm used to an HVAC with an auto setting that automatically turns on the AC compressor. The AC light comes on and if you don't want it on, you tap the AC button. This leaves it in Auto mode but it can't run the AC. This is a good way to do things on dry winter days.

Overall it was a fun

In the Jeep, when you tap Auto, the AC light doesn't light up. Is it on? If you tap AC the AC light comes on but the Auto light goes off.

There doesn't seem to be a way to have it in Auto without AC engaged. Am I missing something?

7. I get flashed at least once, sometimes more often, every single time I drive at night. It's the first and only vehicle that's ever happened with. I get these guys with the huge quad lights up front that I'm sure are not properly aimed and likely not even legal blasting me a lot - they flash their high beams at me and their highs will melt aluminum.

Your gearing helps your automatic. I don't see 8th a lot around here - not for long periods, anyway. Hit a hill it must downshift, sometimes clear down to 5th, to keep up speed. I love the transmission but seriously, it's programmed for mpg and not real world roads like we have - or our wind. I've driven 20 miles on I80 and never left 7th gear, going 70. It didn't have the guts.

The android version is disappointing as well as Google maps is stuck on one side and the info it leaves on the screen makes the map itself almost worthless. It need s a zoom ability and needs to clear the Google crap off the screen so I can see the map - by default. I don't use it a lot because it's clunky, as my son would put it - he'd say "Dad, this is so 1990". He's right.

Love the truck - but the Android Auto is not great. It of course wants to default to Google maps - makes sense as it's a Google product, but ugh, Google maps on that thing is lame. I prefer waze by far.

Wind noise (knew that going in, can adjust hearing aids to block certain noises), transmission shift patterns when not towing (towing it is a great transmission!) and the android auto are my main annoyances. But nothing would stop me from buying one again.
The headlights I think are just people have no clue - that's how they work. They've been checked and double-checked and are fully in spec as far as adjustment.
 
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dcmdon

dcmdon

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The worst thing about Apple Car Play sucking so bad is that I now need to figure out a mount for the phone. I originally thought I'd just stow it in the center glove box.
 
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dcmdon

dcmdon

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Congrats on the new truck!



Upside down in the slot between the cup holders 👍
Hah. In all seriousness. Do you use and like Car play. Or do you just not use your phone when you drive for things like Spotify or mapping. No criticism, just curious.
 

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Hah. In all seriousness. Do you use and like Car play. Or do you just not use your phone when you drive for things like Spotify or mapping. No criticism, just curious.
I use it every drive -- normally just for CarPlay music, but also for nav when needed. I don't need to use the phone itself, just CarPlay through the screen. But it's right there between the cup holders if I do want to pick it up and do something on it.

This should help with setting the Apple Maps view to your desire: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/change-the-map-view-iph93c7df449/ios
 

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I must come from more basic cars as I love the Android Auto in my JTR. Connects seamlessly, picks straight up on the last thing I was listening to and the mapping (both Google and Waze) are great. very occasionally it doesn't recognise the connected phone but unplug and re-plug it's fine.
 
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1 and 2
Sorry use Android Auto and have been pretty pleased with it.

3
Yes agree, have sport S with max tow and the acceleration surprised me from my previous truck 2011 Nissan Frontier. But I as well have a lead foot.

4
Yes it has been amazing, going to adjust computer for new tires, see below.

5 and 6
Do not have a Mojave (wanted), but got sport S max tow, now have Rubicon take off wheels/tires, so same size as you describe. Very happy for now and may only go marginaly larger when these wear out.

Sorry do not have the other advanced features.

Congrats on the JT, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been enjoying mine.


Hi all, so I finally picked up my Gladiator at Gupton and have a bunch of thoughts and some questions I'd like to share.

In general the truck's mechanical aspects are very straightforward with no real leaning curve. The electronics though took a while. So here is a list as I took notes during the ride.

1. Apple Car Play is a huge disappointment. I thought it would essentially present my apps on the car's display. Well,kind of but not quite. When I am driving somewhere I dont' know I like to have my map presented North Up and zoomed out so I can actually understand where I am and what is around me.

Car Play's presentation of all major mapping apps doesn't allow this. (Apple Maps, google maps, and Waze) After a while I figured out how to make Google Maps (my preferred) north up. But you can't zoom out. Its set at a zoom of about 500 ft. This is a useful size for when you want turn by turn guidance in a city but is less than useless when you are driving 1100 miles in 16 hours on the interstate.

2. Its reasonably quiet up to just a bit over 70. Its pretty loud by 75. This is good for me. I am hoping the Gladiator will slow me down as a driver. So far so good.

3. Its quicker than I anticipated. My memory of the demos that I drove weren't of it really being able to accelerate on the highway. But I really didn't have any trouble. I was very pleasantly surprised. Of course I'm not afraid to run it up to 5500 rpm. So that may be it.

4. which leads to the transmission - this may be the nicest automatic I've ever driven. Its quick to downshift when I need the power. Which is pretty much always. I spent a fair amount of time in 7th and 8th gear manual so that I could run run at high throttle settings up hills which helps with break in. And it is truly gutless in 7th and 8th. But the transmission always seems to grab the right gear on first attempt when you need more poke.

5. The Mojave's ride is amazingly good. Compliance is acceptable. Body motion control is exceptional.

6. The tires are bigger in person. I was originally going to put 35s on it right away. I think I'll wait a couple of years for that.

7. Factory LED low beams are exceptional. I couldn't believe how bright they were and nobody flashed their lights at me. High beams are good. But not as much of an improvement as you might think.

8. 4-Auto works great. I found myself in a couple of snow squalls starting in WV and they had no equipment out. The road was unplowed and untreated. I pulled off for gas during one snow squall and was able to accelerate from the bottom of the exit ramp pretty hard with no slippage. It was also seamless. Though for some reason there is a small amount of noise when its engaged on the highway.

9) The steering definitely takes some getting used to. At the beginning of the trip it was mentally exhausting to keep the truck between the lane markers. By the end of the trip it was second nature.

A question - I'm used to an HVAC with an auto setting that automatically turns on the AC compressor. The AC light comes on and if you don't want it on, you tap the AC button. This leaves it in Auto mode but it can't run the AC. This is a good way to do things on dry winter days.

Overall it was a fun

In the Jeep, when you tap Auto, the AC light doesn't light up. Is it on? If you tap AC the AC light comes on but the Auto light goes off.

There doesn't seem to be a way to have it in Auto without AC engaged. Am I missing something?
 

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leaving in auto will have the a/c light come off and on. It’s a pretty intelligent system. I *think* it measured interior, exterior temps, humidity, and probably other variables, too.

Sometimes, you need to manually select a/c to help keep windows clear.
Mine dies a good job about 95% of the time.
 

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Can you use pinch-zoom to scale out your map? I use Android auto, but I think you can zoom out with gesture in Google Maps.
 

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I must come from more basic cars as I love the Android Auto in my JTR. Connects seamlessly, picks straight up on the last thing I was listening to and the mapping (both Google and Waze) are great. very occasionally it doesn't recognise the connected phone but unplug and re-plug it's fine.
I don't mind Google maps on a computer or tablet or the phone but it just doesn't translate well to the Jeep's screen. It's a lot harder to get addresses plugged into.
I've stopped trying to use Google crap and use Waze any time I need nav in the JT now. Superior. Blows Google craps away.
I can't figure out hot to get Google craps on the screen to allow EASY plugging in of an address - I usually do that on the phone and then connect it to the truck. Google is really lame in that area, IMO.
I found with a high-end USB C to C cable I've gotten better reliability in connections. I bought one that has a 90 degree angle on one end so instead if the cable dropping down across the dash when my phone is up in the mount, it goes off to the right side and down, not in the way of any other controls. Love that cable.
 

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Can you use pinch-zoom to scale out your map? I use Android auto, but I think you can zoom out with gesture in Google Maps.
Something to try again for sure. Didn't work when I tried before but then for some reason my fingers don't work well with touch screens. Too many chemicals embedded in my skin I guess.
 
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dcmdon

dcmdon

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leaving in auto will have the a/c light come off and on. It’s a pretty intelligent system. I *think* it measured interior, exterior temps, humidity, and probably other variables, too.

Sometimes, you need to manually select a/c to help keep windows clear.
Mine dies a good job about 95% of the time.
Thanks. That's great. I just thought it ran the ac compressor all the time but didn't light the light. I'm more likely to use it then.
 
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dcmdon

dcmdon

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Something to try again for sure. Didn't work when I tried before but then for some reason my fingers don't work well with touch screens. Too many chemicals embedded in my skin I guess.
you can't pinch to zoom in Apple Car play and I spent several minutes looking in the menu on the truck trying to find a zoom function.

I may be wrong about that, but I know I tried to pinch to zoom right from the beginning.
 
 



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