- Joined
- Mar 1, 2017
- Threads
- 69
- Messages
- 3,102
- Reaction score
- 4,068
- Location
- Bluegrass region of Kentucky
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Jeep Gladiator Overland EcoDiesel
- Occupation
- Meteorology and Transportation
- Thread starter
- Banned
- #1
So after being in a JL Wrangler Unlimited Sport S for almost 18 months and now being in a JT Gladiator Sport S, I've noticed a few differences.
Interior
JT has chrome bezels on the steering wheel, vs. the nice brushed nickel look of the JLU. I highly prefer the JLU version. Not only does the chrome on the JT not match anything else on the Sport trim level, but it also causes more sun glare on bright days.
The seats in the JT seem to have slightly more cushioning and padding, though generally being the same design and look.
The Mopar floor liners for the 2nd row won't work in the JT due to the storage bin under the seat.
The dash cluster display is faster and more responsive, though it has the exact same information and layout. The dyslexic brain-bending is still present in the JT; you must press up arrow to go down in the menu, down arrow to go up. Same with the shifter for the trans. in manual mode...pull down to upshift, push up to downshift. It's maddening and stupid. And I don't care that they do it this way in race cars; this isn't a race car.
The passenger grab handle is blank. In the JLU it is stamped "Wrangler" which is a nice touch. In the JT it's just blank and looks cheap. Why couldn't they stamp those with "Gladiator"?
The $1,295 Alpine system is a disappointment. Yes, it does have a little bit of thump from the sub, but at high volumes (14 and beyond) it begins to rattle and sounds cheap. And, the rest of the system doesn't sound any better than the standard system in the JLU I had. I would have skipped the Alpine system if I could do it over again. Too much money for too little gain.
The way the rear seats fold two ways is very nice. Wrangler seats can't fold up at all, only the seat backs fold down.
Despite having 3 mufflers (ridiculous), the JT seems to be louder in the cabin. I hear more engine note and the acoustics are just very different. The JLU was more quiet despite being a shorter wheelbase with less restrictive exhaust system. Odd. Very odd.
The auto climate control in the JLU is bad. Real bad. I did a series of YouTube videos that showed that the actual interior temperature was sometimes nearly 20 degrees different from the temperature that the climate control was set to. Well, the JT is even worse. On the ride home, I had to set the controls to 62 degrees just to get somewhat comfortable and it was only 82 degrees outside. Not even the heat of summer yet. Why can't Jeep program a climate control system properly? My Nissan Frontier with auto climate was spot-on. Set it to 70 degrees and it stayed nice in the truck year round.
Exterior
The Jeep fender emblem is black on the JT, which I prefer over the chrome one on the JLU.
The JT has a noticeably higher stance than the JLU.
The JT inner wheel-well splash guard on the front is cheap, flimsy material that flops around a lot. This is not the case on the JLU. The JLU fender liners were rigid and worked great. I have no idea why Jeep would change this.
The JLU hard top freedom panels are identical to the JT panels and my Sunrider for Hardtop fit like a glove on the truck.
Driving
It feels like they didn't update the JT steering calibration to accommodate the longer wheelbase. It requires a lot more turn of the steering wheel to go around curves and make turns. This causes the steering to feel "slow" compared to JLU. I wish they would have updated this.
On the local CAT scale, my JLU went 4,200 lbs. and my JT is 4,700 lbs. You can feel the extra 500 lbs. of weight some, but what surprises me is that the 4.10 gears don't seem to make up for the weight penalty like I expected. The JT still feels slower and more sluggish. Perhaps the engine is still breaking in.
Fuel economy so far is quite a bit worse. My bone stock JT is getting worse MPGs than my JLU was getting on a 2.5" lift with 35" mud tires. Ouch. I have no idea why that's the case. The 4.10s in the axles keep the JT in 8th gear more often. I would have expected similar gas mileage but so far there's at least a 2.0 MPG difference between the JT and JLU. Again, the engine in the JT is still breaking in so perhaps it'll get a little better?
Ride quality is noticeably better in the JT. Very smooth and rides softer than the JLU. JLU was stiff and choppy from day 1.
Brakes are noticeably stronger in the JT. The truck stops so well that even the wife commented on it when she drove it.
The coolant in the JT is blueish purple. Not the case on the JLU. Why do they change coolants like underwear?
I love that JT has standard D44s front and rear and they are heavier duty axle tubes than what JLU gets even in Rubicon trim.
Overall a whole lot is familar on the JT, but a whole lot is different. Quite an interesting experience.
Interior
JT has chrome bezels on the steering wheel, vs. the nice brushed nickel look of the JLU. I highly prefer the JLU version. Not only does the chrome on the JT not match anything else on the Sport trim level, but it also causes more sun glare on bright days.
The seats in the JT seem to have slightly more cushioning and padding, though generally being the same design and look.
The Mopar floor liners for the 2nd row won't work in the JT due to the storage bin under the seat.
The dash cluster display is faster and more responsive, though it has the exact same information and layout. The dyslexic brain-bending is still present in the JT; you must press up arrow to go down in the menu, down arrow to go up. Same with the shifter for the trans. in manual mode...pull down to upshift, push up to downshift. It's maddening and stupid. And I don't care that they do it this way in race cars; this isn't a race car.
The passenger grab handle is blank. In the JLU it is stamped "Wrangler" which is a nice touch. In the JT it's just blank and looks cheap. Why couldn't they stamp those with "Gladiator"?
The $1,295 Alpine system is a disappointment. Yes, it does have a little bit of thump from the sub, but at high volumes (14 and beyond) it begins to rattle and sounds cheap. And, the rest of the system doesn't sound any better than the standard system in the JLU I had. I would have skipped the Alpine system if I could do it over again. Too much money for too little gain.
The way the rear seats fold two ways is very nice. Wrangler seats can't fold up at all, only the seat backs fold down.
Despite having 3 mufflers (ridiculous), the JT seems to be louder in the cabin. I hear more engine note and the acoustics are just very different. The JLU was more quiet despite being a shorter wheelbase with less restrictive exhaust system. Odd. Very odd.
The auto climate control in the JLU is bad. Real bad. I did a series of YouTube videos that showed that the actual interior temperature was sometimes nearly 20 degrees different from the temperature that the climate control was set to. Well, the JT is even worse. On the ride home, I had to set the controls to 62 degrees just to get somewhat comfortable and it was only 82 degrees outside. Not even the heat of summer yet. Why can't Jeep program a climate control system properly? My Nissan Frontier with auto climate was spot-on. Set it to 70 degrees and it stayed nice in the truck year round.
Exterior
The Jeep fender emblem is black on the JT, which I prefer over the chrome one on the JLU.
The JT has a noticeably higher stance than the JLU.
The JT inner wheel-well splash guard on the front is cheap, flimsy material that flops around a lot. This is not the case on the JLU. The JLU fender liners were rigid and worked great. I have no idea why Jeep would change this.
The JLU hard top freedom panels are identical to the JT panels and my Sunrider for Hardtop fit like a glove on the truck.
Driving
It feels like they didn't update the JT steering calibration to accommodate the longer wheelbase. It requires a lot more turn of the steering wheel to go around curves and make turns. This causes the steering to feel "slow" compared to JLU. I wish they would have updated this.
On the local CAT scale, my JLU went 4,200 lbs. and my JT is 4,700 lbs. You can feel the extra 500 lbs. of weight some, but what surprises me is that the 4.10 gears don't seem to make up for the weight penalty like I expected. The JT still feels slower and more sluggish. Perhaps the engine is still breaking in.
Fuel economy so far is quite a bit worse. My bone stock JT is getting worse MPGs than my JLU was getting on a 2.5" lift with 35" mud tires. Ouch. I have no idea why that's the case. The 4.10s in the axles keep the JT in 8th gear more often. I would have expected similar gas mileage but so far there's at least a 2.0 MPG difference between the JT and JLU. Again, the engine in the JT is still breaking in so perhaps it'll get a little better?
Ride quality is noticeably better in the JT. Very smooth and rides softer than the JLU. JLU was stiff and choppy from day 1.
Brakes are noticeably stronger in the JT. The truck stops so well that even the wife commented on it when she drove it.
The coolant in the JT is blueish purple. Not the case on the JLU. Why do they change coolants like underwear?
I love that JT has standard D44s front and rear and they are heavier duty axle tubes than what JLU gets even in Rubicon trim.
Overall a whole lot is familar on the JT, but a whole lot is different. Quite an interesting experience.
Sponsored