Jeep’s Wayout concept Gladiator is a tough, practical off-roader, but it’s also a reminder of an ingredient Australia will miss.
Jeep has unveiled the ultimate off-road adventure Gladiator ute, equipped with a new diesel turbo V6 engine and all.
A custom creation using the new factory turbo diesel V6 underneath and which will go into production soon, the Gladiator Wayout would be a great off-road camper for down under, but nothing we see here is destined for Australia, including the new diesel motor.
Unfortunately, the 3.0-litre EcoDiesel V6 turbo is only for left-hand drive cars, meaning Australians will make do with just the one engine option here. That’s a petrol 3.6-litre V6, rather than the 194kW, 599Nm oiler revealed here, which should be good for around 800km range.
Sure, the petrol six proves to be a powerful drivetrain choice in our real-world testing, but we’d sure love to see a diesel engine in Jeep’s only ute on sale.
Intended to be shown earlier this year at the MOAB Jeep Safari in April, the concept model’s unveiling was pushed out when the event was cancelled due to coronavirus.
“Although we didn’t get to celebrate in Moab this year with our latest round of concept vehicles, we’re pleased to introduce the Jeep Farout concept today as a vehicle that blends Gladiator EcoDiesel’s fuel efficiency with an area of features fans of overlanding will love,” said the head of Jeep brand, Jim Morrison.
“Building on the popularity of last year’s Gladiator Wayout concept, and as overlanding continues to grow in popularity, this year’s Farout concept is another opportunity to gather feedback from our passionate customer base.”
Additions to the Farout concept include the obvious 2.3m-tall pop-up roof tent which sleeps four, timber trimmings, a nice cold fridge, stove to cook on, plus seats and a pop-up table for chowing down. And of course, standard equipment like the portable Bluetooth speaker Australia does get are also part of its tailgate party potential.
For off-road duty the suspension has been lifted two-inches with Jeep Performance Parts and Fox performance shocks, 17-inch rims are fitted with knobbly 37-inch mud tyres, rock rails protect over rocks and bumps, and a 12,000 pound Warn winch will help if you get stuck.
Alas, like nearly all concept cars, it’s not likely to ever see its wheels on a production line.
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