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Back in 2012, Jeep announced the J-12 concept truck. The concept added 18 inches to the length of the JK-8 conversion that already exists. The big announcement for today is that Jeep is actually going to make the concept but release it as the J-20 Jeep Gladiator for 2015. Unlike the recent revivals of past name plates, the Gladiator is actually going to be an instant hit because of a few key factors. For one, it appeals to those of us that have been begging for a Jeep pickup. The 2015 Gladiator will come with a six food bed standard making room for the spare tire underneath the bed. Another reason that I’m looking forward to the Gladiator is the V6 EcoDiesel that is also found in the new Ram Trucks. And if you think its just a pretty face, then you’re wrong. Its loaded with the parts needed to be a great offroader. The ARB lockers turn the D-44 front axle and the D-60 rear axle while sitting on 35″ BFG KM2 tires. I just love the classic style and hardcore parts and a base price of $35,850, I think its also a really good price.
Happy April Fools Day 2014
Head over to DrivingExperiences.com and check out some of the most epic roads on the planet. Here’s a few of my favorite ones that I would love to check out.
- Troll Ladder Road in Norway – Trollstigen or ‘The Troll Ladder’ is a mountain road in Rauma, Norway, part of Norwegian National Road 63 connecting Åndalsnes in Rauma and Valldal in Norddal. A popular tourist attraction due to its steep inclines and eleven hairpin bends up the steep mountain side, the road up is very narrow with many sharp bends, and although it has been widened in recent years, long vehicles are still prohibited from driving the road. To try and minimise the accidents and fatalities that the road causes, The Norwegian government now opts to close this steepen street in the winter and normally re-opens again in late May or early June.
- Road of Death – The North Yungas Road in Bolivia, also known as the ‘Road of Death’, is said to be the most dangerous road in the world. With its narrow and uneven tracks which are sometimes only 3 meters wide and very steep mountains and sheer drops of up to 1000m, you can see why! Every year, hundreds of deaths are caused by vehicles plunging off the road while trying risky overtaking maneuvers. The Road links La Paz with Coroico, with the first 40km stretch deemed as the most hazardous as anybody driving down it is met in an extremely unstable road, and waterfalls cascading down the side of the mountain and over the road. The dense cloud cover in the area can also make visibility poor at best. After years of construction, a new bypass which tunnels through the mountain was opened in 2006 which skirts around the most dangerous section of the road
- The Pan-American Highway is a series of routes that passes through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama in North America, and Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile in South America. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest motorable road in the world. While it doesn’t officially have a route through the U.S. and Canada, some people start in Alaska and drive/bike to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost tip of South America. It is necessary to bypass the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia by ferry, however. The Pan-America Highway which runs for 30,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina is also known as the ‘longest motorable road’ in the world. The landscape really tests motorist’s skills, as the road runs through mountains, jungles, deserts and glaciers.
- The Skippers Canyon Road, located in New Zealand, is as unbelievably scary as it is beautiful. The extremely narrow path, cut in the middle of a sheer cliff face, makes it hugely difficult to manoeuvre any vehicle. While fatality numbers are relatively low, this mountain road with its huge drop into the ravine below is so dangerous it requires a huge amount of concentration, patience and even a special permit to even try and tackle it. This narrow road, commonly used by cars and small vehicles as well as large tourist buses means that if two vehicles have to pass each other, one vehicle might have to reverse for anything up to 3 kilometres of winding narrow road to get to a place wide enough for both vehicles. The road was constructed by 4 contractors who completed their work in stages over a period of seven years, using gold miners to hand carve large sections of the road out of the cliff face. Many sections of the road remain today very much as they were in 1890.
Chevy is looking to fight the Ford Raptor with the introduction of the Reaper. And unlike the first story about the Jeep Gladiator, the Reaper is real. Its been tuned by Lingenfelter and Southern Comfort Automotive. It comes with a special front end design, 33″tires, Rigid Industries lights, Fox shocks, and of course a supercharger. This is going to be a kit sold through Chevy but its hard to say exactly how it will perform. Previous experience from Ram has shown that beating the Raptor at its own game is going to be a tough job. What do you think of the Reaper?
