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When you hear Jeep Gladiator, your mind probably lights up with images of rugged trails, open-air motoring, and mid-size truck utility. The 2025 Jeep Gladiator Willys 4×4 leans into that legacy as the most extreme off-road variant in the lineup, but as a well-balanced, adventure-ready workhorse that bridges capability and daily usability.
Starting at $46,000, the Gladiator remains unlike most pickups: it’s essentially a four-door Wrangler platform grafted to a 5½-foot bed. The 2025 refresh carries forward that DNA, but with some meaningful updates. Chief among them: the manual transmission is gone, replaced entirely by an eight-speed automatic setup. That’s a signal from Jeep that they believe the future of this truck lies in more refined, more widely usable drive systems.
On the spec front, the Willys 4×4 packs the 3.6L Pentastar V6 making 285 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque that delivers 17 miles per gallon in the city and 22 mpg on the highway. The drive system remains full-time 4×4 with selectable modes, and Jeep notes this version includes features like a Tru-Lok rear-axle locker and an “Off-Road+” mode to tailor throttle, shift, and traction behavior to the terrain.
The “Willys” name carries historic weight – it’s a nod to the storied military Jeeps of the 1940s. In modern form, Jeep positions the Willys trim as a sort of “off-road ready baseline.” For the 2025 Gladiator Willys, some of its standard features include:
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Finely engineered five-link suspension
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17-inch aluminum wheels with 33-inch all-terrain tires
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Red accents and tow hooks
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Steel rock rails for the cab and bed corners
One important caveat: the Willys trim in 2025 doesn’t aim for the fully hardcore rock-crawling setup of a Rubicon. Instead, it strikes a pragmatic middle ground. It’s got more off-road tools than the base trims, but without going full trail-rat.
On paper, the Gladiator’s maximum towing number remains impressive. Jeep’s broader spec sheet mentions up to 7,700 lbs of towing, though not all trims or configurations will achieve that number, and best-in-class payload of up to 1,725 pounds.
The automatic transmission does smooth things out for highway and city driving, but the Gladiator still shows its off-road-oriented chassis in every turn. On-road manners are competent, but not sporty. The high center of gravity, solid axles, and suspension tuning optimized for articulation make it less nimble than many “street-first” midsize trucks.
So, if you’re searching for a midsize pickup that’s as comfortable on trails as it is in the city, the 2025 Gladiator Willys 4×4 is a strong candidate. You get a capable drivetrain, useful off-road enhancements, and a usable payload/tow balance. Give the 2025 Jeep Gladiator Willys 4×4 a spin and tell me what you think.
