To keep the tires from spinning, you need to gently touch the throttle.
The Jeep Gladiator has the Hellcat 6.2-liter supercharged v8. It’s all the rage these day. A new Drag Times video highlights one such conversion. It shows how difficult it can be to harness the engine’s power inside the truck.
The engine output is increased to 750 horsepower (559kilowatts) with additional modifications. The parts include a large winch on the front bumper and revised suspension. It also features 36-inch tires and an assortment of lights and strobes.
This Gladiator accelerates forward with a simple tap of the throttle. The large tires quickly break free and spin. Although the four-wheel drive system is still in use, it does not appear to make the truck more manageable when it is active.
Drag Times Finally, he hooks up his Vbox recorder to find out how powerful the truck is. It is hard to get a good run, but this video shows that the Gladiator can reach 60 mph (96 km/h) in 5.7 seconds and 100 MPH (161 kph), in 15.2 seconds. It takes 11.3 seconds to complete the quarter-mile. These figures are based on public roads. Motor1.com doesn’t condone. The pickup can be faster on a prepared drag strip with more experience and a better launch.
Jeep even built a Hellcat-powered Gladiator to go with its Five Quarter concept (see gallery above). But don’t expect the company to install the supercharged V8 in the pickup and then sell them in showrooms. The engine is in the bay but there’s too little space around it to allow for sufficient crush space for crash protection. People can build a Hellcat-powered Gladiator if they want it.