The classic Jeep is reinvented in the Renegade to meet the market’s new need for the compact SUV.
The Car
When you hear “Jeep”, you know you’ll be getting a sturdy off-road vehicle, and the Renegade is no exception. It comes in a tall, box-shaped package that’s signature of a Jeep vehicle and at the same time, it sports the trademark grilles with road headlights. With a high ground clearance, low-ratio gearing, tight turning radius, long suspension travel as well as water-fording capabilities, you are definitely getting one rugged vehicle.
The Jeep Renegade is awarded five stars on the ANCAP safety rating with a standard safety installation of six airbags, and a special electronic stability control system that includes software that helps prevent the car from rolling over. In addition, the Trailhawk trim gives you quite a few more benefits with bigger tyres to cushion bumps and potholes and other terrain on the road as well as tweaked front and rear bumpers to allow the Renegade to go up and down hills on a steeper gradient.
The Drive
The Renegade has a number of benefits at its smaller size, especially since it has a smaller turning radius and a very direct line of control from its steering. The Renegade is also very grippy, but unfortunately with a little too much zeal, and it stops you from being able to enjoy the drive on regular roads a little.
However, if you are looking for a car for your first off-road adventure, then you’d definitely want to get a seat in the Renegade. Away from the tarmac, its high ground clearance, 4 wheel drive options, daped steering (which helps you to make careful and calculated maneuvers) as well as a lusty diesel engine, you’ll be able to achieve a lot when you take your Renegade off the beaten track.
We do find it important to mention that the blocky shape of the Renegade has one horrible draw back – the visibility and wind noise are really quite bad once you get on the roads and in particular the Trailhawk with the grippy tyres that help with the off-road experience.
The Interior
The windows and the resulting poor visibility make the interior of the Renegade sadly lacking and small. The people sitting at the back will suffer the most, as does your boot space. You get 351 litres of boot space with the rear seats up and 1,297 litres with them down, which is okay, but not fantastic. You can fold the front seat down to give you a little bit more space for long items though but of course you compromise on the number of people you can bring with you on your adventures. Given the Renegade’s boxy shape, we’re surprised of the lack of room inside the cabin.
Besides the claustrophobia, you’ll get limited trim from the Renagade which matches its rugged exterior in our opinion, and you’ll notice that there are some changes in furnishings too now that Jeep is owned by Fiat in addition to some interesting quirks like the rev-counter graphics and the Jeep logos sprinkled around the cabin.
Overall
You can’t really go wrong with the off-road prowess of a Jeep vehicle, but the car is noisy and there’s no denying the cost involved if you wanted to opt for more plush interior finishing.
For more information, you can compare more options for the Jeep Renegade with The Smarter Finance Company when you look at comprehensive insurance and car finance with us.