It's the market, stupid! Not even the historic and unavoidable Jeep is immune to the whims of the market. To be the world power it aspires to, cars like the (not so) small renegade they have to happen—a Jeep that looks like a Jeep but has little or nothing in a Jeep.
The unit tested by us demonstrates this. On the top of the range Jeep Renegade Limited, we only have two drive wheels and a few off-road friendly 19″ wheels and 235/40 R19 tires (800 euros option). Off-road adventures? Forget it (at least with this Renegade), let's stick to urban and suburban asphalt…
However, Renegade is synonymous with success. It remains one of the main pillars of the brand's expansion to the four corners of the world.
But what spoils everything is the consumption — simply too high.
The update received last year brought some aesthetic touches, but the biggest differences are found under the bonnet. The Jeep Renegade was the first FCA model to receive the new turbocharged Firefly (They debuted in Brazil, in their naturally aspirated variants): 1.0, three cylinders and 120 hp; and 1.3, four cylinders and 150 hp.
“Our” Renegade brought the 1.0 Turbo 120 hp and a six-speed manual gearbox. In this Limited version the price was about substantial 33 280 euros , of which 9100 euros were only optional (the final price also featured a rebate of 2500 euros due to a campaign that was taking place at the time of the rehearsal).
substantial is the right word
Substantial was the word that came up most often to define many of Renegade's personality traits during his stay with us. Despite being, for now, the stepping stone of access to the Jeep family, the robustness that we expect from a Wrangler or a bigger Grand Cherokee, also reached the smallest Renegade.
Info-entertainment with 8.4" touch screen, with lots of options, but its operation is easy.
Everything in Renegade has a certain and even welcome weight. Be the steering, which is not absurdly light; to the rotary knobs on the center console, large in size (larger than I found on the new Wrangler) and coated with a non-slip rubber.
The general perception is one of robustness, undoubtedly enhanced by the good build quality — with a balanced mix of softer materials that are pleasant to the touch with harder ones —, absence of parasitic noises and good sound insulation.
Our unit featured the optional 19" wheels. A point in favor of aesthetics, but not comfort or rolling noise.
Helping in this perception, the stability felt at high speeds with aerodynamic noise very well suppressed - something surprising, considering the Renegade's "quasi-brick" shape - and despite the 19″ wheels and low profile tires, the levels of comfort are above average, effectively absorbing most irregularities, even if the wheels add unwanted rolling noise.
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The feeling one gets most of the time is that the Renegade was carved from a single block of solid material, without a doubt one of its most pleasing aspects.
And the new engine?
I would like to say that the new engine is the perfect match for the renewed Renegade, even considering the peculiarities of our market, but no. We have already tested other small one liter blocks, and we have no problem suggesting them even as alternatives to the demonized Diesel ones.
The same doesn't happen with this 1000. The engine itself is not bad, but it is on the threshold of acceptable to handle the 1400 kg of the Renegade (and only with a driver on board). Perhaps we can blame the Renegade's weight for some lack of “lung” below the maximum torque range (190 Nm at 1750 rpm) and there is also some delay in response after depressing the accelerator. However, its operation is pleasant and quite refined, with well contained vibrations.
But what spoils everything is the consumption — simply too high.
Jeep announces 7.1 l/100 km (WLTP) of combined consumption for the Renegade, but I have never been able to come close to such values, almost always driven in an urban and suburban context. In fact, the most common digit I saw on the on-board computer always started with a 9. And sometimes, to go below 10 — dammit… — you have to have the mental discipline of a Buddhist monk.
Is the car right for me?
Maybe, but not with this engine. Although more expensive, the 150 hp 1.3 Turbo will move better and with less effort, but will it get more affordable fuel consumption in real conditions? Well, the 120hp 1.6 Multijet is still in the catalog.
It's a shame, because Renegade is very easy to like. This Jeep may not be a… jeep, but in an urban context it turned out to be pleasant. It effectively insulates us from the chaos outside, it's well built, and it even behaves predictably well, though it's not the most prone to dynamic “tricks”.
The space at the back is good, but accessibility could be better, with larger doors.
For those who need space, there's more than enough space — the 351 liters of luggage capacity is still a far cry from the more than 400 liters of some competition — but I'd like to see it better from the inside out (glass The rear is too small and the small glazed opening in the C-pillar is useless) and also to have more side support in the front seats and longer seats in the rear — not enough support for the legs.
As already mentioned, there are many options that enrich the equipment of our unit, which project the price to unreasonable values. Some of them we wouldn't have problems to do without, as the large wheels, which despite being very good, don't contribute in anything to the dynamics and impair the comfort and the rolling noise.