2016 Jeep Renegade First Drive Review

Car brands have to re-invent themselves. Some are great at doing it. Some, not so much. And then there are some that don’t really need to re-invent themselves at all. And to be honest, Jeep fits right into that last category. With its off-road capability at legendary levels and its on-road presence enough to rival a military tank, Jeeps are about as manly as vehicles get. So what happens when a rugged and tough brand like Jeep decides to expand its horizons and make a compact SUV. What we get is the new Jeep Renegade. So does this small India bound compact SUV really have what it takes to proudly wear the Jeep badge?

So lets start with the obvious. Jeep has taken its iconic Wrangler’s front end design and somehow seamlessly managed to make it look as cool in 2016 as it looked 75 years ago. Of course, the seven-slat grille is a lot sleeker than it has ever been but the recessed round headlamps do remind us of the original Willy’s Jeep. The Renegade also gets a very tough looking front bumper with an unpainted lower half which gets an individual set of running lights and fog lamps. Move around the side and the unpainted cladding theme continues with a very prominent set of wheel arches that make the Renegade look muscular and more planted along with a set of chunky SUV-esque wheels which come in a variety of designs (and sizes).

Now the car we drove is a special 75^th anniversary model that comes in a shade of bright green called Jungle Green, but if you preferred something even sportier, you could choose the bright reds, blues and yellows that the Renegade comes in. Around the back, the references to classic Jeeps continue with a set of square tail lamps that look fuel reserve jerry cans that went on the World War 2 military Willys Jeep and of course, just like the front, the rear also gets an exposed plastic lower bumper. The rear windscreen does remind us of the wraparound one you get on the Ford EcoSport but its overall dimensions (even for a compact SUV) are quite appealing even though some might think of the Renegade as being a bit too squarish.

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One of Jeep’s main positives is the fact that you can customize them in endless ways and the interior takes full advantage of that fact. The version we drove had the plain black interior package which in our opinion works just fine, but if you really wanted to jazz it up, Jeep offers a bunch of color options and trim levels that really make the Renegade come alive. That said, in terms of overall design, the Renegade does seem to have a bit lacking. There is a large touchscreen that is packed with tech like Apple CarPlay, satellite radio and navigation, but with other manufacturers playing with LCD screens in place of old-school gauges and touch based controls, the Renegade just seems a little out of place. That said, if easy to use controls and toughness is what you prefer, there is little in this category that comes close to the Jeep’s overall user friendly appeal.

The 75^th anniversary edition of the Jeep Renegade that we drove had the 2.4-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged ‘Tigershark’ engine, which makes 180PS of peak power and 237Nm of peak torque. The engine is mated to a 9-speed automatic gearbox and a front wheel drive setup. Of course, being a Jeep, the Renagade comes with an all-wheel-drive setup but instead of a traditional setup with a low range, the compact SUV gets a 4-wheel-drive lock and a traction control enabled setup. We drove the Renegade on the wipe open state highways of Utah around the iconic Moab and Arches national park area and not only did it seem perfect for the long haul but also quite responsive when you need to move to the faster lane to overtake. That said, the Renegade does not have any tarmac scorching performance and although on paper it does have 180PS, it isn’t as urgent as we expected it to be. The gearbox though is great and shifts are seamless and unobtrusive. But being a Jeep, what we really wanted to know is how it performed off road.

Now the Moab region is the centre of all off-road activity in the United States and is home to the most difficult trails and the hallowed Easter Jeep Safari that happens every year. And as our trail guides took us up the trail I took the opportunity to jump from the ultra-capable Wrangler Unlimited to the Renegade to really push the compact SUV to the limit. And boy did it impress!! Not only did it make it through every obstacle that we came across, but with the right amount of patience and technique, it made every obstacle seem easy too. Of course, a low range gearbox would have gone a long way in making everything a lot easier, but even without the added benefits of locking differentials and a low range, the Renegade’s capability to tackle the trail truly stunned us! And lets not forget, this compact SUV did everything with a set of 18-inch wheels and street tyres!

If Jeep DNA is what you were really worried about, the Renegade has a bootfull of it....and then some. As car companies evolve, SUV manufacturers like Jeep would have eventually had to make a car like the Renegade and we are glad that they have made it since it is the perfect car for the brand in India. Of course, in India we will get a range of smaller petrol engines that are shared with the Fiat platforms and larger 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre Multijet diesel engines with an automatic and manual gearbox. And to be really honest, the Renegade in India can really make the Jeep brand popular with its cute yet rugged looks, overall appeal and most importantly, a cheaper price tag.

Now in America, the well spec’ed Renegade range is priced between about $ 18-25 thousand with the Trailhawk models closing in on the $ 30 thousand with every option ticked. So would it be too much to hope for India prices to be between the Rs 18-25 lakh price point? Well, considering the fact that Jeep has confirmed an India production base, we could very well be in for a surprise when the Renegade makes it to India in the near future.