This baby SUV can go off road writes Damien O’Carroll
Baby SUVs are currently the automotive equivalent of a handbag dog. Harsh, I know, but true.
Back in the early 2000s every empty-headed wannabe was jamming a small dog into their handbag. As long as it stayed there, it didn't actually need to do any of the things dogs usually do.
Now every car maker has to have a baby SUV and it doesn't really matter if it has any of the actual qualities of an SUV. Just as the handbag dog only needed to be small, cute and wear a look of bewildered resignation, the baby SUV needs only to be small, cute and offer slightly more room than the small car it is based on.
This leads to the amusing fact that no baby SUV currently on sale in New Zealand offers anything in the way of off-road ability or, for that matter, four-wheel drive. Meaning that they literally are just jacked-up small hatches.
While Jeep could have taken the easy, cheap way out with the Renegade and made a small Fiat that looked like a Jeep, but did little else like a Jeep, it actually chose to offer something that was more in keeping with the brand's heritage and possessed some actual, real ability off the road.
2015 Jeep Renegade.
But here's the catch - it still had to be good on the road, as that is still where it will spend most of its time. And that, as it turns out, is the most impressive part of the new Renegade.
The international launch was held in California and saw us setting out from San Jose into the areas of NorCal where, um, the necks have been more than a little over-exposed to the sun. They are areas where the local patrons at a coffee shop loudly espouse the evils of Obama and his crazy commie ideas about free healthcare for all, elderly scooters proudly wear "9-11 was an inside job" stickers and foreigners in a motorcade of brightly coloured baby Jeeps quickly start feeling like Ned Beatty in Deliverance.
The Jeep Renegade retains the iconic Jeep seven bar grille.
While no one actually said "You got a nice grille, boy" to the Renegade, there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the smaller end of the SUV segment in the rural areas, yet this is where the best roads reside. And the Renegade was a star on them.
Thanks to some fairly enthusiastic neck-wringing on the wonderfully winding backroads in the northern Californian redwood forests, the 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol engine hooked up to a six-speed manual transmission proved itself to be hugely impressive in the Renegade.
The Renegade has some serious off-road electronics.
We sampled the US-market 1.4-litre petrol manual and a 2.4-litre 4-cylinder naturally aspiratedd, hooked up to a nine-speed automatic transmission at the launch.
Fiat Chrysler NZ said the Renegade launched here later this year will have the 1.4L Turbo Multiair and 2.4L Multiair engine, matted to both the six-speed and nine-speed auto.
While the 1.4 was massively impressive hooked up to the manual transmission, the 2.4/9-speed auto combo was less so, as the transmission just seemed to be hunting for the proper gear.
Image 1 of 19: 2015 Jeep Renegade.
Photo / Supplied
In various markets around the world the Renegade will be available with a surprisingly large range of petrol (the 1.4 turbo, a 1.6, 1.8 and the 2.4) and diesel (1.6 and 2.0 turbo fours) engines, as well as a range of transmissions (a 5-speed manual, the 6-speed manual, a six-speed dual-clutch and the nine-speed auto).
The Renegade takes its styling cues from the Wrangler and hides a number of "Easter eggs" that are so the rage these days - things like the tiny Bigfoot traipsing across the rear window, a huge number of Jeep seven-slot grille/lights icons scattered around the place and the "X" motif that represents the jerry can on the back of the original Willys Jeep.
2015 Jeep Renegade.
While all of this could come across as stupidly excessive and silly, it actually works brilliantly well on the little Renegade, giving it a tough, yet friendly look that should have wide appeal.
Inside it carries on with this approach with an impressively high-quality interior with trim that can easily range from handsome and conservative to wildly vibrant and colourful, depending on the model.
Speaking of models, three were available at launch - the Sport, the Latitude (or Longitude for the Aussie market) and the Trailhawk.
The serious Trailhawk.
While the Sport and Latitude were impressive on the road, the Trailhawk is the dirty dog, the angry little mongrel that loves playing in the mud, with its increased ride height and serious off-road electronics.
While all 4WD Renegades come with Jeep's Selec-Terrain traction system that features settings for snow, sand, mud and automatic selection, the Trailhawk boasts an extra setting for "Rock", which is essentially a low mode with a 20:1 crawl ratio. This makes the Trailhawk remarkably capable off road, tackling the surprisingly challenging course at Hollister Hills 4WD park with ease and a serene capability that easily convinced you that, yes, this is most certainly a proper Jeep.
2015 Jeep Renegade.
And that is what separates the Renegade from the rest of the baby SUV pack - the Renegade really would rather be playing in the mud than sitting in a handbag.
