Italian American
Jeep/Fiat crossover is a bit of a curveball
he Renegade is what happens when America catches the crossover bug. Looking like an oversize 4x4 on the other side of the car park when it’s actually right beside you, it applies traditional Jeep styling cues to a car shorter than a Nissan Qashqai.
Highlights inside include a grille-and-light icon embossed on the speaker surrounds and seats, a mud splat on the rev-counter in place of a red line and a central air-vent stack inspired by ET’s head. Really. Some will shudder at this, but there’s an element of fun here all too often ignored in car design.
Under the skin, the Renegade is far more serious, and Jeep describes it as “the only real SUV” in the crossover segment. While FWD versions are available (and will inevitably sell best in Europe), there are two 4WD transmissions. The most serious comes with hill-descent control and a proper crawler ratio, while both possess a dial that toggles between Snow, Mud and Sand drive modes, though helpfully it can be left in Auto, too.
The time we spent heartlessly hurling a top-spec Trailhawk up and down muddy hills proves it really is genuinely impressive offroad. The Renegade and upcoming Fiat 500X were developed jointly (they’ll be built
Ttogether in Italy, too), but Jeep was adamant the Renegade should have genuine off-road talent and so took its transmission in-house.
An array of turbo’d petrol and diesel engines are familiar from Fiats and Alfas, with a 118bhp 1.6-litre MultiJet diesel likely to prove most popular. It just about tugs the Renegade along, but more convincing is the 2.0-litre MultiJet. Here, it produces 168bhp and is mated solely to a 9spd auto ’box, which shifts smoothly and selects its ratios smartly.
On the road, the Renegade is capable but nothing more. Both versions have plentiful grip and ride compliantly (save for a bit of fidgeting on a high-speed cruise). Nothing offends, but there’s not much entertainment to be found away from the mud (something that can’t be said about a Skoda Yeti).
Prices haven’t been announced, but a starting point below £20k is necessary to be competitive, so a top-spec car like this would be around £27k. It barely hangs onto the Yeti’s coat-tails as an all-rounder, while its overwrought detailing is as heavy-handed as a Mini’s. What the heck, we say: the crossover segment has too many straight-laced rivals. Let’s salute one that dares to be alternative.