It’s not that often that I fall for a car straight away. In fact, the last time it happened was when I first sat behind the wheel of the first generation Skoda Yeti. It’s funny that my most recent car-crush is from the same segment. This week I attended the launch of the new Jeep Renegade, and I have to admit that I was actually surprised by how much this little SUV appealed to me.
The day started in the Glendalough House in Annamoe, Co. Wicklow. I knew we’d be doing a small bit of off-road driving to test the type of abilities that this car had. Sure, it wasn’t the most difficult 4x4 route in the world, but it was enough to put any small SUV through its paces. The Renegade handled the course put in front of it very well and with the all-wheel drive settings available, this SUV will be well-capable of tackling Irish roads, snow, some mud, a few hills and maybe more.
The Jeep Renegade is up against other cars in the small SUV segment like the Skoda Yeti, the Peugeot 2008, the Opel Mokka, the Vitara, and even MINI’s Countryman. Like with the Skoda Yeti, there will be some of you who think the Renegade is horrid looking, but like with the Yeti, I think it looks great! It’s quirky, fashionable and chunky, but because it’s a jeep, it kind of talks the talk and walks the walk I feel.
This being the launch drive of the Renegade I didn’t get to spend much time to properly test drive it, so while I say its love at first sight, my opinion could change after a full test drive. I brought it on road for about ten minutes and while it wasn’t enough time to get a full feel for the vehicle, I have to say that I didn’t notice anything out of sorts. The off road course consisted of a very-fun chicane, and I found that it handled and steered brilliantly around that. Maybe I was too taken by the fun aspects to actually notice anything wrong.
The Renegade is available with two wheel drive and with four wheel drive. Like the Vitara, the four wheel drive uses the front wheels as its default setting, but once the car senses it needs to go into 4WD, the other wheels automatically kick into operation. The 2WD version is a nice motor too. For most people in Ireland there won’t be any need to go down the route of owning a 4x4 version, but we’re told by Jeep representatives that they expect some Irish customers will opt for it because they will want the “Jeep experience” – this I suppose is where price is important (4WD prices start from €31,200 – 2.0litre MultiJet diesel).
The front cabin is chunky and while it’s not overly designed, it is comfortable and I like its thick steering wheel and unique layout. The rear offers good legroom and head height – I sat back there during our first trek off-road.
As I’ve said before, the style really appeals to me. While Jeep sticks to its usual formula using the seven slot grille, this small SUV has become Europeanised. The Renegade is built in Melfi, Italy – where they build a lot of Fiat’s vehicles - and it gives a rugged, yet unaggressive look.
Like the Vitara I looked at last week, the Renegade is as customisable. It comes available in 11 colours, 6 wheel designs and even 6 powertrain combinations; “There are two MultiAir II petrol engines, a pair of MultiJet II turbo diesels and the 1.6-litre eTorque petrol. There are also five and six-speed manual gearboxes, the Dual Dry Clutch Transmission and the first-in-class nine-speed automatic gearbox. Available with two or four-wheel drive the Renegade boasts two new, advanced 4x4 systems: Jeep Active Drive and Jeep Active Drive Low. “
Prices and other statistics:
Prices for the Jeep Renegade start from €22,950 for the 1.6 litre E-Torq petrol version with front wheel drive. These prices go right up to €38,750, for a 2.0 litre diesel engine version. The most likely big seller for Jeep will be the front wheel drive 1.6 litre MultiJet engine which starts from €25,200 for the “Sport” trim. The next trim line up is “Longitude”, and with this engine the starting price is €27,200. The highest trim with this engine is “Limited”, where prices start from €30,450. The 1.6 litre MultiJet engine has “on-paper” statistics of 120hp, maximum torque of 320Nm at 1750 rpm. Maximum speed of this engine is 179 km/h and it will go from 0-100km/h in 10.2 seconds. The combined fuel consumption with this engine according to Jeep is 4.6l/100km.
At the press conference I asked a prediction of sales between now and the end of year. Considering we are starting from April the answer I got was that they foresee selling 100 this year. The question is though, if there were more dealers around the country selling Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars, would their sales be coming in a lot higher? According to the manufacturer they are starting to grow their dealer network, and it looks likely that there will be one for the Galway area in the near future.
