From the 2014 New York International Auto Show, Cars.com's Kelsey Mays takes a look at the 2015 Jeep Renegade.
Transcript
(upbeat music and car sounds) Hi, I'm Kelsey Mays for Cars.com. We're here with a small boxy new Jeep. It's called the Renegade. You might cross shop it against small subcompact SUVs, like the Mini Countryman, the Buick Encore, the Chevy Trax.
We're here at the 2014 New York international Auto Show, where it's just been introduced. We're going to take you on a closer look. A couple of things stand out in terms of styling. First of all, the Renegade is very boxy. Its lines kind of evoke a lot of Jeep's own Patriot SUV, which has been around since late 2006. It's also very, very Jeep like. You see a lot of Jeep cues here, Jeep's seven bar grills, etched into sections of the headlights all the way into the taillights. You get around the side, you notice that Renegade is pretty small, about two inches shorter bumper to bumper than the Buick Encore, which, itself, is about a foot shorter than conventional small SUVs, like the Ford escape. The platform explains a lot of why. Uh, Jeep is part of Fiat Chrysler, and the Renegade is based on the Fiat 500 L, which is a small hatchback with front wheel drive. Before you balk at the prospect of a Jeep that's based on a car, realize that Jeep's been doing this for a number of years already, with the Patriot and the Compass. And besides, the Renegade has a 4x4 Trailhawk edition that qualifies for Jeep Trail Rated badge. It's got an inch more ground clearance, it's got a low range for the 4x4 system. It's got a rock mode for the selectable terrain response controller here. It also has front and rear skid plates, and modified bumpers for better approach and departure angles. Unfortunately, there is no sticks edition with a free blonde wig and a calendar from 1979, so, you can't win them all. Traditional Jeep cues include Jeeps grill and headlights etched into an area along the speakers, sections of the Moab trail in Utah are actually etched into the mats here in sort of cubbies, one being in the center console, the other being in a tray ahead of the gearshift. Roominess, a decent amount here. There's a very vertical dashboard, so it actually leaves a lot of space, kind of, for your needs to spill out here. A nice upright seating position. The car at the auto show is de-powered, so I don't know how far back and forth the front seats go. Cabin quality is respectable, soft touch stuff along the dashboard here, kind of this grainy, hard, carbony sort of texture along the upper part of the doors. I wish Jeep had invested in padding up here where arms and elbows actually go, instead of the dashboard. Let's take a look at the back seat. Behind the rear seats, about 18 and a half cubic feet of space Jeep says. You fold those down, 50 cubic feet of maximum space. Pretty simple folding down procedure here, lends a pretty flat load floor. Competitive figures in the subcompact class. Compact SUV's have generally in the 60 to 75 cubic foot range of maximum space there, so a little bit more, if you're looking for that. Jeeps My Sky roof has manually removable panels, or a power retracting panel here. It takes off both front and second row areas above your head, lends kind of an open air feeling. A lot like the Jeep Wrangler. Two four cylinder engines are available including a turbo-charged 1.4 liter four cylinder. They team was six or nine speed, automatic transmissions. Now, unfortunately the 1.4 does recommend premium gas. EPA gas mileage is still to be determined. All of that more should be available closer to the Renegades on sale date in early 2015. (car engine and tire sounds)
