Cars.com reviewer Mike Hanley says Jeep's tiny new SUV is both on-road friendly and off-road capable.
Transcript
(upbeat music) (car screeching) We're in Southern California. With the all new Jeep Renegade, small SUV. It's based on the Fiat 500 L. And Jeep has a number of missions to fulfill that this model. First, they want it to be on-road friendly.
And also really off-road capable. So we've had a chance to take it on both types of terrain to see how it performs. One of the things I think that's really cool that the Chrysler Group is doing on their vehicles, is really paying attention to the small details. And you can see it in the Renegade with this taillight. Which has this X design. Which is reminiscent of old military style gas tanks. The X that used to be in them. And also right in the middle of this Jeep grill. And that grill theme is seen throughout the vehicle. From here into the front headlights. Also over to over the side of the vehicle, we can see it in the speaker surround. And there's more Easter eggs as they're calling them. That are throughout the vehicle too. On the inside. One of the cool ones I think is right down here. It's an old military style, no step embossing on the plastic. It's just some neat little cues that owners are likely to stumble upon. And it's that attention to detail that you really don't see in a lot of other competitors. Jeep offers an off-road version of the Renegade. And it's called the Trail Hawk. Which is this model here. And there are some specific exterior changes that Jeep made to make it more off-road capable. Those include a new front end. That offers better approach angles. Some real tow hooks that are rated at two times the gross vehicle weight. If you get in a really sticky situation, and have to be pulled out. There's 20 millimeters extra of ground clearance. And skid plates underneath. And also these specific Goodyear Wrangler SRA off-road tires. Jeep made the Trail Hawk version of the Renegade available to drive off road. And it was neat to see what this vehicle can do. When you put it in four-wheel drive low, with four wheel drive lock on and Hill Descent control activated. It can tackle some pretty serious off-road terrain. Everything from steeper rock inclines, to some sections where wheels were coming off the dirt. To some steeper descents. Overall, it made what would otherwise have been a really challenging driving environment, a low stress experience. Visibility from the driver's seat is pretty good in the Renegade. I was a little worried about the large front roof pillars. Because I thought they might get in the way when trying to go around corners. Or see around certain things. But that's not the case. They're wide enough or far enough out on the sides of the vehicle. So they're not in your way when you're looking straight ahead And it's a pretty vertical windshield. But I thought four views are good. Even over-the-shoulder views are good. Renegade interior quality is good overall. Though, there are some questionable choices in my mind. First of all, they've made this dashboard soft touch. Which is nice and it looks nice. But at the same time, this is hard. And this is a place where I like to rest my arms. Sometimes I'd like it to be padded versus a dashboard. The Trail Hawk model has this really cool kind of red matte finish. It looks really nice. There's also this cool treatment on the tech amateur. Where instead of a traditional red line, you have this like splatter. And in the Jeep people said that's inspired by paint balling. Which I thought is a cool, unique cue. That again, you're not seeing on a lot of competitors in this class. Which are much more traditional. So, nice job Jeep for doing that. The Renegade starts at less than $20,000 and goes up to the mid $20,000 range if we get a Trail Hawk version. And within that spread of pricing, you're probably going to be able to find a model that fits your needs. Whether it's just driving around town and running errands. Or tackling some serious off-road terrain. (car revving)
