[tyler]

I just purchased a 4x2 jeep renegade sport auto. I know "a jeep is not a jeep unless its a 4x4" but I will never go off road and just needed a compact SUV to go over rough potholes and uneven asphalt roads in the city. plus I drove a 2 wheel drive in Alaska for 2 years and drove on the ice everyday with no problems.

Anyways I test drove a nighthawk before buying my FWD and when I drove the FWD it seemed like it accelerated faster with less gas than the nighthawk 4x4, anyone agree? maybe FWD accelerates faster than RWD??

 

[Husky777]

Fwd will always have a little more pep than 4wd. When you have an extra differential, shaft and transfer case, it will absorb a few extra HP to get all the gears turning. I have the a Sport as well and almost went with 4wd, but it would have just been a novelty. I have the 1.4 turbo and I'm happy with how quick it is.

 

[Julian Osborne]

I drove the manual (stick) versions of the diesel 2.0 4x4 and 1.6 4x2 and certainly felt the 1.6 more than held it's own - there must be quite a weight and friction difference caused by all that 4x4 kit

 

[raz-0]

Two wheel drive has less parasitic loss than awd. Unless you are being limited by traction, it'll be faster given equivalent power.

 

[tyler]

didn't realize there was a difference in the two, never test drove the smaller engine so I don't know if I would have liked it more, always have been a 6 cylinder minimum kind of guy so just assumed I would like the 2.4 better.

 

[wyliec]

I just purchased a 4x2 jeep renegade sport auto. I know "a jeep is not a jeep unless its a 4x4" but I will never go off road and just needed a compact SUV to go over rough potholes and uneven asphalt roads in the city. plus I drove a 2 wheel drive in Alaska for 2 years and drove on the ice everyday with no problems.

Anyways I test drove a nighthawk before buying my FWD and when I drove the FWD it seemed like it accelerated faster with less gas than the nighthawk 4x4, anyone agree? maybe FWD accelerates faster than RWD??

If you have the 2.4 in your sport, the 0-60mph time is 7.4 seconds. The Limited, which I have has a time of 7.9 seconds, for the 2.4 with auto, and 4x4. I posted a link previously where I pulled these numbers from. I didn't link again because there was little interest the last time I linked. How accurate all the numbers are in those charts I don't know.

 

[CLShifter]

didn't realize there was a difference in the two, never test drove the smaller engine so I don't know if I would have liked it more, always have been a 6 cylinder minimum kind of guy so just assumed I would like the 2.4 better.

The 1.4 turbo actually has slightly higher peak torque than the 2.4, but being a turbo the delivery is less linear, so some rev-management is in order. IMHO that makes the turbo a much more appropriate match to the manual transmission. I don't think the 1.4 and automatic would work together nearly as well.

For those of us who are Disciples of the Third Pedal, the 1.4 Turbo / 6-speed package is proving to be a nice combination that can be made to perform quite well.