...that I introduce myself. Hi, everyone. My name's Dave and I'm a potential Renegade owner.
We've been shopping for a compact SUV for some time now. Exciting new entrants to the segment like the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Audi Q3 had us excited, and the BMW X1 was an existing contender. My better half was convinced that the GLA would do it for us...until we visited a dealer. Forget it. That vehicle is so small. It might as well be a small hatchback that's been raised a few inches (barely taller than most cars). By no means are either of us tall (5'8" and 5'6") but we both felt cramped in the GLA, and the rear seat entry felt awkward at best. As the dealer put it, "this is a vehicle designed to look good." Clearly the visual aesthetic trumps the practical with this vehicle.
The Q3 looks good and has the typical Audi quality interior, but I'm less than enthused about the powertrain. It's a carryover from prior generation Audis and not one that I've ever been particularly excited about. The Aisin-sourced 6-speed slushbox is less than stellar in my opinion, and the 2.0T engine is not the latest version with the accompanying power upgrades. This makes sense since the Q3 has been on sale in Europe for several years now and Audi is just bringing it to the U.S.; i.e., it's not a new vehicle like the GLA, it's just new to the U.S.
Then there's the BMW X1. As former BMW owners, we already appreciated the BMW-ness of it, and it feels every bit a BMW. But is it just me, or does it look like a small station wagon (and not in a good VW Golf kind of way) and not a small SUV? Neither of us could get past that, even though it drives the best out of the three vehicles mentioned thus far.
This leaves us with only two options that we're considering: the MINI Countryman S All4 and the Renegade. We've driven the Countryman before and loved it, particularly so the ability to get AWD and a 6-speed manual. Before we settle on the Countryman as our vehicle of choice, we're really hoping the Renegade impresses us. Neither of us is a fan of the it's-really-a-5-speed-with-4-overdrive-gears ZF transmission based on reviews we've seen, but we've admittedly never driven it. We're also both thinking that we'll like the 1.4T engine characteristics better than the 2.4L...but we also want lots of toys/options. Heck, we were prepared to spend $47k on the loaded GLA after all! Point of all this being, we're really hoping that a fully loaded Latitude 1.4T AWD 6-speed will fit the bill because we love the decidedly truck-like appearance of the Renegade over the Countryman. C'mon Jeep, get these things to dealers so we can find out!!!
We've been shopping for a compact SUV for some time now. Exciting new entrants to the segment like the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Audi Q3 had us excited, and the BMW X1 was an existing contender. My better half was convinced that the GLA would do it for us...until we visited a dealer. Forget it. That vehicle is so small. It might as well be a small hatchback that's been raised a few inches (barely taller than most cars). By no means are either of us tall (5'8" and 5'6") but we both felt cramped in the GLA, and the rear seat entry felt awkward at best. As the dealer put it, "this is a vehicle designed to look good." Clearly the visual aesthetic trumps the practical with this vehicle.
The Q3 looks good and has the typical Audi quality interior, but I'm less than enthused about the powertrain. It's a carryover from prior generation Audis and not one that I've ever been particularly excited about. The Aisin-sourced 6-speed slushbox is less than stellar in my opinion, and the 2.0T engine is not the latest version with the accompanying power upgrades. This makes sense since the Q3 has been on sale in Europe for several years now and Audi is just bringing it to the U.S.; i.e., it's not a new vehicle like the GLA, it's just new to the U.S.
Then there's the BMW X1. As former BMW owners, we already appreciated the BMW-ness of it, and it feels every bit a BMW. But is it just me, or does it look like a small station wagon (and not in a good VW Golf kind of way) and not a small SUV? Neither of us could get past that, even though it drives the best out of the three vehicles mentioned thus far.
This leaves us with only two options that we're considering: the MINI Countryman S All4 and the Renegade. We've driven the Countryman before and loved it, particularly so the ability to get AWD and a 6-speed manual. Before we settle on the Countryman as our vehicle of choice, we're really hoping the Renegade impresses us. Neither of us is a fan of the it's-really-a-5-speed-with-4-overdrive-gears ZF transmission based on reviews we've seen, but we've admittedly never driven it. We're also both thinking that we'll like the 1.4T engine characteristics better than the 2.4L...but we also want lots of toys/options. Heck, we were prepared to spend $47k on the loaded GLA after all! Point of all this being, we're really hoping that a fully loaded Latitude 1.4T AWD 6-speed will fit the bill because we love the decidedly truck-like appearance of the Renegade over the Countryman. C'mon Jeep, get these things to dealers so we can find out!!!
