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602 Posts
Great article on The Renegade.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/09/2015-jeep-renegade-trailhawk-moab-off-road-video-feature/
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/09/2015-jeep-renegade-trailhawk-moab-off-road-video-feature/
More Jeep than people think
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I may not buy a Renegade, but only because the part of CT I live in - a snowflake's average lifetime on the road before a plow hits it is five minutes.
If I had to regularly drive through nasty snow, or get even a little bit off road, I don't think there's any competition for the Trailhawk, or even the "lesser" models. And I think Jeep's got a hit in those markets, and probably elsewhere.
When I test drove one here, I laughed when I compared the Latitude's huge tires and ground clearance to my Soul. It looked like a tank next to a rabbit - and that's really, really weird, because the two cars are within an inch in every dimension. But the Jeep guys somehow made the Renegade look and feel WAY bigger.
I think a big contributor is the wheel size. They put big wheels and tires on that thing.
If I had to regularly drive through nasty snow, or get even a little bit off road, I don't think there's any competition for the Trailhawk, or even the "lesser" models. And I think Jeep's got a hit in those markets, and probably elsewhere.
When I test drove one here, I laughed when I compared the Latitude's huge tires and ground clearance to my Soul. It looked like a tank next to a rabbit - and that's really, really weird, because the two cars are within an inch in every dimension. But the Jeep guys somehow made the Renegade look and feel WAY bigger.
I think a big contributor is the wheel size. They put big wheels and tires on that thing.
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499 Posts
Good article. Unfortunately, it's true. Jeep will have to defend their newest offering to the Jeep masses for some time. It's only natural. I remember back when I got a brand new TJ Sahara in 1997, it was the same story. Despite the TJ being a fully capable off-road vehicle, there were a lot of comments about it being a yuppified Jeep, neutered of its rock crawling capabilities. Coil springs instead of leaf springs, a somewhat car-like (for its day) interior with air bags, ABS, and other safety devices, and so on. Nowadays nobody questions its rightful place within the Jeep stable.
There have also been a string of Jeeps that have come out since that were based on other Chrysler platforms that had questionable capabilities. All of this has led to a Jeep community that scrutinizes any new offering from Jeep and the Renegade is one such example.
Fortunately, from what we're seeing and hearing so far, while it's no Wrangler on the Rubicon, it is definitely not something to dismiss casually. It is a capable off-road vehicle, within limits that most people will never exceed anyway.
There have also been a string of Jeeps that have come out since that were based on other Chrysler platforms that had questionable capabilities. All of this has led to a Jeep community that scrutinizes any new offering from Jeep and the Renegade is one such example.
Fortunately, from what we're seeing and hearing so far, while it's no Wrangler on the Rubicon, it is definitely not something to dismiss casually. It is a capable off-road vehicle, within limits that most people will never exceed anyway.
You'll want to see the latest article from Car and Drive on taking the TR offroad
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