SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Rebelliously unconventional: We drive Jeep’s Italo-American Renegade MultiAir Limited 4x2

City Jeep with Latin flair

Posted: 6 September 2015

The numbers
Price: R375 990
Engine: 1368 cc, belt driven SOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder turbopetrol
Power: 103 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 230 Nm at 1750 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9.3 seconds
Maximum speed: 194 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.9 l/100 km
Tank: 48 litres
Luggage: 351 – 1297 litres
Ground clearance: 175 mm
Approach / departure / breakover angles: 17.9 with airdam / 29.7 / 21.2 degrees
Warranty: 3 years / 100 000 km
Maintenance plan: 6 years / 100 000 km

“What do you mean, an Eye-tal-eye-an Jeep?” Grampy roared. Then, narrowing his eyes suspiciously:  “Have you been at my private stock again – the good stuff - aged two weeks, then distilled in a Chrysler New Yorker radiator?”

“No, Gramps,” we replied, “those Ferrari folks (trying to let him down gently) own Chrysler nowadays, so it’s a collaboration between Jeep designers and Italian engineers.”

He snorted dismissively: “So it’s some girly little thing with a Fiat Group engine, gearbox and suspension?” Uh, oh; he knows more than he lets on. Guess he searches beyond agricultural futures on that smart-ass new computer of his.

“Kind of like that,” we conceded, “but it’s really pretty good - if you’ll just give it a fair trial.” He actually turned out more amenable than we thought he would be. Almost inconsolable in 2006 when Jeep introduced a front-wheel drive Compass without 4x4, he’s learning to adjust.

Five versions are available here: A 1600 cc, 4x2 with five-speed manual in Longitude trim; a 4x2 Limited with 1400 cc turbo motor and C635 six-speed manual; a 1.6-litre diesel Limited with the same transmission; a 2.4-litre, 4x4 Trailhawk with nine-speed automatic, and a more powerful version of the 1.4 Limited that does it in awd and uses the nine-gear auto ‘box.

The car was introduced at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show and is built in Melfi, Italy, on the same platform used for the Fiat 500X. Design took place at Auburn Hills, where senior FCA creatives turned over styling to its youngest members with the instruction: “Design a car just for you.” Jeremy Glover and Ian Hedge, recent graduates of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, duly penned the new Jeep as they dreamed it.

To keep it looking familiar, and fans faithful, they unashamedly took inspiration from the Wrangler, fitted a passenger grab bar, used WW ll-themed graphics like the original grille and side panels from jerry cans, then added humorous touches like brown “mud splatter,” rather than the usual boring red line, on the revolution counter. Other touches include a 1941 open Jeep driving around the perimeter of the front screen and Bigfoot hiking across the back window.

Square, chunky and business-like, the Renegade manages to appear not only Wrangler-esque, but evokes, from certain angles, a distinct look of the old Daihatsu Materia. It was probably not intended, but it’s there nonetheless.

Our test rig was a plain vanilla 1.4 Limited. It uses the 103 kW version of Fiat’s MultiAir motor and the fully manual version of the C635 transmission mentioned earlier. There are three iterations of this ‘box, the others being semi-auto and fully automatic, but all use the same model number. We’re as confused as you are, but then they’re Italian ...
 
A bragging feature of the box is its wide spread of ratios to cover everything from quick acceleration to easy cruising. Although specific mention is made of its 18.4:1 low gear (hint: stump puller) it isn’t as extreme as it’s made out to be. We managed 60 km/h-plus in first, thanks to the engine’s ready ability to rev beyond 6000 rpm.

Engineering didn’t stop there. Renegade uses rigid and mass-efficient unibody construction, disc brakes at both ends and four-wheel fully independent suspension with McPherson struts front and rear.  A benefit of this all-independent setup is that, apart from 175 mm of ground clearance, it offers up to 205 mm of articulation as well. That’s good for scrambling over washaways, kerbs and rocks.

Renegade is the first Jeep to use Koni’s front and rear strut system, with frequency selective damping (FSD), that enables superior road-holding and handling characteristics. Further, it filters out high-frequency vibes from rough roads and adjusts for comfort and smoothness, while maintaining good ride control. In plain English, it soaks up bumps, provides excellent ride comfort and imparts an almost Alfa Romeo-like level of handling ability.

Keeping the accent youthful, interior kit features a six-speaker Uconnect music system with 5” touch screen, Bluetooth and voice control, steering wheel buttons, powered windows and mirrors, an electric parking brake that sets itself but needs to be released manually, a 12-volt socket for charging things and dual zone automatic air conditioning. The entertainment kit is, naturally, upgradeable via option packs.

Safety equipment includes six airbags, ISOfix mountings, tyre pressure monitoring, electrical centralised locking, cruise control with speed limiter, panic braking assistance, lane departure warning, front collision mitigation, roll mitigation and rear parking sensors. Adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, rain-sensing wipers, electrochromic rearview mirror and HID lights are included in option packages.

Even though this is only the medium-powered version of the 1400 MultiAir engine, its power, acceleration and lugging ability are all good. We loafed along at 2400 rpm at 120 km/h in top, held 100 km/h easily in that gear up some long, speed restricted hills in our neighbourhood and always had power in hand for overtaking.

The six-speed manual gearbox works smoothly and precisely, pedals are nicely spaced and the internal ambience, practical and functional in keeping with the spirit of the car, is chunky but pleasing. Visibility to the sides is generally good thanks to big square windows, but the effect is spoiled by a too-wide C pillar that’s alleviated only slightly by a small inset pane.

Still being practical, the hatch opens down to upper thigh level to reveal a lipless loading floor with a fully sized alloy spare underneath, four lashing rings, two lights, and a 12-volt socket. The rear seatback is split 2/3:1/3 and each side folds almost flat, as does the front passenger chair, to accommodate longer loads.

Renegade is billed as a small SUV so that probably explains the rather tight knee room in the back seat. Head space is perfectly adequate but foot accommodation is tight as well. The usual trio of head restraints and belts are provided. Seatback pockets and small bottle holders in the door panels take care of storage.

Although we have a couple of small concerns, this almost-entry-level Renegade is a pleasantly brisk and sweet-handling little city Jeep with Latin flair. It’s so good that Grampy’s looking forward to when we get an all-wheel drive to try.

Test car from FCASA press fleet

We drove the 4x4 in 2017. Read all about it

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What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

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