SA Road Tests

Welcome

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.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


Rebel with cause: 2017 Jeep Renegade 1.4T Limited awd

Let the system decide

Posted 28 June 2017
Pics: Public domain

The numbers
Price: R501 900
Engine: 1368 cc, belt-driven SOHC, 16-valve, inline four turbopetrol
Power: 125 kW at 5500 rpm
Torque: 250 Nm between 2500 and 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8.8 seconds
Maximum speed: 196 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.6 l/100 km
Tank: 48 litres
Luggage: 351 – 1297 litres
Ground clearance: 175 mm
Warranty: 3 years / 100 000 km
Maintenance plan: 6 years / 100 000 km

Grampy is almost convinced. After taking a ride in the 103-kW, 4x2 version about two years ago, he was  “fair itchin’ fer” a crack at the 4x4. One became available just recently so we took him out on our Tenderfoot trail through the forest.

Although this little Renegade is a soft-roader, a town-and-country car with snow, sand and mud capabilities, it coped easily with the trail’s minor washaways and steep hill covered with gravel, rocks and loose flat stones. All it takes to keep going is for one of the four wheels to be on solid ground. Although the course isn’t particularly challenging in the big scheme of things, 4x2 pickups without difflock usually fail.

We’ll get to the all-wheel drive setup later. Nor will we describe its pedigree, comfort, ride-quality and features here because we covered them already in the 4x2 review. We’ll just tell you what’s different.

First is the engine. It’s Fiat’s 1400 cc, 125-kW T-Jet motor with MultiAir2 valve control, sequential fuel injection and turbocharging. It was borrowed from Alfa Romeo’s Giulietta Super automatic. With the extra power and 250 Newton-metres of torque, the little SUV strides through the zero-to-100 km/h dash in 8.8 seconds on its way to a top speed of 196. There’s just one anomaly; it was configured for a sport saloon rather than a 4x4 SUV. We’ll get to that too.

Second is the transmission. You cannot have stick shift with all-wheel drive in this range so this one, its 75th Anniversary Edition twin and Trailhawk all use the nine-speed ZF9HP ‘box introduced on Cherokee in 2014. It is only 6 mm longer, but weighs 7.5 kg less than, the 4x2’s six-speed transmission. This tight packaging is achieved by using some innovative design features; a compact hydraulic vane-type pump, two special dog-clutches to replace bulky conventional clutch packs and a nested gear set. Early versions had software issues that led to hunting between gears but ZF sorted those out quickly.

This unit’s major selling point is that it provides lots of gears to keep the motor spinning in its most effective rev range at all times, so promoting efficiency and fuel economy. It works well. Although there are more shifts than you’re used to, they happen quickly and almost imperceptibly. You probably won’t even notice them after owning the car for a month or so. Kickdown is quick and responsive too. Level-road freeway cruising shows about 2200 rpm at 120 km/h. That’s in eighth gear.

Should you stubbornly coerce it into ninth by using manual override, revs will drop to just under 2000. But the gearshift indicator will nag you to change down because you’re mistreating the engine. Maximum torque comes in a flat band from 2500 rpm to 4000; more at home in a high-winding Alfa than a rock-crawling 4x4. The point to remember is that the gearbox knows what it’s doing, so don’t fuss about it.

You probably want to know when it will eventually shift up to ninth. Without admitting anything illegal, much trial and calculation led us to conclude that the magic top gear will slot in at 130-km/h. Don’t break the law to confirm it. Just enjoy the car.

Third is Jeep’s patented Active Drive1, awd setup. It’s full-time four-wheel drive that requires no operator input. Under normal conditions it sends all available torque to the front wheels while monitoring speeds of both axles. If the power transfer unit (PTU) detects that the front axle is turning faster than the rear one, it apportions power through to the back until the speeds match.

The PTU is basically a Torsen differential on the front axle. As it detects a need to shift power rearward, it engages a two-piece propeller shaft connected to another Torsen diff on the back axle. This, in turn, detects slippage on either of its wheels and sends torque to the hub that has traction. A similar job is done up front by an electronic diff lock that uses individual braking to slow the spinning wheel. If that’s confusing, this little movie might help: https://www.jeep.com/en/4x4/#ActiveDrive1* and then click on the arrow under “How Jeep Active Drive 4x4 system works.”

A selector knob on the lower dash offers five choices. You can lock-in 4x4 mode, let the system choose the best combination automatically or select “snow,” “sand” or “mud” to fit current surface conditions. These three all lock in awd mode while “sand” and “mud” also turn ESP off to allow the controlled wheelspin needed to get through slippery stuff. For our rocky and slightly muddy trail we just left it in “auto” and let the system decide.

For tougher work up in the boonies, where Grampy may or may not have a still, he still prefers his 2.4 Trailhawk with its low range gearset, extra clearance and yet more good stuff.

Test unit from Jeep SA press fleet

We drove the 4x2 version too. Read about it here

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 ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle 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. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.

Save