If you looked at the Fiat 500X and thought to yourself, "I'd like that more if it was a Jeep," then the Renegade may be the perfect car for you.
Power can be had from a 2.4-liter TigerShark inline four good for 177 horsepower or--how ours came equipped--a 1.3-liter turbocharged inline four good for 180 horsepower.
While the more premium 1.3 turbo makes less horsepower than the TigerShark, it makes more torque: 210 lb.-ft. over 175 lb.-ft.
Fuel economy, though, is a little low for something so small: 27 combined for two-wheel drive and 26 combined for four-wheel drive.
Other staff views
JG Pasterjak
Production/Art Director
I guess this is a thing that people want? Maybe? The Renegade is like one of those flea market knockoffs of actual goods that most people won’t really know the difference between. Sure you may have wanted the “Imperial Stormtrooper Blaster Rifle,” but the “Ingerial Storm Soldier Pulse Musket” is basically the same thing, right?
Yes the Renegade has available all-wheel-drive, and is “trail rated” by Jeep, but I doubt this FWD-based platform is something that you’d want to take seriously off-roading.
So that leaves on-roading, which it manages to do fairly well, but certainly not stunningly. Which is kind of disappointing because this platform and powertrain shares so many components with the ones in my old Ram Promaster City minivan. I LOVED that package. The engine was responsive and peppy enough for utility use, and the chassis was nimble and comfortable, even given the tall profile and van-like proportions of the Promaster.
In the Renegade, it just doesn’t seem to work. The whole thing feels… sluggish. The 8 speed transmission never seems to know what gear it wants to be in, and the engine feels choked from the application in the Promaster.
Yeah, it’s kind of feature-rich, but as are any number of other small spot-utes that are actually satisfying to drive.
So, yeah, C- at best for this thing. Kind of a bummer because I would have probably loved a more Promaster City-like cute-ute, but something got lost in the translation.
David S. Wallens
Editorial Director
Here me out: The Renegade is the modern Neon.
You see it, too, right? It combines that cheeky face with a low starting price. And while you’re (likely) not going to autocross or road race the Renegade, if off-roading is your thing, you can go play there. So, you can argue, a low buy-in still can offer some gateway thrills.
Like the Neon, yeah, the Renegade feels built to a price point, too. It’s not an heirloom car. Your grandkids likely won’t inherit it.
But, and here’s the big but, the Renegade can serve as a people-mover that maybe offers a little more. Some style, some utility, some personality.
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