Jeep Renegade review

Overview

What is it?

A couple of years ago now, Jeep promised us that it would introduce a new entry-level car that’d sit under the Renegade in its line-up. That was supposed to arrive before 2022. Those with calendars close by will discover that it is now 2022.

So, for the time being, the Renegade remains the smallest, cheapest Jeep. It has found plenty of friends since its introduction in 2014, no doubt for its characterful styling and low running costs, but top spec versions have always seemed over-engineered as tail-munching tractors. Most buyers just want the looks with a super simple FWD powertrain.

The Renegade is all about distilling that authentic Jeep ‘freedom’ pastiche into a dinky car the size of a Renault Captur or Seat Arona. Thing is, in some trims it stands apart from all the other crossovers by being a true downsized 4×4, not a dressed-up supermini. You can have four-wheel drive, a trail-rated Trailhawk model with various terrain modes and rearranged bumpers for greater approach and departure angles (you’ll smack it into banks and ridges less often) and there’s tech like hill-descent control and lockable differentials for wading into scenarios from a North Face catalogue.

Isn’t it an old car by now?

It’s getting on for a decade old now, but for its 2018 facelift Jeep did treat the Renegade to some LED light units, a refreshed touchscreen, and a new family of engines. That was many years ago though, and just a little has happened in the world since then, so the powertrain line-up has changed again. 

There are still two pure ICE options, with a 1.0-litre tri-cylinder turbo petrol that makes 118bhp, and a 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbo that’s good for 148bhp. The former is paired with a six-speed manual gearbox while the latter can only be had with a six-speed auto. Both petrols are now front-wheel drive only, meaning you’ll have to go plug-in hybrid if you want a Renegade that drives all of its wheels. More on that later. The old Renegade diesels are no longer available in the UK.  

What’s this new e-Hybrid I’m hearing about?

Don’t be fooled by the name – the Renegade e-Hybrid only uses a mild-hybrid setup that pairs a specially-developed 1.5-litre turbo four-pot with a 48V electric motor, a seven-speed DSG auto gearbox, a second smaller electric motor that acts as a starter generator and a teeny battery that sits between the front seats. 

The engine itself makes 128bhp, while the transmission-mounted e-motor can add an extra 20bhp. You won’t get any meaningful EV-only range, but the e-Hybrid will start up silently and can manoeuvre on the electric motor. Be warned though, the e-Hybrid is also FWD only and doesn’t exactly include much Jeep DNA. 

So, this 4WD PHEV then?

Ah yes, here’s where the old off-roading spirit has got to. Kind of. The 4xe (pronounced four-by-e) uses a 60bhp electric motor to power the rear wheels and a turbocharged 1.3-litre 4cyl petrol with two different power outputs (depending on trim level) that drives the fronts. The 4xe is now the only powertrain that can be paired with the hardcore Trailhawk trim level too. You can read our in depth plug-in review by clicking these blue words. 

Look, you could have a quieter, more comfortable, more enjoyable car to drive for the same money as a Renegade. The question is: do you actually want any of them? In a class of copycat pseudo-SUVs with less personality than their sat nav voiceover and all the off-road ability of a copper bathtub, the Renegade looks and acts a little differently, and that alone imbues it with likeable character. It’s not a crossover you’ll buy rationally – it’s possibly the only car in its class that’s a heart-over-head purchase.

Chances are if you’ve fallen for its bonsai-Rambo looks, you’ll overlook the Renegade’s powertrain bugbears and come to see it as a treasured member of the family. It’s just a shame that you can now only have a rugged 4WD version with the most expensive plug-in hybrid powertrain. If you’re after a diminutive, rough-and-tumble workhorse, we’d be looking at the likes of the Hyundai Kona, Citroen C3 Aircross or Nissan Juke instead.

Driving

What is it like to drive?

The Renegade’s engine line-up is a minefield. Allow Top Gear to guide you through the tripwires. First off, the 1.0-litre turbo isn’t as eager as we’ve become used to from ickle triples. It feels like a city car engine struggling to move a crossover – Jeep claims 0-62mph in 11.2 seconds and it feels every one of them, with motorway merging and roundabout getaways feeling pretty lethargic at best. At least it’s mated to a relatively positive six-speed manual that’s less rubbery than earlier Jeep stick-shift efforts.

And the more powerful petrol?

If you opt for the 1.3-litre with 148bhp, you find the missing gusto of the triple (0-62mph drops to 9.4 seconds), but the pay-off is being stuck with a pretty appalling six-speed dual-clutch that we had to double check wasn’t actually a ten-year old Cat C automatic. Or a CVT. Kick-down is non-existent, it holds onto gears too long, and it’ll leave you marooned, engine revving, wheels static, as it dawdles its way through the arithmetic and selects a gear. A Seat Arona DSG makes a mockery of it.

The diesels, though unfashionable, were better.

Is the e-Hybrid any good?

If the majority of your driving is in town and you have an exceptionally light right foot, you’ll likely find no real fault with the e-Hybrid. You get all the benefits of very low-speed EV driving, acceleration from 0-30mph is acceptable and the gearbox’s shifts are generally smooth enough. Shame about the snatchy brake pedal of our test car, though.

If you’ve a slightly heavier right foot or need to get a move on, the integration of the mild hybrid powertrain can get quite clunky. There are no steering wheel-mounted paddles (you can change manually using the shifter, but let’s be honest who does that with an everyday auto?) and the DCT gearbox often gets confused about when to shift up after the engine has woken up. Thankfully the combustion engine isn’t quite as rough as some rivals.

Jeep has also engineered in an ‘e-Coasting’ system, though, that shuts the engine down when you come off the throttle. It says the resulting regen emulates the feel of engine braking, but sometimes you’ll lift off and the Renegade will float on, leaving you wondering if you’ve accidentally knocked it into neutral. Jeep also describes the low speed manoeuvring as e-Creeping, which is, well… a little bit creepy.

And then there’s the PHEV right?

That’s a whole different kettle of fish. You can read our full Renegade 4xe review by clicking these blue words.

What else do I need to know about the Renegade in general, then?

Handling is acceptable for something with the height-to-width ratio of a block of flats. There’s plenty of grip and it doesn’t lean over unduly. But if you want a chuckable crossover, you’re better served in a Hyundai Kona or a Ford Puma. Does anyone really want a chuckable crossover, though?

We’d recommend dodging the 19-inch alloys, which transmit too much fidget and rattle into the cabin. The 17s with big balloon tyres are far quieter rolling and help provide an impressively comfortable ride. 

On the motorway, you’re mainly battling the titanic wind noise generated by the Renegade’s body form and big door mirrors. The latter are a necessary evil to provide some semblance of visibility, which the enormously thick pillars do their best to block.

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

Hope you like twee motifs. There’s cartoons stamped all over the place in here, though fortunately the vomit-worthy ‘Since 1941’ legend from the Cherokee has been omitted. Jeep’s also deleted the ‘mud splat’ rev counter for a traditional redline, presumably because the tardy engine performance will remind you of a different brown splatter.

The vertical façade of dashboard means the climate controls are a long way out of your eyeline, though they’re large and chunky which helps with operation. The laggy touchscreen itself is depended on for most infotainment functions (and for some reason is needed for the heated seats – annoying). The sat nav is a TomTom creation and feels remarkably out of date. In fact, trying to operate this finicky and overdetailed interface while static, let alone on a European road (or on a trail) requires the patience of a bomb disposal expert’s surgeon.

The 2018 refresh did helpfully provide some more storage space in the cabin, but the majority of materials used are still hard-wearing and cheap-feeling. Bonus point for the seats though, they’re super soft and offer decent support. 

As you’d expect with such a boxy sit-up-and-beg shape, but a relatively short wheelbase, head-room and shoulder-room are more than adequate but taller rear passengers will quickly butt up against a lack of knee-room in the rear. Boot space is 351 litres, even in the e-Hybrid thanks to the battery’s placement between the front seats. The 4xe PHEV sacrifices just 20 litres to fit all its electrical gubbins in. Pretty impressive. 

Buying

What should I be paying?

With the multitude of powertrains and specs available there’s a fair bit to go through here, so bear with us. If you just want a petrol-powered Renegade, prices start at £24,100 for the Longitude trim and rise to £28,700 for a top spec 80th Anniversary. 

At the time of writing we don’t have prices or a homologated fuel economy figure for the e-Hybrid, but we can tell you that after a mix of town, country and motorway driving we managed just over 31mpg. It’ll come in four different trim levels – Longitude, Night Eagle, Limited and S – with a special ‘Upland’ launch edition that gets a load of recycled materials on the inside and Matte Azur paint plus bronze accents on the outside. 

As you’d expect, the 4WD 4xe is the most expensive of the bunch, with the entry level Longitude trim starting at a punchy £32,600. The most rugged Trailhawk trim is a whopping £36,500. Ouch. 

As with everything these days, the Renegade gets a plethora of connected services and safety systems as standard: lane-departure warning alarms, road sign reading, and front collision warning with autonomous emergency braking is thrown in across the board.

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