Jeep Renegade 2016 ReviewLong Term Test - 1

Update, May 23, 2016: Since the publication of this review, the Jeep Renegade that was the subject of the article has posted transmission-related error messages. The vehicle is being returned to FCA for investigation and motoring.com.au will reveal the results as soon as they're known.

Jeep Renegade Longitude
Long-Term Test (Introduction)

Sales of small SUVs are growing rapidly, and every new model expanding the segment brings more diversity too. Jeep's Renegade provides the sort of equipment and packaging to rival a Mazda CX-3 or Honda HR-V, but with unmissable styling and a certain presence the competitors lack. This particular Renegade joining our long-term test fleet is trimmed to mid-range Longitude specification and features a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder driving to the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. Let's see how it stacks up.

Long-Term Tests
motoring.com.au aims to make your choice of vehicle easier. Our Editorial section does this via our mix of news, international and local launch reviews as well as our seven-day tests.

From time to time we also take the opportunity to spend more time in a vehicle. These longer-term tests can be as short as a couple of weeks, but more recently we've settled on a three-month period as indicative of 'normal' ownership.

Long-term tests give our staff writers and contributors a chance to get to know a car as an owner would. While the car is with us, we pay for fuel, pay for the servicing and generally use and live with the car as a new owner would.

We believe long-term tests give car buyers an added insight into the vehicle on test, but also the qualities behind the brand and nameplate. The extended period also allows us to touch base with the dealer networks in question.

It comes as no surprise that manufacturers tend to have a love-hate relationship with long-term tests. Three months is plenty long enough to fall out of love with the latest and greatest, and start to nitpick – just like real owners do.

Underneath it all, the Jeep Renegade is an Italian macchina that looks American.

Check out all the Italian DNA: the forced-induction 1.4-litre four-cylinder, for instance, and the Renegade's dual-clutch transmission. But the traditional Jeep grille is there, plus the upright stance and the conventional SUV footprint – albeit a size-six footprint.

The tiniest Jeep is an impressive tourer, quiet at speed and not too flustered by cross winds or bothered by lumpy bitumen. Tyre noise is muted on even some really poor surfaces and the Renegade won't pitch badly under brakes or acceleration. In fact, the Renegade rides fairly firmly, but its suspension will also take a pounding without significant crash-through.

Despite that, the Renegade is a mixed bag in terms of driveability. Its steering response is quite slow even by the standards of its direct rivals. The Renegade is also prone to understeer, and I found the Renegade wanders a little at the straight-ahead. At speed, and with some lateral load thrown in, the steering feels unnaturally light and lacking feel.

Brake pedal feedback doesn't inspire confidence either. For the first few millimetres of travel there's nothing to indicate the pedal is connected to anything, but the Renegade does pull-up well when you jump on the brakes.

Traction can be compromised in this front-wheel drive variant, as evident in the form of axle tramp and torque steer. In the wet the Renegade has some difficulty maintaining grip while slotting into traffic from a left turn at a give-way or stop sign.

In many respects the highlight of the Renegade is the turbocharged four-cylinder mill. Wound up above 3000rpm, the four-cylinder powerplant provides decent performance and is pretty refined. It sounds pleasant and will spin right through to redline delivering power and torque every step of the way.

It's also free of labouring at lower revs and will hold higher gears without fuss. So its torque will suit drivers who are unlikely to see the high side of the rev range.

If there's one niggle with the engine, it can be slow to start (either when cold, or restarting automatically – as noted below) and is susceptible to turbo lag. Over the course of the week the Renegade averaged 8.5L/100km, which included around 70km of open-road driving and flowing, arterial traffic.

While the Renegade is quiet at speed, the removable roof is acoustically porous. There is a fair amount of noise penetrating the cabin through the 'hard-top' (there's a soft-top alternative packed in with the spare wheel under the boot floor). It's very apparent at lower speeds, with rain hitting the roof for example, or engine noise bouncing back and forth in an underground car park. And it creaks over bumps and when the body twists entering a driveway.

The dual-clutch transmission is adaptive and holds lower gears for an extended period to deliver engine braking on hills. It often overrides the driver, however, even in sequential-shift (manual) mode. Kick-down and up-shifts are not locked out by moving the lever across to the manual shift détente.

Overall, though, the dual-clutch box is a good partner to the engine. Unfortunately, the transmission isn't a conventional auto, with a torque converter to hold the Renegade at standstill on a hill. The Jeep does have a hill-hold facility, but this was frequently out to lunch when needed, and the engine's slow idle-stop restarting resulted in the Jeep frequently rolling back on a hill, when least expected.

There was no separate auto-hold switch for the Renegade, so using the finger pull for the electric parking brake to hold the car on a slope quickly became second nature. Manually actuating the parking brake disabled the idle-stop (most of the time, at least).

For its part, the idle-stop system was often (but not always) slow to restart the engine… really slow. More than one occasion I was left furiously pumping the accelerator as the unpowered car surrendered to gravity – with a car behind.

On any gradient not actually steep enough to awaken the hill-hold facility, the system would fail to hold the car steady. Left-foot braking or heel-and-toe weren't satisfactory alternatives either. The only way to be sure the car wouldn't roll back was to use the parking brake switch as you would use a conventional handbrake lever.

The Renegade's idiosyncrasies weren't limited to the way idle-stop, the electric parking brake and the transmission interacted either. If you happen to see a Renegade making its way through traffic without using indicators, it's not necessarily due to driver apathy.

There's a knack to indicating with three flashes (actually five in the Renegade) that you intend to change lanes. Gently but steadily push down or lift the stalk and hold in position for a second or two before releasing. Without that finely calculated process, the indicators would blink once and stop – or not blink at all.

The Renegade's blind-spot detection system could be too sensitive at times too, activating when it detected a parked car on the right after turning into a one-way street.

On overcast mornings – with headlights set to auto – lighting for the instrumentation would frequently shift between dimmed and bright. There was little apparent reason for this occurring other than the auto-headlight system changing at whim because the ambient lighting was right on the cusp of nearly-but-not-quite. Passing under trees or a railway bridge would confuse the system chronically.

While the controls looked busy, they were easy enough to use, but the climate control switchgear was mounted too low in the centre fascia. Remote control toggles behind the steering wheel were there to adjust audio volume and change tracks/stations. The infotainment touchscreen was small, but located in relatively easy reach. Interior styling could almost be described as 'industrial' and details like the 'mud splash' on the tacho face will delight first-time drivers.

Music streamed by Bluetooth frequently skipped for no apparent reason, and the driver had to manually reconnect the already-paired smartphone on every new occasion the Renegade was restarted (with the key). On the subject of the key, it's a slightly large and clumsy-looking fold-out device for the ignition lock in a market segment where the opposition have moved on to push-button ignitions.

The seats are oddly shaped, and they don't hug the occupants well while the car is cornering, but they are comfortably cushioned.

Jumping in and out of the Renegade is easy, thanks to the upright seating positions, the generous H (hip) point and right-sized doors. Inside is spacious, but trim materials are robust rather than plush, and the rear-seat occupants don't get their own adjustable vents.

The Renegade is externally compact for easy parking and comes with both a reversing camera and rear parking sensors in this variant. Although it's not gargantuan, the boot is large enough for a week's worth of groceries for a conventional nuclear family. The heavy tailgate is actually easy to lift, due to the gas struts.

Overall, the Renegade gets a pass mark for urban utility, on that basis. And it's undeniable that the Renegade is a step in the right direction after the last Jeep I reviewed, the Compass Trailhawk.

The Renegade could be a serious competitor in this market segment, but not for the moment… not while so many of the car's shortcomings will drive the buyers away.

2016 Jeep Renegade Longitude pricing and specifications:
Price: $33,000 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 103kW/230Nm
Transmission: Six-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 5.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 137g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star EuroNCAP

Also consider:
>> Honda HR-V VTi-L (from $33,340 plus ORCs)
>> Mazda CX-3 sTouring (from $33,390 plus ORCs)
>> Nissan JUKE Ti-S (from $33,490 plus ORCs)