BRASILIA: Another 4X4 vehicle, 2015 Jeep Renegade, is going to hit the market that will soon be thick with entries from Chevy, Fiat, Honda, Kia and Mazda.
This Jeeplet has a version of the nine-speed automatic that sees duty in the Chrysler 200 and Jeep Cherokee. Well, you can also get a six-speed manual transmission, but not in high-end Limited versions such as our test Renegade. The lower-level Sport and Latitude models come standard with the stick. They also are fitted with the 160-hp turbo 1.4-liter inline-four from the Fiat 500 Abarth.
Unlike actual tiger sharks, the Jeep’s 2.4-liter engine loves to give foot massages. Every time you press your right foot deeply into the accelerator the engine sends waves of soothing vibrations through the pedal. At idle, the 2.4-liter gives your hands the vibro-treatment through the steering wheel. Thoughtful. Its soundtrack, however, is somewhat less soothing than the whale songs performed by Enya that invariably accompany spa massages. This is not what you would call a smooth engine.
As in its earlier application in the Cherokee, the nine-speed is a decent piece of work with an absolute aversion to ninth gear. It is clearly tuned for fuel efficiency, as it swaps cogs madly in an attempt to get to the highest possible gear as soon as possible.
This allows the Tigershark to take a nap-one from which it’s reluctant to wake. The big four feels as if it’s lugging until it drops a gear or two. On the upside, with 175 pound-feet of torque peaking at 3900 rpm, the engine has decent grunt. And it needs it because, at 3454 pounds, our loaded four-wheel-drive Renegade is not light. It is heavier by 84 pounds than the last four-wheel-drive Buick Encore we tested, and it’s hundreds of pounds heavier than a Kia Soul or four-wheel-drive Nissan Juke.
Consequently, the Renegade is not quick. It needs 8.8 seconds to arrive at 60 mph and gets through the quarter-mile in 16.8 seconds at 81 mph. That’s about a half-second slower than a Soul and about 1.5 seconds slower than a Juke. It is, however, quicker than a four-wheel-drive Encore, which at 10.0 seconds to 60 mph is officially slow.
