One could argue that the
boxy new Renegade
is the oddball of the Jeep family. After all, it’s built in Italy of
all places, shares its DNA with the antagonistically curvy
Fiat 500X,
and has evidently been designed to please the Muppets rather than
Indiana Jones. But if our 440-mile tour up and down the Alps of Tyrol
and Salzburg is anything to go by, the public loves the latest bantam
SUV. Our 2015 Jeep Renegade Limited certainly garnered plenty of
smartphone attention and thumbs up.
Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we’ll
give facts priority over feelings and start by noting the oddball
packaging. The driving position is rather van-like, with the faraway
base of the upright windshield creating a deep dashboard. Up front,
there’s headroom galore (feel free to wear your tallest Stetson), but
rear legroom is seriously compromised, and the cargo area is a scant
18.5 cubic feet. That last figure is 4.2 cubic feet shy of the
Compass—but then, the Renegade is 8.5 inches shorter.
The Renegade is a proper all-terrain SUV that will safely make it to your favorite ski slope or the far end of the beach.
The pint-sized
2015 Jeep Renegade
is critical to Fiat Chrysler’s plan to expand Jeep’s presence in
Europe, so that’s where we put it to its first test: a two-day run over
12 mountain passes.
Whereas U.S. buyers choose between a 1.4-liter
MultiAir turbocharged four (160 hp, 184 lb-ft) or a 2.4-liter
Tigershark fourcylinder (184 hp, 177 lb-ft), our
2015 Jeep Renegade
was equipped with a 2.0-liter MultiJet turbodiesel. With 138 hp from
four cylinders, the turbodiesel Renegade won’t make the podium of any
serious hillclimb. But power isn’t everything. What matters more when
you’re charging up a mountain pass is torque, and the Fiat engine
musters a feisty 258 lb-ft at a relaxed 1,750 rpm. The relatively
unrefined but perfectly punchy oil-burner helps the baby Jeep dash up
hills and gradients molto presto.
The 6-mile Gaisberg, for instance, was a brief
10-minute stint, Pass Lueg was over and done with before the first photo
was in the can, and Griessen Pass and the two passes that followed were
conquered with flying colors in fourth gear. Next on the list was Pass
Thurn, which deserves a Porsche 911 but made do with the much more
humble Renegade. Giving its all, the Jeep yodeled through the ultra-fast
corners with enough body roll to make our poor passenger reach
repeatedly for the grab handle. Although it was shod with soft snow
tires, the Renegade held the road remarkably well. Better still, it
didn’t understeer
excessively, didn’t suffer from fits of liftoff squirreliness, and, with
stability control switched off, was actually quite tweakable via
throttle, steering, and courage.
The Fiat-sourced powerplant was paired with a six-speed manual
transmission (which Americans can have with the 1.4-liter). We never
wished for the available nine-speed automatic, as the six-speed stick
features well-spaced ratios, commendably light shift action, and
reasonably short throws. Our 2015 Jeep Renegade Limited was also
equipped with all-wheel drive (which is available with either U.S.
engine). Jeep’s Active Drive all-wheel-drive system includes a choice of
four modes, from full auto to snow, sand, and mud. The hardcore
Trailhawk package adds a low range and hill-descent control as well as
bumpers that allow steeper approach angles, skidplates, a tow hook, and a
bit of extra ground clearance (8.7 inches versus 7.9 inches for the
other 4x4s). It’s doubtful, though, that the Trailhawk’s extra
eight-tenths of an inch would have helped us when snow halted our
progress not once but twice. The first was photographer-induced and made
the car sink to its belly on what looked like packed snow but was more
like deep powder. The second situation involved a snowdrift that
appeared manageable but was so hard and tall that the Jeep got stuck
again, spinning all four wheels like a silver guinea pig scrambling for
shelter.
We were less forgiving of the factory navigation
system, which drove us nuts with its small touchscreen and idiosyncratic
controls. The Jeep’s UConnect Bluetooth system, on the other hand,
works even better than the one in the latest Mercedes-Benz S-Class. One
extra we would consciously avoid is lane-keeping assist, which does
exactly that, but too soon, too often, and with too much vigor.
Thankfully, it can be switched off.
Twelve-pack: Our all-wheel-drive Jeep Renegade Limited charged up a dozen mountain passes in the snowy Austrian Alps.
On the morning of day two, we meandered up Gerlos Pass,
which is a tourist trap in winter but an off-season paradise. From the
icy, windswept summit way above the tree line, the broad blacktop curves
down to the Ziller Valley, where my mother’s family still owns a couple
of guest houses, a trout farm, and a small farm close to the bottom of
the hill. The scenery hasn’t changed much since my childhood days, and
the wonderfully nostalgic scents duly brought back fond memories: dark
bread fresh out of the oven, steaming afternoon cocoa, the perfume of
cheese-making, strong apple brandy distilled from tiny crumpled fruit.
Instead of tobogganing down the last dozen hairpins as we used to after
church on Sunday, the Jeep carved up the winding Zillertaler
Höhenstrasse, which eventually brushes the snow-capped peaks that
stretch all the way from Schwendberg to Kaltenbach. This is slow-speed,
tiptoe terrain dotted with blind crests and even blinder corners, rutted
pavement, crumbling valley-side shoulders, and impromptu mudslides. The
views are simply out of this world, though, and the baby Jeep mastered
all hurdles with aplomb—until we arrived at the aforementioned
snowdrift.
The 2015 Jeep Renegade is a proper all-terrain SUV that will safely make
it to your favorite ski slope or the to far end of the beach. But
unlike the body-on-frame Wrangler, it’s not a compromised on-road
vehicle that punishes its occupants with a deafening noise level, a
sadistic ride, and third-rate creature comforts. Apart from a
pronounced cold-start diesel clatter, the engine is reasonably quiet,
the suspension strikes a decent balance between composure and cushiness,
and the cabin impresses with much-better-than-expected fit and finish.
Flaws? The steering may be on the light side, and it is not particularly
quick, but it provides ample feedback. When driven all-out, the oil
pressure warning light came on occasionally, the front differential did
grind in loud protest through left-hand bends, and—at the foot of a
pass—the sizzling brakes coated the wheels with a layer of charcoal
powder
There are three alternative routes that lead from the Innsbruck basin
back to Munich. We chose the Achen Pass—not for its beauty but for the
proximity to the little-known Jachenau toll road. Although this route is
almost devoid of elevation changes, the jagged mountains that tower on
both sides of the single-track ribbon are eerily majestic. In the fall,
flocks of chamois will be descending to greener pastures, the river in
the distance will have slimmed to a silver trickle, and the panoramic
sky will likely be speckled with wheeling birds of prey. This is Jeep
country, and the Renegade fits the picture much better than
lifestyle-oriented wannabes such as the Mini Countryman or the Nissan
Juke. True, the styling might take forever to grow on you, and better
packaging would certainly help. But if and when your travels take you
off the beaten track, this pleasantly affordable Italian-American effort
is not a bad chariot to be in.
Austria's Dynamic Dozen
Twelve fun-to-drive passes that you’ll likely find open 365 days a year.
1. Gaisberg. Ten minutes outside of
the Salzburg city center, this 6-mile climb was first used in 1929 for a
high-speed motorsport event won by Max von Arco-Zinneberg in a Mercedes
SSK. It is now part of an annual classic car rally; the 2015 event will
be staged June 4-6.
2. Pass Lueg. Before the A10 autobahn was completed,
all traffic from Salzburg to Italy and the former Yugoslavia had to
travel over the once-demanding Pass Lueg, which these days is a mix of
moderate grades and fast corners.
3. Dientner Sattel. Along the south face of the
Hochkönig mountain range runs this picturesque and challenging road,
which combines steep climbs with majestic views along the broad Dientner
Sattel plateau.
4. Griessen Pass. This section consists of a very
modest rise, summit, and descent. What it lacks in elevation, however,
it makes up in speed; this is one of the fastest mountain roads in
Austria
5. Pass Luftenstein. More of the same, except the
blacktop is narrower, twistier, and less trafficked. Don’t bother with
the detour to Pass Strub, which is a stretch of busy and boring
highway.
6. Steinpass. Crossing the border to Bavaria, this is
the gateway to the breathtakingly beautiful Deutsche Alpenstrasse, which
curves through the Alps and will take you back into Austria near
Kössen. The Steinpass itself is now little more than a defunct border
crossing.
7. Pass Thurn. It’s like a
racetrack, only one that runs up and down a mountain. You can see far
enough into the countless second- and third-gear sweepers to take them
in one fantastic long slide.
8. Felbertauern. This most significant pass links the
northern and eastern parts of Tyrol. The tunnel through the Tauern
massif may be boring, but the fast approach is, on both sides, a killer
drive. Go up once to check the area for police, then try again and open
it up.
9. Gerlos Pass. Past the famous Krimml waterfalls, this
toll road embraces the Gerlos glacier like a graceful concrete serpent.
Best to buy a day ticket and go play in the upper elevations where
traffic is light—except on weekends.
10. Zillertaler Höhenstrasse. Slow, very narrow, and
poorly protected against avalanches or rock slides, this is perhaps the
most amazing route of the lot. From the top, you can see all the way to
Italy.
11. Achen Pass. Touristy, crowded in summer, with
plenty of speed limits, even two stationary radar traps. And yet this
pass is still worth a visit because of the awesome climb to the first
hairpin and because of the scenic drive along an emerald lake.
12. Wallgau/Jachenau. Instead of shooting straight back
to town, take a left at the Sylvenstein reservoir and follow the narrow
centipede to Wallgau where you hang a right, heading for Jachenau and
then Lenggries. Not a pass per se, but probably one of Europe’s
prettiest mountain roads.
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