10 Things You Need To Know About The 2015 Jeep Renegade

2015 jeep renegade

The 2015 Jeep Renegade injects new blood into the Jeep family by way of its newfound Italian heritage.  Produced in partnership with corporate parent Fiat, the Jeep Renegade steps up to deliver one of the most modern small SUV experiences available from the brand in years.  Leveraging similar technologies as found in last year's all-new Jeep Cherokee, the Renegade offers a balance between the trail-ready off-road capability that most buyers expect from a Jeep and the fuel efficiency and practicality that are crucial in the subcompact SUV segment.

Let's take a look at 10 things you need to know about the 2015 Jeep Renegade.

1. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Is The Italian Cousin

The 2015 Jeep Renegade wears the familiar seven-slat grille and JEEP badge on the front end, but it's actually based on a Fiat platform (shared with the upcoming FIAT 500X) and assembled in Italy.  This marks a first for Jeep, as the Renegade is the only SUV to have been built by the brand outside of North America.  In the drivetrain department, there's some Italian influence as well: the entry-level engine for the Renegade is again borrowed from Fiat, but the top-tier unit is a Chrysler design shared with a wide variety of other models in the Chrysler portfolio.

Photo by Jeep

2. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Offers Retro Cool Styling

One of the biggest things going for the 2015 Jeep Renegade is the way it melds modern design cues with retro styling that plays to Jeep's boxy heritage.  Despite its squared-off silhouette, the Jeep Renegade still manages to present many curved surfaces along the fenders, haunches, and tailgate, flourishes that mesh well with the pentagon-style wheel arches and square taillights.  Those taillights themselves feature an Easter egg: an 'X' through the middle meant to evoke the steel fuel cans frequently strapped to the back of the very first Willys Jeep.  Other hidden fun can be found throughout the Renegade's interior, including Jeep-faced speaker covers and a small Willys climbing the inside of the windshield black-out trim.

3. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Kills Two Bird With One Stone

The 2015 Jeep Renegade's presence in Jeep showrooms might seem confusing at first given that there are already two similarly-sized offerings sitting alongside it.  Both the Jeep Compass and the similarly-sized Jeep Patriot, however, aren't long for this world, with it all-but-confirmed that the two models will ride off into the sunset in 2016.  The replacement of both the Compass and the Patriot with the smaller Jeep Renegade makes more sense when taking into account last year's swap of the Liberty for the Cherokee.  Together, the Renegade and the Cherokee present a more modern set of options for entry-level SUV buyers looking to get in on the Jeep experience.

4. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Is Practical Despite Its Small Size

The 2015 Jeep Renegade has been purposely kept on the small side of the subcompact template, not just because it's based off of a European platform (where vehicles are typically not as large as in North America), but also due to Jeep's desire to snag urban dwellers facing limited parking and congested roads.  There are 50 cubic feet of total hauling space to be taken advantage of inside the Jeep Renegade, accessible by way of folding forward the second row of seating.  In fact, it's safe to say that the Renegade is targeted more at couples looking to get away for the weekend than young families, as backseat room isn't quite as generous as the Jeep's cargo room.

5. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Starts Off With Turbo Power

Standard on the entry-level edition of the 2015 Jeep Renegade is a 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine that makes use of a turbocharger to produce 160 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque.  The motor, which features Fiat's 'Multiair' design in order to improve fuel efficiency, turns in 24-mpg in stop and go driving and 31-mpg on the highway, which are very competitive figures for a compact SUV.  Even more intriguing is the fact that the Jeep Renegade's turbo engine is available exclusively with a six-speed manual, a type of gearbox that is increasingly absent from the sport-utility universe.

6. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Graduates To A Tigershark Under The Hood

If you're looking for more power - and an automatic transmission - then the 2015 Jeep Renegade provides it in the form of a 2.4-liter 'Tigershark' four-cylinder engine.  Capable of generating 180 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of twist, the trade-off compared to the torquier turbo engine is somewhat smoother highway performance.  A nine-speed automatic transmission is standard with the Tigershark mill, and while it might seem a bit like overkill Jeep claims that the availability of so many specific ratios helps keep the Renegade efficient without requiring the use of continuously-variable automatic design.  Fuel mileage figures for the 2.4-liter edition of the SUV have yet to be released.

7. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Features Two Available Four-Wheel Drive Systems

The 2015 Jeep Renegade's designers realized that in order for the Jeep faithful to accept the subcompact SUV as one of their own it had to be able to keep up on the trail.  This lead to the development of two mechanically-similar but philosophically-different four-wheel drive systems.  All versions of the Jeep Renegade have access to the first setup, called Active Drive which is primarily front-wheel drive until wheel spin is detect, prompting torque to be redirected to the rear wheels.  The Renegade Trailhawk benefits from Active Drive Low, which adds a 20:1 crawl ratio to the vehicle's first gear.  Both four-wheel drive systems completely decouple the back axles during normal driving for improved fuel efficiency, and each comes complete with the Selec-Terrain system for fine-tuning performance on a variety of different surfaces.

8. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Can Be Had With A Unique Removable Roof

Part of the iconic Jeep Wrangler's continued popularity is tied in with the ability to completely remove its roof and enjoy open air, off-road driving.  The 2015 Jeep Renegade doesn't go quite as far in terms of bringing the outside in, but it does offer a set of unique 'My Sky' removable roof panels that essentially opens up the entire top of the SUV.  The pair of My Sky panels lift off of the top and store in the rear of the Jeep Renegade, giving the small people mover a feature unmatched by any other sport-utility vehicle.

9. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Provides Four Trim Levels

The 2015 Jeep Renegade starts out in Sport trim, which offers cloth seats, a trip computer, and the Uconnect 5.0 infotainment system.  Moving up to the Jeep Renegade Latitude installs Bluetooth connectivity, satellite radio, two additional stereo speakers, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and air conditioning, while the Trailhawk brings a host of off-road equipment to the table (including a taller ride height, subtle styling tweaks, skid plates, and tow hooks).  The top-of-the-line Renegade Limited gains a split folding rear sat, heated seats up front with leather upholstery and power adjustment for the driver, dual automatic climate control, and a heated steering wheel.

10. The 2015 Jeep Renegade Starts At $17,995

The 2015 Jeep Renegade competes hard on price, with a starting MSRP of $17,995.  Of course, for the entry-level fee you won't benefit from need-to-have features like air conditioning out of the box, which means that most buyers are likely to find themselves behind the wheel of a Renegade Latitude, which pushes the window sticker to $21,295.  This puts the Jeep in contention with smaller, peppier models like the Nissan Juke and more luxury-laden vehicles such as the Buick Encore, but no other subcompact SUV can boast the same level of off-road capability, nor the classic Jeep styling embodied in the Renegade.