2018 Jeep Renegade Performance Trailhawk Excels Off Road REVIEW

The Jeep Renegade doesn’t possess great power or handling, but the Trailhawk excels off-road. Jeep offers two engines, two transmissions, and two driveline configurations with the 2018 Renegade. All combinations yield economy-car performance that’s just average, but Trailhawks have off-road talent that lifts the Renegade’s performance score to 6. Jeep fits a 1.4-liter turbo-4 to base Renegades. It puts out 160 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque through a 6-speed manual transmission. It’s a decently lively combination when configured with front-wheel drive, but that zesty feel fades when it’s saddled with all-wheel drive, which adds about 150 pounds. Most Renegades will be equipped with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder with 180 hp and 175 lb-ft of torque. Coupled to a 9-speed automatic transmission, it yields a vehicle that’s moderately quicker, but one that’s also more noisy to operate, and more ponderous on the road. The 9-speed hasn’t been ideally tuned in small Jeeps and in other Chryslers. We’ve driven many Renegades and have observed them as they hunt for gears and judder through some shifts. The Renegade comes in base trim with front-wheel drive, but all-wheel drive is one of the reasons we buy Jeeps. In the Renegade, the all-weather system is called Selec-Terrain. It launches the vehicle from a stop with all four wheels under power, then tapers the power from the rear wheels until it’s essentially a front-drive vehicle above 40 mph. The system can de-couple the rear...