Photo: Jeep
While some believe the Renegade is nothing but a cash cow for a troubled Fiat Chrysler group, that’s not exactly the case. Sure it rides on a platform that started life as a collaboration between Opel and Fiat. Sure the same vehicle platform is used by the Fiat 500X. The Renegade, however, is a proper Jeep.
In Trailhawk guise, the Renegade can hold its own off the beaten track with plenty of off-road bits and bobs. A 20:1 crawl ratio and a 30-millimeter suspension lift are tell-tale signs Jeep isn’t kidding. Bash plates, all-terrain tires, and not-your-average all-wheel-drive system noteworthy too.
Where Jeep goes wrong with the Renegade, however, is how the company pitches the small SUV to its customers. Take the UK market-only Desert Hawk as a prime example of what grinds my gears. In the featured photo, please notice the driver who wears colored headphones while towing a sandboarder with the Desert Hawk. Ridiculous? You betcha!
But beyond the dull-witted marketing effort, the Renegade Desert Hawk sure has its merits as a Jeep. Based on the Trailhawk mentioned a few paragraphs above, the Desert Hawk boasts everything one could wish for in an all-terrain vehicle. The 205-mm wheel articulation and 48-cm water fording capability are testaments to its off-road capability.
"Designed to enhance Renegade's already very strong appeal in the UK, and capable of delivering Jeep’s legendary off-road capability, the new Renegade Desert Hawk version is an attractive proposition for buyers," said Damien Dally, the head of brand of Jeep UK. It comes at a price, though.
Starting from £28,995 on the road, the 2017 Jeep Renegade Desert Hawk is equipped as standard with the torquiest mill in the lineup, the 2.0-liter MultiJet turbo diesel. Also standard is the nine-speed ZF 948TE automatic transmission, a unit that debuted in the Jeep Cherokee for MY 2014.
Where Jeep goes wrong with the Renegade, however, is how the company pitches the small SUV to its customers. Take the UK market-only Desert Hawk as a prime example of what grinds my gears. In the featured photo, please notice the driver who wears colored headphones while towing a sandboarder with the Desert Hawk. Ridiculous? You betcha!
But beyond the dull-witted marketing effort, the Renegade Desert Hawk sure has its merits as a Jeep. Based on the Trailhawk mentioned a few paragraphs above, the Desert Hawk boasts everything one could wish for in an all-terrain vehicle. The 205-mm wheel articulation and 48-cm water fording capability are testaments to its off-road capability.
"Designed to enhance Renegade's already very strong appeal in the UK, and capable of delivering Jeep’s legendary off-road capability, the new Renegade Desert Hawk version is an attractive proposition for buyers," said Damien Dally, the head of brand of Jeep UK. It comes at a price, though.
Starting from £28,995 on the road, the 2017 Jeep Renegade Desert Hawk is equipped as standard with the torquiest mill in the lineup, the 2.0-liter MultiJet turbo diesel. Also standard is the nine-speed ZF 948TE automatic transmission, a unit that debuted in the Jeep Cherokee for MY 2014.
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