Smallish Jeep Renegade aimed at young buyers - Daily Commercial

When the world begins to crumble or melt or ice over, I want to be in the back of one of those rugged iron boxes — a long, lean blonde on one side of me and a margarita machine on the other. But you have to wonder: Will a pumped-up, battle-scarred Wrangler or a prowler like the Grand Cherokee even acknowledge the 2015 Jeep Renegade, a doe-eyed crossover that appears to have fallen from a Chinese cereal box. In fact, can the dinky Renegade claim any genetic link at all to gun-toting Wranglers and power-broking Grand Cherokees. The one I had recently didn’t get off to a great start, arriving in a sand color that appeared to have been inspired by a freshly pressed pair of Dockers. Here’s the good news, though: The Renegade looks better in metal than it does in photos, and like that pair of Dockers, wears surprisingly well. Short, narrow and tall, the Renegade struggles with awkward proportions. Very short overhangs front and rear give it some off-road flair, while a short, flat hood and big round headlamps provide some Jeep character. As you might expect, the Renegade offers two- or four-wheel drive. The Renegade Limited I had was front-wheel-drive, spun by a fuel-sipping four-cylinder engine — just like some $18,000 econobox. Actually, though, the Renegade emerged as one of those surprising vehicles in which the whole is considerably greater than the sum of its parts. Source: www.dailycommercial.com