Montreal, QC Canada. Which one can tackle this snowy and icy off-road course with more ease? Would it be the 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk or the 2015 Wrangler Unlimited? The answer may be obvious. How can any other Jeep do better on an off-road course than the Wrangler? Perhaps, the better question would be – can the Renegade Trailhawk keep up with the Wrangler on snow and ice?
This test was performed in the cold and harsh environment north-west of Montreal at the ICAR Motorsports facility. The temperatures were bouncing between -7F and -3F that day. ICAR has an off-road course designed by the team from Land Rover, and it’s a good controlled environment for exercising off-road vehicles.
Jeep says that every vehicle in their lineup is meant to be the most off-road capable in their respective segments. The “Trail Rated” and Trailhawk branded vehicles are specifically focused on this goal. The Renegade Trailhawk brings the following credentials. It has 8.7 inches of ground clearance, 30.5 degrees of approach, 34.3 degrees of departure, and 25.7 degrees of breakover angles. It also has Jeep Active Drive Low 4×4 system with 20:1 crawl ratio.
By comparison, the Wrangler Unlimited brings 10.5 inches of ground clearance to the front axle and 10.2 inches to the rear axle. It has 44.4 degrees of approach, 40.7 degrees of departure, and 20.9 degrees of breakover angles. The shorter wheelbase of the Renegade scores a better breakover angle than the Wrangler. This means it is less likely to get hung-up on an obstacle in the middle.
On price, a base Renegade Trailhawk starts at $25,995. The Wrangler Unlimited starts at $26,595. However, the Wrangler Unlimited can be optioned to over $45,000, while the Renegade Trailhawk can be configured to cross the $32,000 mark.
Take a look at this review to see what happened.
