Jeep Renegade VS Volkswagen T-CROSS
Jeep Renegade
Likes
- Tonka tough
- Lots of standard inclusions
- Looks the part
Dislikes
- Iffy entertainment software
- Naff interior
- Vague steering
Volkswagen T-CROSS
Likes
- Lots of features for not much money
- Easy and fun to drive
- Spacious and practical for the class
Dislikes
- A hybrid version is needed
- Some rivals start at a lower price
- Some turbo lag in stop-start traffic
Summary
Jeep Renegade
Jeep's Renegade might be late to the mini-SUV party but it comes with a pretty impressive back catalogue to suggest that this is a SUV that can cash the cheques its name can write.
The top of the range Trailhawk can write even bigger cheques than the lower models, bringing with it a range of off-road tech toys to let you really get down and dirty.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.4L |
| Fuel Type | Premium Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 7.5L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Volkswagen T-CROSS
The Volkswagen T-Cross is the smallest SUV in the brand’s entire range, but it’s incredibly practical, great to drive and has an excellent level of safety.
It’s just been updated with some new features and it’s probably more affordable than you think.Â
So if you are thinking of a Mazda CX-3 or a Toyota Yaris Cross, then put the T-Cross on your list to check out, too.Â
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| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5.6L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Jeep Renegade6.4/10
Rugged, dependable and good off-road are the most obvious qualities of the Trailhawk. It stands out from the rest of the mini-SUVs by being able to do the S and the U with plenty of vigour.
It's just a shame that its on-road manners can't match that of its big brother, the Cherokee. Unless you're planning on proper off-roading, the Trailhawk might not be quite what you're looking for.
How do you think the Renegade Trailhawk matches up to its small SUV rivals? Tell us in the comments below.
Click here to see more 2016 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk pricing and spec info.
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Volkswagen T-CROSS8/10
There are so many new little SUVs out there and it might be easy to think they’re all the same - a tiny cheap SUV is just a tiny cheap SUV. But I’m convinced the Volkswagen T-Cross isn’t like the others.
Yes, it’s tiny and relatively cheap, but it can do more than most of the others from the storage and space it offers to the value-for-money and its level of refinement. Then there’s the way it drives - which can’t in my books be matched by any of its rivals. Â
The sweet spot in the range is the entry grade Life. At $35K drive-away the value is best and with no difference in engines between the grades there are no huge reasons to step up higher in the range unless you have the money.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
Design
Jeep Renegade7/10
In what is absolutely not a coincidence, the Renegade immediately conjures up the Wrangler. Upright grille from the Willys Jeep (references abound here), round headlights, squared off wheel arches to mimic the Wrangler's guards, short overhangs and big rear view mirrors.
The 17-inch wheels look completely lost in the wheelarches which are even more cavernous owing to the Trailhawk's 50mm of extra ride height. The wheels are also a bit cheap looking but will probably survive the belting the car is intended to take.
Less rugged is the interior, despite a fairly self-conscious effort to make it look and feel chunky. The front seats are flat and unsupportive with the rears just as lacklustre making sure everyone is sliding around together. Luckily, front passengers get a dash-mounted grab handle.
It seems quite well put together, however, but with carpets and easily-marked plastics, you'll hope your passengers don't bring the mud in with them too often. And the "Since 1941" stamped into the steering wheel can go.
The dashboard is reasonably clear and has plenty of information to share via the screen between the dials but whoever thought marking the redline with a water splash graphic in bright orange should probably rethink their design decisions.
Storage is limited to two cupholders up front, door pockets in each door and nets on the front seat backs.
Volkswagen T-CROSS
The T-Cross is Volkswagen’s smallest SUV at 4.1m long and even though it’s closely related to the little Polo hatchback it looks more like a mini version of the Tiguan. Â
It might be tiny and relatively affordable but it has Volkswagen’s premium looks and sharp styling, with creases in the panels so crisp it looks like somebody just ironed it.
This update has brought new front and rear bumper designs, and new styling to the LED running lights and tail-lights. That’s typically how car companies do exterior design updates, inside the styling changes are pretty minimal, too.
There’s new dashboard design and new media screen, but again the design and quality feels refined and high quality, which I can't say goes for a lot of this car's rivals.
The entry-grade Life misses out on the cross design tail-lights of the Style and R-Line, and gets hubcaps rather than alloy wheels like the other two grades.
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Practicality
Volkswagen T-CROSS
You really should take a look at my video to get an idea of how good space and storage is in the T-Cross. I’m tall at 189cm but I can drive with plenty of elbow room and legroom. The front seats also have really long bases which offer great under-thigh support, too.
Legroom in the back is great for the class and I can sit behind my driving position without my knees touching the seatback, while headroom is excellent, too. The second row also slides on rails to increase the boot side which is enormous for the class at 455L.
The second row doors also have large apertures making entry and exit easier.
Cabin storage is great with giant door pockets in the front and back, a wireless phone charger with four USB-C ports (two in the front and two in the second row).
Price and features
Jeep Renegade6/10
The Renegade range starts at $28,000 for the 1.6-litre Renegade Sport manual front-wheel drive, climbing between $2000 and $3000 through the Sport Auto, Longitude Auto, Limited Auto with a final jump of $4000 to the 2.4-litre auto-only Trailhawk.
Standard is a nine-speaker stereo with Bluetooth and USB, 17-inch alloys, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, rear parking sensors, keyless entry and start, cruise control, electric front seats with heating, satellite navigation, automatic bi-xenon headlights, auto wipers, leather trim, roof rails, front and middle bash plates, full size spare, heated leather steering wheel, privacy glass, trailer sway control and tyre pressure monitoring.Â
The lairy Omaha orange is $500, part of an eleven colour palette with only two no-cost paint options (black and white).
You can add lane departure warning, auto-parking and a black painted roof for $500 each, a removable and retractable roof called My Sky Roof for $2200 or a more conventional electric sunroof for $1900.
The Beats-branded nine-speaker stereo is run via Fiat-Chryser's UConnect system, accessible through the 6.5-inch touchscreen. While it improves with every attempt, it's still quite clunky and when the sat-nav is added, becomes a bit of a mess.
Thankfully, not every function has been crammed into the touchscreen interface, so you'll spend more time with your hands on the wheel rather than working out which bit of the screen has the climate control.
Volkswagen T-CROSS
There are three grades in the T-Cross line up, the entry level Life which lists for $33,990, the Style for $37,490 and at the top of the range is the R-Line for $40,990.
At the time of the launch of this updated T-Cross, Volkswagen was doing drive-away pricing of $34,990 for the Life, $39,990 for the Style and $43,990 for the R-Line.
Compared to rivals like the Mazda CX-3 and Toyota Yaris Cross, a drive-away price of $35K for the Life is excellent and $40K for the Style is also a good deal, especially when you look at the healthy standard features list. Â
Coming standard on the Life are LED headlights, black roof rails and power folding mirrors, there’s a leather steering wheel, a digital driver display (which is new, too), there’s an 8.0-inch media screen, wireless phone charging, air con, digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Stepping up into the Style grade adds 17-inch alloys wheels, matrix LED headlights - those are new - chrome-look roof rails, an LED grille strip, proximity unlocking, dual-zone climate control, sat nav, and a new, larger digital driver display. The Style also gets the fancy 'cross' LED tail-lights like the R-Line grade above it.
The R-line is a new model sitting at the top of the line-up and it comes with sporty R-Line exterior styling plus 18-inch alloy wheels and dark tinted rear windows. Inside there’s R-line interior styling, 'Drive Modes' and a Beats sound system.
Under the bonnet
Jeep Renegade6/10
The Trailhawk is powered by Fiat's 2.4-litre four naturally-aspirated four-cylinder producing 129 kW and 230 Nm. Jeep reckons you'll get 7.5L/100km on the combined cycle. Our mostly city driving with a longish motorway run produced an 11.0L/100km average over a week.
The transmission is a nine-speed ZF automatic driving all four wheels.
The Trailhawk also has Jeep's five mode Selec-Terrain system which should cover pretty much every eventuality – Auto, Sport, Mud, Sand and, just for the Trailhawk, Rock. The Trailhawk is rated to tow 400kg unbraked and 907kg braked.
Volkswagen T-CROSS
The T-Cross has a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine which sounds tiny and it is, but it's turbo-charged and the 85kW/200Nm it produces is plenty of grunt to move this little SUV which at just under 1.3 tonnes is relatively light.Â
All grades in the T-Cross line-up have this same engine and there’s no high-performance variant, although the R-Line has selectable drive modes. Every T-Cross is front-wheel drive with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission.Â
This three-cylinder is a mighty little beastie with a growly tone to it. There is some turbo lag during stop-start city driving, but it’s so eager to play that if it was a dog it’d be a Jack Russell with every intention to chase anything it sees but no idea how small it is.
Efficiency
Volkswagen T-CROSS
Smaller engines use less fuel than larger ones and the 1.0-litre three-cylinder in the T-Cross is little and Volkswagen says over a combination of open and urban roads it uses 5.6L/100km.
That’s fuel efficient but these days larger SUVs with hybrid systems are achieving the same low consumption. Toyota’s Yaris Cross is available with a hybrid system and will use about 3.8L/100km.
Volkswagen doesn’t have a hybrid version of the T-Cross, but it should, especially given these little cars will spend more time in urban environments where fuel consumption will generally be higher.
That said, most tiny SUVs don’t have hybrid systems so that makes the Yaris Cross exceptional while the T-Cross is about average.
Driving
Jeep Renegade6/10
The Trailhawk name suggest that things are going to get muddy – compared to the rest of the range, the range-topper rides 50mm higher and has exposed, easy-to-reach tow hooks in the fairly unlikely event you get stuck. It also has a 20:1 low-range crawl ratio and Active Drive 4x4 which means it can switch between front and all-wheel drive. It'll also wade through almost half a metre of water. It's a genuine mud-plugging proposition and will take on some much bigger machinery out in the bush.
On the road, where we spent all our time in the Renegade, it's not what you'd call particularly inspiring. There's a number of sources of noise that contribute to a less than quiet cabin and having to constantly correct your course at freeway speeds adds to the tiring nature of the Renegade.
It's much better at lower speeds, pottering around but then again, its nine-speed transmission needs a lot more work on the shift mapping because it seems to forget which gear it needs to be in when you sink the right foot. If you don't need the Trailhawk's extra off-road goodies, consider the 1.4 litre Limited or Longitude.
Volkswagen T-CROSS
Quite possibly the best little SUV to drive for this price and size, the only drawback is that there’s a touch of lag in the time it takes the power to arrive at low speeds in stop-start traffic, but that can be remedied by putting the transmission in 'Sport' mode.
The steering is light and accurate, the visibility is excellent thanks to the big windows and raised ride height, the pedal feel under your feet is great and the brakes are responsive.
The car feels stable, planted and secure whether it's on a motorway, or a winding country road, while the little 1.0-litre engine is a champion that keeps punching with a throaty growl that matches its enthusiasm.
The seven-speed transmission is superb and changes gears fast, while the paddle shifter lets you take control to keep the revs high.
These little SUVs aren't sports cars but some are so underwhelming to drive it feels like performance was never thought about while developing the vehicle.
But the T-Cross made me grin until my face hurt on the steep winding hairpin filled roads we tested it on at its launch.Â
Safety
Jeep Renegade7/10
Seven airbags (including driver's knee bag), traction and stability controls, roll mitigation, blind spot monitoring, ABS and brake assist.
The Renegade does not yet have an ANCAP star rating although it scored five EuroNCAP stars in 2014.
Volkswagen T-CROSS
The T-Cross was given the maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2019. What is truly great is that on every grade you’ve got AEB, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, rear cross-traffic alert, manoeuvre braking, plus front and rear and parking sensors.Â
For child seats there are three top tether anchor points and two ISOFIX points in the second row.
A space saver spare wheel can be found under the boot floor.
Ownership
Volkswagen T-CROSS
The T-Cross is covered by Volkswagen’s five-year unlimited kilometre warranty.
Servicing is recommended every 15,000km or yearly and while there’s no capped price servicing you can buy a five-year plan for $2800, which equates to $560 per workshop visit.