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Reno, I like the Patriot for what it is, and I've seen some pretty impressive videos of them off road too! I'm not a fan of the 2wd versions of the Patriot or the compass, but I'm not a fan of 2wd XJs either. Jeep should be synonymous with 4wd, even if it's just AWD. If Fiat can do that while meeting CAFE standards then great, but if not I can tolerate. I won't buy one, but I'll live with seeing them around, through the windshield of my Trailhawk, ZJ, J-10s and maybe someday a new wagoneer.
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
I think an AWD Subaru fighter with a jeep badge would be interesting. While AMC obviously tried and failed ala the eagle, the Subaru's sell well. Take a renegade and give it some more teeth to compete...or design something new.
tedlovesjeeps71 wrote:I think an AWD Subaru fighter with a jeep badge would be interesting. While AMC obviously tried and failed ala the eagle, the Subaru's sell well. Take a renegade and give it some more teeth to compete...or design something new.
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The Eagle was just ahead of its time. Now AWD sedans/wagons are common place. Back then they were not. And Subaru had a VERY tiny market share here in the US. But the Eagle did sell pretty well considering what it is, used to see them everywhere here back in the 80's. Heck, my parents even owned one.
Subaru doesn't really have anything that competes directly with the Renegade. The closest thing would be the XV, but that is significantly larger. Subaru does not seem interested in the compact CVU market.
The Eagle wagons became the vehicle of choice for rural contract mail carriers and they drove em till the doors fell off.
I suspect this is why you rarely see them on the road. We had several carriers who ordered the wagons with right hand drive and I saw one of them still working when I visited Montana this June.
1977 Cherokee Chief - The Blair Jeep Project III
A collection of parts flying in close formation
SemperFIGuy wrote:We had an Eagle as well growing up. In my dreams I would to put some 31's on it, expo gear the hell out of it, and drive it around the world.
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I still see quite a few of them on CL. Prices are all over depending on condition.
Alright, I'm loving the renegades. I've been crawling all over them for the past two days. They're impressive little machines. Did you know that 2.4 Multiair has forged rods and a forged crank? Maintenance free chain driven timing? Super skookum girdled cylinder liners? And that the trans axle is the same one used in the Cherokee which is much bigger and heavier? In the words of my favorite conventional poet... That little thing is Skookum as frig! All of the engine bay components appear to be easily serviceable in the 2.4, the turbo engine looks like it would be harder to work on. Electronically they are beautiful, stuffed full of parts from Bosch and Valeo, Hella relays, and NO MORE PROPRIETARY MOPAR GARBAGE! The only Mopar labeling I could find was on the throttle body, and it simply said developed by Mopar. It was manufactured by Valeo. Electronically they are on par in every way with my mother's Q7 and everything else German and high end I've given a good poking.
I have done my fair share of jabbing at electronic side of the 2017 wranglers, they are nothing impressive. MOPAR labels on Expletive Deleted!Expletive Deleted!Expletive Deleted!Expletive Deleted! near every component. And MADE IN CHINA is proudly emblazoned across the tops of the relays in the fuse box. Plastic weather pack connectors a quarter inch away from the un heat shielded catalyst with no protection for the connector. Mark my words, that will be a problem area! The radio in the upper trim wranglers is still garbage as well.
The Cherokee is just as electronically sound as the renegade. Haven't really dug into the mechanicals yet.
I haven't begun scrutinizeing the Grand Cherokee yet, but I have researched the transmissions and trans axles. It's mostly Borg Warner sourced parts in the "transfer case" with the best center differential, a true Torsen differential! The very same that Audi used to use before they became mechanically incontinent and that Toyota has been perfecting in the new Land cruisers. Anyone who's driven an older Audi in the snow can attest to the amazing performance of a Torsen differential.
After seeing everything I have the past weekend roaming around the lot at the Jeep dealer where I now work, I am very hopeful that even though it won't look like a Grand Wagoneer, it will do justice to the name. Good things are coming under the hand of Fiat.
Jeep should be synonymous with 4wd, even if it's just AWD. If Fiat can do that while meeting CAFE standards then great, but if not I can tolerate. I won't buy one, but I'll live with seeing them around, through the windshield of my Trailhawk, ZJ, J-10s and maybe someday a new wagoneer. 
