[crossed-up]

I don't think I've posted in here yet...

I drive a 2017 Jeep Renegade, the 2.4l 4-cylinder automatic. Not the most exciting version of this car, in fact I started out with a '16 1.4 turbo manual, and that is actually a pretty neat car. Yeah, it's a crossover more than a true Jeep, because it's unibody not body-on-frame, and it's also a little gutless at 160 HP for a 3K-pound vehicle. BUT - in practice it's an intensely fun car, with a really growly engine that you have to keep spooled up to get good power out of, a boxy shape, surprisingly good ride. It's an Italian-made vehicle, and you can tell. Totally different interpretation of a SUV, but it just works.

Why don't I have that one anymore? Well, my wife really doesn't enjoy driving stick. We tried quite a few times, but it's not her thing. It got too annoying trying to plan around which car we wanted to drive, if we took longer trips I had to drive the whole time, etc. One day we'll overcome the driving stick thing... but we found a good deal on a '17 automatic. It's heavier, gets worse gas mileage, but admittedly has more power and is a higher trim than the Sport we had. It's all good.

Another happy Renegade owner here. I've been on many adventures in mine and many more planned once we're actually allowed to travel again! My brother bought one first and I followed suit after realising it was a much more cost effective solution for our European adventure trips than my Grand Cherokee Hemi; 40+ mpg vs sub 20! In Trailhawk spec. are like little mountain goats In the UK all Trailhawks have the 170HP diesel with the 9 speed auto.

The latest incarnation of my trail kitchen and storage 'system'.






Some local green lanes.


Italian Alps


Spanish Pyrenees

[Ex Finn.]

Another happy Renegade owner here. I've been on many adventures in mine and many more planned once we're actually allowed to travel again! My brother bought one first and I followed suit after realising it was a much more cost effective solution for our European adventure trips than my Grand Cherokee Hemi; 40+ mpg vs sub 20! In Trailhawk spec. are like little mountain goats In the UK all Trailhawks have the 170HP diesel with the 9 speed auto.

The latest incarnation of my trail kitchen and storage 'system'.






Some local green lanes.


Italian Alps


Spanish Pyrenees

Nice kitchen set-up!

[lesmore49]

Another happy Renegade owner here. I've been on many adventures in mine and many more planned once we're actually allowed to travel again! My brother bought one first and I followed suit after realising it was a much more cost effective solution for our European adventure trips than my Grand Cherokee Hemi; 40+ mpg vs sub 20! In Trailhawk spec. are like little mountain goats In the UK all Trailhawks have the 170HP diesel with the 9 speed auto.

The latest incarnation of my trail kitchen and storage 'system'.






Some local green lanes.


Italian Alps


Spanish Pyrenees

I like your travel storage system, for both mobile kitchen and camera equipment. Ingenious. It looks like your Jeep SUV is perfect for the back areas you travel and that MPG is hard to beat, given the 4WD SUV versatility you have.
BTW, always enjoy your pix of the European trail adventures you have. Different from what we have in Canada.

[ivanvernon]

Another happy Renegade owner here. I've been on many adventures in mine and many more planned once we're actually allowed to travel again! My brother bought one first and I followed suit after realising it was a much more cost effective solution for our European adventure trips than my Grand Cherokee Hemi; 40+ mpg vs sub 20! In Trailhawk spec. are like little mountain goats In the UK all Trailhawks have the 170HP diesel with the 9 speed auto.

The latest incarnation of my trail kitchen and storage 'system'.






Some local green lanes.


Italian Alps


Spanish Pyrenees

I am glad to hear that the Jeep Renegade is attracting favorable attention, and that Forum members are enjoying their ownership of this vehicle. Just be glad you did not buy a Jeep Compass, or Jeep Compost, as I began calling it after a two-week rental. I experienced the Compass as an attractively designed but quite deficient vehicle. The engine is rated at 180 hp, but is totally deficient in power. Step on the accelerator and all you get is a loud and unpleasant buzzing sound as the vehicle slowly begins to speed up. This thing could hardly get out of its own way while consuming fuel at quite an alarming rate. Another sore point was a feature that appears to emulate the Prius feature of turning off the engine at stop lights. With the Prius the system is so seamless that you hardly know it is there except for the silence as you wait for the light to turn green again. It starts up immediately, effortlessly, with no fuss and hesitation, with no delay from the stop the at the light. It is entirely different with the Compass; you get a jerky, loud, and delayed startup. The body and design are great for this type of vehicle, and I liked the Compass a lot before I got behind the wheel. I kept trying to like it while driving, but the poor fuel consumption, the loud and underpowered engine, and the stumbling hesitation of the "engine off and on" system were such constant annoyances that I really just gave up trying.

Scotty Kilmer tells the whole story--better listen to him before considering buying one of these things!

You Tube

You Tube

[SSGGeezer]

My new 2021 Hyundai Tucson is pretty sweet after just shy of 5000 miles and a 1300 mile move pulling a 5x8 foot trailer. So far the things I like are the heated steering wheel! Even more important than the heated leather seats since your hands are what is coldest after scraping windows in the winter.
The remote start and status via a smart phone app is nice as then my vehicle is getting warmed up before I walk my elderly mother out to ride, (and my old rump also.) The safety features are also nice as you can select levels of assistance as well as turn them off if you want to. It rides well and is very comfortable, has a killer stereo, provisions for roof cross beams, (which I added,) and The Blue Link system for roadside assistance and emergency response for free for the first three years. Also regular maintenance for 36 K miles is free. Warrantee is very good, even though in my previous 2 Hyundai cars I have never needed to use it in 100K+ miles on both of them. The fit and finish, is very good, and I love the color choices. An actual transmission that has gears (6) rather than a CVT, I have seen too many Subarus with slipping CVT transmissions and driven a few cars with CVTs that were no fun at all to drive.
I also love the cameras that give you an all around the car image in reverse, and then in drive up till you are travelling 9MPH when they turn off automatically. The car also has a traffic hold and hill speed hold as selectable controls as well as one to turn on the cameras even moving forward to make sure there is nothing in front of or to the sides of your vehicle. (Below 9 MPH onnly though.)
The not so good: Small 4 cylinder engine (2.4L) with no Turbo or 6 cylinder option as Kia offers on the same size of SUV.
Mileage is not great, usually I get 24-27 MPG (U.S. Gallons,) but pulling the trailer full of my belongings and with the roof rails and a small rack mounted, my mileage went to about 17 MPG. I admit I was hauling to get here and driving 65 to 70 MPH on the interstate, but I was surprised by how hard the little four cylinder had to work, Usually in a lower gear to haul that load.*
Image is from an old I phone so sorry about the quality.


* I suspect I was overloaded, even though there was no overheating or other issues, my car decided it needed an early oil change at 4100 miles. Interval is normally 7500. I still love it and have nothing to complain about. Definitely a great value and safe to drive.

[lesmore49]

My new 2021 Hyundai Tucson is pretty sweet after just shy of 5000 miles and a 1300 mile move pulling a 5x8 foot trailer. So far the things I like are the heated steering wheel! Even more important than the heated leather seats since your hands are what is coldest after scraping windows in the winter.
The remote start and status via a smart phone app is nice as then my vehicle is getting warmed up before I walk my elderly mother out to ride, (and my old rump also.) The safety features are also nice as you can select levels of assistance as well as turn them off if you want to. It rides well and is very comfortable, has a killer stereo, provisions for roof cross beams, (which I added,) and The Blue Link system for roadside assistance and emergency response for free for the first three years. Also regular maintenance for 36 K miles is free. Warrantee is very good, even though in my previous 2 Hyundai cars I have never needed to use it in 100K+ miles on both of them. The fit and finish, is very good, and I love the color choices. An actual transmission that has gears (6) rather than a CVT, I have seen too many Subarus with slipping CVT transmissions and driven a few cars with CVTs that were no fun at all to drive.
I also love the cameras that give you an all around the car image in reverse, and then in drive up till you are travelling 9MPH when they turn off automatically. The car also has a traffic hold and hill speed hold as selectable controls as well as one to turn on the cameras even moving forward to make sure there is nothing in front of or to the sides of your vehicle. (Below 9 MPH onnly though.)
The not so good: Small 4 cylinder engine (2.4L) with no Turbo or 6 cylinder option as Kia offers on the same size of SUV.
Mileage is not great, usually I get 24-27 MPG (U.S. Gallons,) but pulling the trailer full of my belongings and with the roof rails and a small rack mounted, my mileage went to about 17 MPG. I admit I was hauling to get here and driving 65 to 70 MPH on the interstate, but I was surprised by how hard the little four cylinder had to work, Usually in a lower gear to haul that load.*
Image is from an old I phone so sorry about the quality.


* I suspect I was overloaded, even though there was no overheating or other issues, my car decided it needed an early oil change at 4100 miles. Interval is normally 7500. I still love it and have nothing to complain about. Definitely a great value and safe to drive.

Looks like you got a very nice SUV there.. Our '20 Chevy Traverse is our first SUV and I can't imagine going back to a sedan. I also wanted to avoid a CVT transmission having driven a couple of them (Nissan) and our's has a traditional automatic. The AWD is also a first for us and I'm amazed how it goes through snow and ice. We just had a big dump of snow and the AWD, along with the good ground clearance makes traveling on snow/ice...a doddle as the Brits say.

Our vehicle came standard with a 3.6 liter DOHC V6 (310 hp) and even though it is heavy (4500 lbs. +) it moves it along quite well, city or highway. City MPG not great, but highway at constant cruise is not bad.

Our first time with heated seats and we love them. No heated steering wheel, and I know my wife would love to have that option.

I'm finding that a SUV is very practical, good for a one vehicle couple as we have become. We were looking at something smaller, but the problem is me. I'm 6'3", 245 lbs, broad shoulders, bad knee (played hockey- defence for a decade) that needs to be stretched out and we tried a lot of different vehicles to find one where I fit comfortably. My shoulders kept on hitting side pillars of cars, knee went to sleep because of tight leg room, etc.

I've always had big cars and there have been some who say , why do you need such big vehicles. I respond because I need to be able to fit comfortably ..or even fit in a vehicle. Hence the larger SUV. When I explain it , most look at me and say ok we get it now.

Congrats on your new vehicle. I'm sure you will have many miles and years of satisfaction, out of that beautiful SUV.

Les

[AgentL]

Hi,you can check if you've posted in a thread if you're on the full site.At the top of the page .....Search this thread > Find mind posts.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, that's just the tip I needed!

[Racer X 69]

Fun and interesting needs to be on be on everyone's list of vehicle requirements.

Life is too short to drive boring cars.

[Racer X 69]

For me, a vehicle is far more than an appliance that gets me from point a to point b.

My current fleet.






Two of the 14 Datsun S30 Z cars in my fleet.








A more recent picture of the brown one.



I have only owned a few vehicles with automatic transmissions in my driving days. What fun is driving if you can't make all the decisions regarding how a car or truck is driven?

Manuals for everything, no automatic slushboxes!



All of the big trucks I drove had manual transmissions, save for one, and it sucked.

These all had 13 speed Roadranger gearboxes.








Monstro, with some airplane parts in a large crate, and a 25,000lb titanium ingot.




This older Pete 379 had a Super 10, a 10 speed gearbox, with a standard 5 speed shift pattern, you split every year. Very quick shifting.





This daycab had a Volvo I-shift, a 10 speed manual gearbox fitted with electric servos that do all the shifting, and a centrifugal clutch. No clutch pedal, no shift lever, just a pad with pushbuttons to select forward, reverse and neutral.

I did a day run up to Sydney, British Columbia with it.

It sucked.






No boring cars, or trucks, for Racer.

[lesmore49]

For me, a vehicle is far more than an appliance that gets me from point a to point b.

My current fleet.






Two of the 14 Datsun S30 Z cars in my fleet.








A more recent picture of the brown one.



I have only owned a few vehicles with automatic transmissions in my driving days. What fun is driving if you can't make all the decisions regarding how a car or truck is driven?

Manuals for everything, no automatic slushboxes!



All of the big trucks I drove had manual transmissions, save for one, and it sucked.

These all had 13 speed Roadranger gearboxes.








Monstro, with some airplane parts in a large crate, and a 25,000lb titanium ingot.




This older Pete 379 had a Super 10, a 10 speed gearbox, with a standard 5 speed shift pattern, you split every year. Very quick shifting.





This daycab had a Volvo I-shift, a 10 speed manual gearbox fitted with electric servos that do all the shifting, and a centrifugal clutch. No clutch pedal, no shift lever, just a pad with pushbuttons to select forward, reverse and neutral.

I did a day run up to Sydney, British Columbia with it.

It sucked.






No boring cars, or trucks, for Racer.

Nice range of vehicles.

That flatbed trailer with the two axles that are spread some distance, one axle at the rear of the trailer as per usual, but the other axle positioned closer to mid trailer....is an interesting set up to me.

How do you find it, as far as carrying a heavy load, also I'm guessing it would add stability to the trailer while hauling, possibly particularly during heavy wind on the highway ?

I've only seen a very few like this over the years. Wonder why there aren't more ?

Another thing that has popped into my mind, is Class 8 trucks with large single wheel/tire set ups on the rear axles of the highway tractor. For the most part I never leave the prairies, or northern Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, NW Ontario etc...this region and they don't seem to be much in evidence out here. A few years ago, I thought this was going to be the next big thing in Class 8 highway tractors.

I could see advantages, but also disadvantages...such as having a blow out on one of the single rear tires. Then what ? With a traditional highway tractor with dual wheel rear axles in many cases you can limp in .

With a single tire rear axle, it would be like Pentax....you're doomed.

[Racer X 69]

Nice range of vehicles.

That flatbed trailer with the two axles that are spread some distance, one axle at the rear of the trailer as per usual, but the other axle positioned closer to mid trailer....is an interesting set up to me.

How do you find it, as far as carrying a heavy load, also I'm guessing it would add stability to the trailer while hauling, possibly particularly during heavy wind on the highway ?

I've only seen a very few like this over the years. Wonder why there aren't more ?

Another thing that has popped into my mind, is Class 8 trucks with large single wheel/tire set ups on the rear axles of the highway tractor. For the most part I never leave the prairies, or northern Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, NW Ontario etc...this region and they don't seem to be much in evidence out here. A few years ago, I thought this was going to be the next big thing in Class 8 highway tractors.

I could see advantages, but also disadvantages...such as having a blow out on one of the single rear tires. Then what ? With a traditional highway tractor with dual wheel rear axles in many cases you can limp in .

With a single tire rear axle, it would be like Pentax....you're doomed.

The spread axle step deck can carry more weight per axle (20,000lbs each) than a trailer with the axles grouped in a set (34,000lbs for the pair). Some spread axles are adjustable, to allow more flexibility placing loads. But axles spread more than 10 feet are illegal in California.

The rigs you see with the single tires (they run them on tractor drive axles too) certainly will have issues when one fails. They are called super singles, and the advantages are more weight carrying (more inches of tread on the road), and improved fuel economy.

Of course the huge disadvantage of not having two tires in each position can be problematic, but sometimes when one tire in a set of duals blows, it takes the adjacent tire with it.

Like this one, that held me up in Adair, Iowa. I was moving a load of electric forklifts from Virginia to Washington state, when one blew, taking he other with it, ripping the mudflap off, tearing the lights and wiring out too.

[Racer X 69]

You can get an idea how much weight is on a truck by counting the wheels.

This rig has 46 tires on the road.




Up in Michigan they have very restrictive weight laws, because of the freezing and thawing of the roadbeds. This is a Michigan Centipede, a common sight there. It has those super singles, 20 of them, with 22 tires on the ground.

[Canada_Rockies]

An impressive fleet Racer. The biggest roadable I ever drove was a 3 speed manual and vacuum two speed axle (Ford, I vaguely remember) dump truck. What a klutz that was. No axle gear changes going up hills, ever, if the slope was over 1/2 degree. The heaviest (I only drove it about 100 feet, but I was the only driver in the place and they needed it outside), but starting two Jimmy 6-71s indoors sure cranked up people's oxygen masks. Canadian Sherman only used for parades with rubber cleats on the tracks. Nothing like using 3 clutches and two hand brakes to take it out a door about 10 ft wider than the old girl.

[Racer X 69]

An impressive fleet Racer.

Thanks Albert!

The heaviest (I only drove it about 100 feet, but I was the only driver in the place and they needed it outside), but starting two Jimmy 6-71s indoors sure cranked up people's oxygen masks.

Funny how people react to diesel exhaust. Sure, the soot and smell of parrafin can bother the more sensitive olfactory glands, but diesel exhaust doesn't have carbon monoxide like gasoline exhaust does.

I read once about a guy who tried to commit suicide by running a hose from the tailpipe of his Mercedes diesel car into the window.

All he got was a sore throat from the carbon in the soot.

[Canada_Rockies]

Thanks Albert!



Funny how people react to diesel exhaust. Sure, the soot and smell of parrafin can bother the more sensitive olfactory glands, but diesel exhaust doesn't have carbon monoxide like gasoline exhaust does.

I read once about a guy who tried to commit suicide by running a hose from the tailpipe of his Mercedes diesel car rides into the window.

All he got was a sore throat from the carbon in the soot.

Not all diesels are anywhere as near suffocating as the GM 71 series. They are two stroke blown diesels that start up by flooding the intake manifold and lighting it to warm up the engine. You may be old enough to remember when Greyhound used 6 and 8-71 engines. When you start up there is a huge cloud of white half burnt diesel fumes until the cylinders actually get warm.