The Jeep Renegade is a funky looking subcompact that can do anything. Even a stoppie.
In motorcycle-land a stoppie is a neat little stunt in which the rider shifts the bike’s balance (by leaning forward) in order to make its rear wheel rise as high as possible. It’s basically the opposite of a wheelie, which you can do on a bike, but seems rather difficult on a 1.6-ton car.
Apparently, the Jeep Renegade can do it, and according to Motor Trend, the trick was discovered by Spanish automotive outlet KM77.com, after the automotive journalist Pablo David Gonzalez decided to apply the vehicle’s brakes, while traveling at 84 mph (135 km/h).
The model was a front-wheel-drive variant with a 1.6-litre engine, and after getting everything on tape he contacted Fiat’s Spain communications director, who in turn came with an explanation.
He said the car used for the test was a pre-production model (although it really wasn’t), and on top of that, it was involved in an accident that caused its ABS system to be short circuited. However, Mr. Gonzales recently took another Renegade for testing, this time an all-wheel-drive, 2.0 MultiJet, and it too performed a stoppie (albeit not as dramatic as the first Renegade).
Mr. Gonzales did not publish the original story, because he was informed the car was a pre-production variant and he received one that worked properly soon after, but to make matters worse, the original red Renegade was sold in 2016 as a car in perfect condition “with no faults whatsoever”.
Luckily, Pablo David Gonzalez contacted the vehicle owner and informed him about the problems the Jeep was having.