Trail-Rated Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Crawls Through Sloppy Mud

I had the opportunity to put a 4WD 2016 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk to the test a few weeks back at a Chrysler track day event at the Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia. It was a rainy day at the track, as the remnants of Hurricane Joaquin moved up the eastern seaboard. The persistent precipitation turned the off-road test track into a marvelously mess … which is exactly what you hope for when you’re testing 4x4s. I hopped into a brand new trail-rated 2016 Renegade Trailhawk with BeCarChic.com’s Melanie Batenchuk and Jim Morrison, Director of Jeep Product Marketing.

Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect of the Renegade Trailhawk off-road. I’d only had the opportunity to drive one briefly before, and that was a half hour drive on two-lane blacktops and highway. I was skeptical, despite the Trail Rating. A nice sloppy jaunt through the mud and my opinion changed. Watch this video and yours may change, as well. It’s an eye-opener (and a fun ride).

Sometimes badges mean something. Sometimes they don’t. This is one of the times that they do.

Production Note & Disclaimer: I shot this piece for Autobytel with two in-car cameras: a GoPro Hero3 and the last of my three ContourHDs. While I would have liked to get some outside footage, time was compressed and I rarely drag my cameras out in the rain anymore (I’ve learned from expensive mistakes in the past!) but I did shoot some Viper footage once the rain let up. I drove from New Jersey to Summit Point, WV for this event. Fiat/Chrysler covered my lodging expenses.

– by Daniel Gray