Billionaire Donald Trump once said the two most expensive words in the world are “why not?” In some way, shape or form, practically every off-roader can understand this concept. For some this relates to the truly expensive questions, like why not put 40-inch tires on my Wrangler, or why not put a HEMI conversion in my JK? Or there are simpler ones, like why not try to climb that ledge, or why not use the “bonus” line? Logic need not apply to many of these questions. In fact, they often aren’t questions so much as statements. “Why not” isn’t asking for a counterpoint; it’s making a statement. It says: This is going to happen, and let the cards fall where they may.
After spending the start of Easter Jeep Safari week behind the wheel of Jeep’s concept vehicles, Jeep changed up the pace a bit and invited us on a different kind of trail ride. With so many Jeepers taking part in organized trail runs on the most well-known trails in town, Jeep grabbed a few journalists to take a fleet of its stock vehicles off the beaten path to explore the Dome Plateau trail. We’d have a few Wranglers at our disposal, a Cherokee Trailhawk, Grand Cherokee and … the all-new Jeep Renegade.
Cue the record skip.
Wait a minute, Jeep really wanted to take out the small Renegade on the trails in Moab? We’d be lying if we weren’t a bit skeptical about the small SUV being up to the challenge. Then again, we though, why not? If Jeep wants to take a fleet of Renegades out on Dome Plateau, who are we to argue? Besides, for once this “why not” question didn’t relate to our own personal vehicle, so if Jeep is game, so are we.
We were fortunate enough to escape the hustle and bustle in town and just enjoy the beauty of the natural landscape. We didn’t see more than a few other vehicles on trail all day – and that’s an amazing thing in and of itself during this hectic week! Dome Plateau isn’t the most challenging trail Moab has to offer, but we also aren’t taking out heavily modified trail rigs, so the rocky slopes and moderate drop-off sections were just enough challenge for our stock rigs.
Dome Plateau offered up a few challenges in the beginning to test the mettle of our Renegades and other stock Jeeps. Fortunately everyone made it up every hill climb, ledge and rock pile – even the ones piloted by drivers convinced it was a good idea to the vehicles in 2WD. The Wrangler, Cherokee and Grand Cherokees were awesome on the trails, and all of them performed quite well. The Renegade, however, was the star of the show, and not so much because it was the most adept trail vehicle in the group; on the contrary, the short-wheelbase Renegade offers the least ground clearance of the bunch, and yet our Trailhawk versions were agile and confident while crawling over the slickrock trails. With so many Wranglers being built the largest possible tires, massive reinforced axles and fire-breathing HEMI engines, it was nice to get out on the trail in stock vehicles to really enjoy the challenge of having to pick the right lines and drive the vehicle as opposed to just powering over obstacles. Don’t get us wrong, the Renegade is not replacing your favorite trail vehicle, but it’s nice to see that Jeep still values that this small-SUV retains a lever of Jeep capability.
Sometimes the best trips turn out to be the ones with the most questions in the beginning. We weren’t sure exploring Moab in Renegades was such a great idea, but our “why not” moment ended up being a great time. Next time we’ll see if Jeep will let us take it on Hell’s Revenge, Moab Rim or Poison Spider. Why not, right?
MORE EASTER JEEP SAFARI COVERAGE
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