Jeep Avenger review

For the Avenger, one of the chief benefits of the new platform is that it allows for small overhangs (so important in achieving that chunky, four-square aesthetic) at no cost to energy absorption in the event of an impact.

Wheel travel has also been improved, with  extra capacity of tyre width. Our top-spec Avenger Summit, riding  on fine-looking 18in wheels that neatly fill the car’s squared-off arches, wears 215-section rubber all round.

Meanwhile, the passive suspension is by MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear – typical for Stellantis products of this type.

The Avenger’s front-mounted separately excited synchronous motor made its world debut in this car. This was the first unit supplied by eMotors, a joint venture between Stellantis and Japanese specialist Nidec. It’s said to be more efficient than its precursor and makes figures of 154bhp and 192lb ft.

These figures sound reasonably potent for a car of this size, although they look less impressive when you take into account the Avenger’s kerb weight, which is predictably bloated by the 54kWh drive battery.

Weighing 1601kg on our scales, the Avenger isn’t embarrassingly hefty and it has a usefully low centre of gravity, but it’s worth noting that the 1.2-litre petrol model has a claimed weight of just 1182kg.

Off-road notes

The Avenger’s designers have injected some tough-guy personality into the car’s exterior but rock rails and locking diffs have been left firmly on the shelf.

Unlike the Wrangler, the Avenger is not Trail Rated – Jeep’s moniker for cars signed off on the infamously brutal Rubicon Trail. This car should, however, get you quite a bit farther down a dirt track than your typical compact EV.

For one thing, while its geometries are no rival for something like a Suzuki Jimny, its short overhangs, good ground clearance and short wheelbase mean approach, departure and breakover angles are generous.

The Avenger also sports a SelecTerrain system with modes for snow, mud and sand. There are, of course, limits to how the ESP and traction control systems alone can maximise capability on these surfaces, but they ought to make a tricky situation a little less tricky – unlike, perhaps, the Avenger’s efficiency-minded low-friction tyres.

Nevertheless, in terms of ride quality, the Avenger rolls along smooth roads mostly without a care in the world. It doesn’t have the choppy vertical control that tall cars with short wheelbases sometimes show, yet neither does it roll languidly in corners.

On an uneven road, there’s a level of head toss as the comparatively basic suspension struggles to isolate one side of the car from the other, but most roads don’t pose serious problems in this respect, and when they do, there’s no compact crossover that isn’t vulnerable to this effect.

So the Avenger is, on good roads and particularly when driving at a decent pace, easy company indeed. Problems arise when speeds drop off and the road surface deteriorates. Or, in other words, the precise conditions in which your typical Avenger is likely to find itself in this country.

This car struggles to absorb short, sharp suspension inputs, particularly at the back axle. Ride quality can sometimes feel plain crashy, which is likely to be a direct trade-off for the composure with which the Avenger dispatches good, smooth roads.

In terms of acoustic isolation, the Avenger is average. It is not notably loud or quiet, and therefore probably deserves some credit for the way in which its blocky dimensions don’t obviously translate into wind roar, as you would naturally expect.

According to our microphones, the car is fractionally louder at all speeds than the globular-looking Smart  #1, but considerably quieter than the larger and more expensive Honda e:Ny1.