Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door suv body style within the same 'SUV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Jeep and front in the case of the Ford). The first one has a FIAT-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 170hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 112hp engine designed by Ford.

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the Jeep being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Renegade offers a marginal difference of 2% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Ford as a brand displays somewhat better results, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Jeep with an average rating of 4.0, and models under the Ford badge with 4.4 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Renegade as average reliability-wise, and EcoSport is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Renegade rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.

Jeep is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 196 kilometers per hour, 24km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be EcoSport, averaging around 6.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (45 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 10% difference compared to Renegade.

Jeep appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Renegade offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Jeep outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Jeep. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.