7 photos
You would almost be forgiven for forgetting the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk’s launch earlier this year at the New York Auto Show. Its unveiling to the world was eclipsed by FCA’s relentless hyping of the Dodge Challenger Demon. And you can’t really blame them, either. Now that the Viper is gone, the Demon is Dodge, Chrysler, Ram and Jeeps’s halo car, drawing in the speed-loving masses to dealerships across the land to gawk at its reason-defying existence. But they’ll drive home in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.
Because while on the surface the Trackhawk seems like a drunken bet — “Yo bro, bet you can’t fit a Hellcat engine in a Jeep!” — it is but a logical conclusion to the times we live in. SUVs made up sixty-three percent of all auto sales last year, and Jeep, the crown jewel of FCA, is one of the most recognizable auto brands in the world. Factor in the increasing ubiquity of speed and the growing relevance of the performance SUV, and you might actually wonder why it took so long for Jeep to cram that Hellcat engine under the Grand Cherokee’s hood.
The Trackhawk is a paradox of affordability and excessive expense. It starts at $85,900 which is a hell of a lot of money for a Jeep, but its competition — the BMW X5 M, Porsche Cayenne Turbo and Range Rover Sport SVR — start at well beyond $100,000. I’ll cede that the Trackhawk’s interior isn’t exactly on par with BMW, Porsche or Land Rover, but the Trackhawk handily surpasses those SUVs in terms of brute power and straight-line speed. Using launch control — yes, launch control in a Jeep — you can hit 60 mph from a standstill in 3.5 seconds.
There is no pretense of off-roading here, and in fact a Jeep spokesperson advised against it. The knob that normally controls the Select-Terrain system in your typical Jeep is gone — and its, settings like “snow,” “rock” and “mud” have been replaced by a selector knob with modes like “sport,” “track,” and “tow” (about 7,200 pounds, by the way).
You’d need to approach a track experience with a dose of reality and self-preservation in mind. As an instructor so succinctly put it: “You still have the laws of physics to contend with.” Turn-in is sharp, and the Jeep grips well enough. Body roll under hard cornering is still there, though Jeep did a commendable job in mitigating it, and the Trackhawk comes with absolutely massive Brembo brakes at the corners for effective stopping power. There are some performance cars that truly inspire confidence in their drivers, but the Jeep isn’t really one of them. That said, those cars aren’t also 707 horsepower SUVs.
Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Specs
