World’s gruntiest SUV really flies At a glance
Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk makes no sense. We applaud that, writes David Linklater.
You’ve heard of Jeep’s ‘‘Trailhawk’’ brand, which denotes a vehicle with optimum off-road ability. Well, this is nothing to do with that. The new Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is a completely over-the-top performance SUV that’s all about tearing up the tarmac.
Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?
Trackhawk is an evil brew of Grand Cherokee SRT (formerly the flagship model) with the 6.2-litre supercharged V8 engine from the US-market Dodge Challenger Hellcat coupe. It’s built to go around a track all day, with a heavy duty cooling system and lots of air flow to feed that hungry supercharger – which can gulp up to 500 litres of air per second.
Unlike the Hellcat, Trackhawk is 4WD. Also unlike the Hellcat, it’s an enormous SUV.
Anyway, for a brief time Trackhawk was the fastest SUV in the world; then the Lamborghini Urus came along. But the Jeep is still the gruntiest SUV in the world and one of the most powerful production vehicles you can buy at any price.
It’s not just about the powerplant. There’s been plenty of re-engineering all over, as you’d expect for $50k more than the SRT. The transmission is heavily upgraded, because the Trackhawk has 868Nm of torque and the SRT gearbox can only handle 700Nm.
There’s a new transfer case, new differential, Bilstein adaptive suspension (same geometry as SRT but stiffer spring rates), Brembo brakes that can haul the vehicle back from 100kmh to standstill in just 37 metres, and two types of Pirelli tyre specially developed for the Trackhawk.
Where did you drive it?
At the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, about two hours south of Melbourne. It’s a beautiful and famous circuit, really designed for two-wheel racing (it hosts the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix and Australian Superbike Championship) but also home to plenty of fast and furious car action, including V8 Supercars.
On the surface, not an ideal location for a 2.4-tonne SUV with a high centre of gravity and an excess of power.
V8 Supercars racing driver Karl Reindler is in front for our first follow-the-leader laps. Before we go out, he warns that he’ll be holding us up on the back straight because his Grand Cherokee SRT (in any other context, a monsterSUV in its own right) is ‘‘180kW down’’ on the Trackhawk we’re driving. Right then.
What stands out the most?
The cartoonish speed and grip. American muscle cars have to be good at drag racing (it’s the law) so the Trackhawk has an amazing launch control system, which even allows you to tailor the aggression of the takeoff to cater for different surfaces.
Get it right and the car squats, momentarily spins the rear wheels and then disappears down the road in a cacophany of V8 thunder and supercharger whine.
Overdo the launch configuration and it can also spin all four wheels as it accelerates to glory. Fuel and tyres permitting, it’ll do this all day: Jeep says it tested the launch control with 2000 back-to-back starts just to make sure.
The acceleration is surreal: it makes your neck go ‘‘boing!’’ and your eyes bounce back into your brain.
Don’t expect a whole lot of finesse in the corners, but the Trackhawk goes exactly where you point it and offers incredible mechanical grip and traction. It’s sharp.
You get a Selec-Terrain controller like any other Grand Cherokee, but don’t go looking for Rock or Mud settings.
There are five modes to choose from and only two worth worrying about: Sport and Track. They adjust every aspect of the car and crucially, change the 4WD bias from 40/60 per cent front-torear in Auto to 35/65 in Sport and
30/70 in Track (with much less stability control intervention).
No, the Trackhawk is really not for off-roading. At all. Ever. Surprised? But the Snow mode does give you a 50/50 torque split so you can go to the skifield. Presumably to do big skids in the car park.
We didn’t drive the Trackhawk on public roads at all, so we can’t comment on what it’s like to live with away from the fantasy world of having an internationally famous racetrack at your disposal when the mood takes you.
But Jeep assures that this is an ‘‘everyday’’ SUV as well. It’s certainly got plenty of luxury equipment, including Nappa leather upholstery and an
825-Watt, 19-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.
The virtual instrument panel and touch-screen Performance Pages will keep the kids busy for hours: they allow you to do everything from monitor a vast array of engine data to measuring the lateral-g you achieved on the school run.
Why would I buy it?
Because you love the fact that this vehicle makes no sense and Jeep created it anyway. Even at $170,000 it’s an enormous amount of bang for your buck and it’s possibly the ultimate pub-brag car. Unlike (mostly slower) European super-SUVs, it’s completely unpretentious.
It’s naughty and you can’t help but love it.
Why wouldn’t I buy it?
Because rational thought plays even a small part in your buying process.
Or perhaps because you can’t get one: Jeep NZ has been allocated 70 Trackhawks for 2018 and 35 have been sold already. The balance will be available over the next six months.