2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk vs 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT – Video

The Grand Cherokee SRT is an exercise in overkill, but its sports-car-rivaling grip and roaring Hemi make it a performance powerhouse. A 475-hp 6.4-liter V-8 pairs with an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive, and launch control optimizes all relevant systems for maximum acceleration. The steering is quick, but given its sporting intentions, it feels more disconnected from the road than it should. The way the Grand Cherokee SRT can hustle around a track, it’s easy to forget it’s an SUV.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is the third Fiat Chrysler vehicle to have the unhinged supercharged V-8 stuffed under its hood, and it’s the quiet Hellcat next door. Not literally, of course—have you heard a blown Hemi V-8 at full whack?—but with standard all-wheel drive mitigating the engine’s tire-spinning proclivities, plus its under-the-radar looks, the Trackhawk can at least pass for an upstanding citizen.

 

 

For a Jeep with 707 horsepower and 645 ft-lbs of torque, the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is remarkably incognito. Only a few badges that read “Supercharged” and “Trackhawk,” as well as the Hellcat-specific yellow brake calipers, quad exhaust outlets instead of two, and exclusive 20-inch wheels distinguish the Trackhawk from the SRT. Airflow requirements for the engine also dictated the deletion of the SRT’s fog lights from the outboard front intakes.

With more traction than any Hellcat yet, the Trackhawk has quite a lot of poke despite its pork—the engine adds 259 pounds over the already heavy 475-hp Grand Cherokee SRT. Nonetheless, Jeep claims it can reach 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. That time is on par with the nearly 1000-pounds-lighter, automatic-equipped Dodge Hellcats we’ve tested. (The quickest was the Charger, which reached 60 mph in 3.4 seconds.) Per Jeep, the quarter-mile is expected to fly by in 11.6 seconds (at 116 mph!), and, with no electronic governor, the Trackhawk is said to surrender to atmospheric resistance at 180 mph.