Given that all Jeeps feature a grille with seven slots in it, I was tempted to tell you all the seven things about the hot rod SUV that stood out to me the most. Once I experienced what was under its hood, I had to bump that number up to eight. You'll see why.
Imagine a team of brave men and women manage to put the silver screen's most famous, colossal, and powerful ape in a massive crate that can barely contain him. They throw a chain around the box and hand one end of it to you to hold as you stand on a skateboard. Before you can let out a fearful gulp, those same gutsy people in the hard hats and white coats bang on King Kong's wooden confines with sledgehammers to enrage him.
Yeah...that's what it's like when you put your foot down on the right pedal of the Grand Cherokee SRT. It absolutely explodes away from a stop with the power of a massive 6.4-liter HEMI V8. You're instantly pulled away by 475 horses (and 470 pound-feet of torque), which bolt through a 3.70 rear end. Jeep says the SRT can blast from 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, put a quarter mile under its Pirelli Scorpion Verde all-season performance run-flats in the mid-13 second range, and top out at 160 mph.
Surviving the violent pull of those charging horses works up a hunger in you: for more road, for more people to see you in such a badass rig, and for guys in Mustangs to challenge you to a race. It also makes you ravenous for its deep, angry bark of an exhaust note.
Tries to be flexible:
As you can imagine, a 5,150-pound vehicle with such a large, high-performance engine has quite an appetite of its own. Correction: thirst. It guzzled 91-octane gas like an alcoholic at an open-bar wedding. I averaged about 13 mpg in mixed driving. According to the EPA, the Grand Cherokee SRT can cover 13 city and 19 highway miles per gallon of premium.
Several times before I went driving in my neighborhood or in the city of Austin, Texas, I pressed the Eco mode button that was positioned under the HVAC controls. Jeep states that the Eco setting "optimizes [the] transmission’s shift schedule and expands [the] range of Fuel Saver Technology [which switches the engine from eight- to four-cylinder operation] activation for further fuel economy gains." It also made the eight-speed automatic transmission start off in second gear.
Hard to tame:
That was a great thing, not only for the sake of saving gas but for the sake of driving smoothness. It took me a little time to learn how to handle the Grand Cherokee SRT's ferocity. If I wasn't careful (and started in first gear), I'd make the Detroit-built demon lurch by just tapping the gas pedal. (It's hard to make the ladies think you're cool when you look like a guy holding onto the leash of a Great Dane who just got spooked.) The 15-inch vented front and 13.78-inch rear brakes could be quite grabby.
Jeep's Selec-Track system changed a number of vehicle parameters, including shifting sensation, suspension firmness, and the threshold for stability control intervention. When its knob was turned to the Auto position, the ride quality from the short- and long-arm independent front and multi-link rear suspensions was surprisingly gentle. Sport mode was slightly harsher. Gear changes in Track mode were brutally quick and forceful.
Sometimes tries too hard:
Most of the time, I left the transmission in its regular setting. Bumping the T-handle shifter into "S" engaged a sport mode. In that, the eight-speed auto held gears longer to keep the enormous HEMI in its sweet spot.
While I understand the logic in the decision to make the tranny do that, I don't get why Jeep decided to make its shift lever so unusual. Its stem stayed in the same place while I rocked its top back or forth to call up the gearbox mode I needed. If I didn't carefully watch as I selected it, I ran the risk of picking the wrong one. Using the T-handle was not an intuitive process whatsoever. I've been using traditional automatic shift levers for years and I've never had a problem with them. Jeep tried to fix something that wasn't broken - and made it worse.
I occasionally used the tall paddle shifters to swap cogs. They were too tall for my liking. If they were a little shorter, like those on GM vehicles, they would've been easier to reach comfortably with my fingertips from the nine and three o'clock positions.
Packed with useful technology:
I pulled back on those paddle shifters a lot less often than I used the other technology in the Grand Cherokee. For instance, I became a fan of using the 8.4-inch touchscreen and the Uconnect system's replay feature to rewind live radio and listen to my favorite guitar solos over and over again on the $1,995 19-speaker Harmon Kardon stereo. I liked knowing my seats could be heated or cooled, but I would've liked a hard button for that functionality. Instead, I had to go through the touchscreen. The big, red pushbutton starter was always satisfying to use, especially because the Keyless Enter-N-Go setup allowed me to keep the key fob in my pocket as I did so. Although the Jeep's overall length of less than 16 feet meant it was a breeze to maneuver without having to worry about hitting something, the ParkSense front and rear parking assistant was there to help me, just in case.
Jeep also threw in SRT-exclusive Performance Pages, which could keep track of 0-60 times, lateral acceleration, and other figures.
Well-appointed inside and comfortable in the back:
What I enjoyed just as much as the Grand Cherokee's engine was its exterior styling, from the aggressive nostrils on its hood to the eye-catching Redline paint to the sleek and sinister 20-inch black chrome five-spoke wheels - all part of the $3,995 Customer Preferred Package 28J.
The interior was a treat, too. Jeep's use of materials, including real carbon fiber accents, a suede-like headliner, and anodized interior trim, impressed me.
I even enjoyed the back seat. It offered plenty of legroom for my 5'10" frame. I popped the "Skyfall" Blu-ray into the player concealed in the front center arm rest, put on a pair of wireless headphones, reclined my seat back, and watched the latest 007 movie on one of two headrest-mounted flat screens.
Ridiculous and contradictory, but...:
In the grand scheme of things, sports cars are unnecessary. I love them, but you don't need 550 horsepower to get to work. Just four wheels and a seat. The idea of an SUV with that kind of output makes even less sense to me. It's trying to make an apple into an orange. Sports cars start off with an advantage because they have lower centers of gravity and less weight. With that in mind, vehicles like the Grand Cherokee SRT seem to be silly exercises.
You know what, though? I don't care. Neither do the people who've made the Porsche Cayenne such a sales hit. I'm glad something as crazy and niche as a 475-horsepower, speed-focused Jeep exists. The automotive world shouldn't be populated by only A-to-B commuter cars. It needs a little ridiculousness. A Jeep that's more at home on a race track than a rocky trail certainly offers that - and an addictive dose of savagery.
Makes me like the new Grand Cherokee even more:
I had the privilege of driving the Grand Cherokee Summit with the EcoDiesel V6 and the "Trail Rated" Grand Cherokee Overland with the Pentastar V6 last October at the Texas Auto Writers Association's annual Truck Rodeo. They both handled an off-road section of the Knibbe Ranch with aplomb while I sat in the comfort of a wood- and leather-trimmed cabin. Their engines delivered plenty of power. Those are only a couple of the reasons why the GC was named the TAWA's "SUV of Texas" for the fifth year in a row.
The SRT model was very different from those more traditional Grand Cherokees, but it was similar to them in that it pleased me with its abilities, interior materials, and powertrain. I don't need to be a mathematician to know that those qualities add up to one hell of an enjoyable and memorable vehicle.
via [Jeep]
