The 2018 Jeep Grand
Cherokee Trackhawk has just debuted prior to the New York Auto Show.
The power for the Trackhawk
continues to come from the company's 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8. It continues to churn out 707 hp and 645
lb-ft but thanks to the car's all-wheel drive system, it is quicker than its
lighter siblings.
Jeep says it'll sprint from a
standstill to 96 km/h in a mere 3.5 seconds and run down the quarter
mile in 11.6 seconds at 116 mph. It'll continue onto a top speed of 289 km/h. Impressively, the Grand Cherokee will come to a stop from 96 km/h to
0 in 34,7 meters thanks to its six-piston Brembo calipers at the front and
four-piston units at the rear, clamping down on 15.75-inch and 13.78-inch discs
respectively.
Compared to the Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats,
the oil capacity of the Trackhawk is greater, 8.3 quarts versus 7.0. This aids
in maintaining the same 7,200 lbs towing capacity as the Grand Cherokee SRT8.
Additionally, the Trackhawk's eight-speed Torqueflite transmission has been
modified from the Hellcat twins and includes a Track mode that cuts shift times
to a mere 160 milliseconds.
The Trackhawk is hard to
differentiate from the SRT8 in a somewhat surprising move from Jeep. The only
key indicators of the vehicle's true identity include new air inlets where the
foglights traditionally sit (one cooling the engine intake and one serving the
oil cooler), quad black exhaust pipes, a 'Trackhawk' badge on the hatch and a
'Supercharged' badge on both of the front doors.
The SUV also receives a set of new wheels that
measure 20x10 inch at all four corners and can be ordered in either cast
aluminum or forged aluminum, an option which drops weight by 12 lbs.
Looking inside and the Trackhawk retains all
the luxuries of a typical Grand Cherokee. That includes an 8.4-inch Uconnect
touchscreen that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but now, it includes a
number of performance parameters unique in the Trackhawk Performance Pages
menu. Other features include a dedicated Valet mode that limits horsepower,
torque, engine speed, disables launch control, locks out first gear, puts the
ESC on full and disables the paddle shifters.
Official pricing details have yet to be announced
but the Trackhawk should start at around US$ 85,000. Sales in the U.S. will
commence in the fourth quarter of this year.