Is the 707-Horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Really Worth the Price Tag?
Are you the kind of person who needs an SUV capable of a 3.5-second 0-60 time?
“Need” is a tenuous word. In the reality we live in, absolutely nobody needs this hyper-powered SUV. If you refer to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk falls somewhere well above the self-actualization tier. The power level in this Jeep is superfluous, unnecessary, borders on ludicrous. It’s too fast, it’s too quick, and it’s too expensive, says Doug DeMuro. All of that said, we really really want to get behind the wheel of one as quickly as possible. We’re glad Jeep made such a weird thing.
Jeep has been making performance-oriented SUVs since the Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited of the 1990s, and continued that trend with 2005’s Grand Cherokee SRT-8. When the SRT-8 dropped, we were all blown away by how much performance it provided, but this new Trackhawk completely blows that boring old thing away with nearly 300 additional horsepower. Even the second-generation SRT-8 produced 475 horsepower, a full 232 fewer than this giant Hellcat-powered beast. Why would you ever build an SUV with Hellcat power? Who the hell knows, but it’s bitchin’.
Doug provides a decent review of this weapons-grade SUV in this video. He spends a lot of time talking about the interior, which is largely the same as the standard Grand Cherokee, though does point out the numerous “Trackhawk” and “Supercharged” badges on the inside of the vehicle. After a brief discussion of the outside of the Jeep, and excuses as to why he can’t use launch control, Doug takes the Jeep for a drive and for a second is almost speechless. It takes a powerful car to render Mr. DeMuro speechless, so it must be something really special. He must have really loved it, though, because he ranked it quite highly in his ‘Doug Score’ segment. It’s an impressive Jeep for sure, but do you think it’s worth nearly one-hundred-thousand dollars?
Chime in with your thoughts on the forums.
