How fast does a Jeep really need to go?

Monday, 29 April 2019

Watch and (especially) listen: Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk in action.

**JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE TRACKHAWK

Base price:** $169,990

Powertrain and performance: 6.2-litre supercharged petrol V8, 522kW/868Nm, 8-speed automatic, AWD, Combined economy 16.8 litres per 100km.

Doesn't look it from the outside, but this is one of the world's fastest SUVs. And most hilarious.

Vital statistics: 4846mm long, 1749mm high, 2915mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 782 litres (to roof), 20-inch alloy wheels with 295/45 tyres.

We like: 522kW engine is superb. The engine. That big engine.

We don't like: The amount of fuel that engine slurps.

Supercharged 6.2-litre V8 comes straight from extreme muscle cars like the Dodge Charger and Challenger Hellcat models.

Not all that long ago the idea of jamming an unnecessarily over-powered supercharged V8 from a muscle car into a hulking SUV would have been the height of madness and something no manufacturer would seriously consider. In this age of the SUV, however, it is just something you need to do. It is still the height of madness, but the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk proves it is very, very fun.

Why has Jeep done this?

No idea really - none of these things make any practical sense - but I am extremely happy that Fiat Chrysler went to all the bother of jamming the spectacular 6.2-litre supercharged Hellcat V8 from the Dodge Challenger and Charger into the Grand Cherokee's engine bay, because the results are simply spectacular.

Trackhawk is one Jeep that's primarily for the sealed stuff. It's in the name.

Bit old-fashioned in here. But it's also good old-fashioned American comfort.

* The Fast and the Practical: five furious SUVs

* How to steal the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT's thunder with a Trackhawk**

Whereas something like the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio might be lithe, athletic and remarkably sports car-like in its ballistic performance (don't forget to add the standard 'for an SUV' proviso to that), the big Jeep is pure muscle car in SUV form. And it is utterly hilarious fun.

While it does go around a corner better than anything this big and tall has a right to do (Jeep essentially gives up all off-road pretence with its SRT models), it is still a big, hefty thing and you are always aware of that.

Although, there is one area you are not at all aware of that heft, and that is in a straight line. Nail the throttle from a standstill and several alarming things happen at once - the Grand Cherokee's big, blunt nose rears instantly skyward, while what sounds like several volcanoes erupt behind you as you are pushed savagely back into a big, plush armchair. This is quickly followed by a physically uncomfortable feeling in your abdomen as the ridiculous G-forces at play quietly rearrange your internal organs.

Then there is the briefest of respites before the transmission slams into the next gear, more volcanoes erupt behind you and you have well exceeded the New Zealand open road speed limit.

And all of that happens in just 3.7 seconds in something that weighs 2500kg.

So it's fast then?

More than just fast. The Trackhawk is brutally fast in a way that would be terrifying if it wasn't so hilarious and easy to control.

While it is alarmingly easy to get the rear end of a Challenger Hellcat to swing majestically out (I know: I once drove one from San Jose to San Francisco in torrential rain), it is also stupidly easy - and addictively fun - to keep in control. The Jeep shares the Challenger's user-friendliness in terms of unnecessary power, but also adds AWD to keep the rear from cutting loose in the first place, hence the Tesla-like organ re-arrangement under heavy acceleration.

Of course, all of this is wrapped up in a top-spec Grand Cherokee package that means American comfort, with decent quality and a thumping big stereo.

It is all starting to feel a bit old inside now and the fuel usage is simply horrific, but who cares? The Trackhawk is a proper muscle car, and no-one buys a muscle car for its economy, even in these days of considered use of the planet's resources.

Any other cars I should consider?

Only the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio and Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S offer anything like the Trackhawk's searing performance, with the AMG being the closest in terms of muscle car attitude in an SUV body.