{"id":21060,"date":"2017-08-31T11:07:47","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T15:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=21060"},"modified":"2017-09-12T11:10:35","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T15:10:35","slug":"jeep-trackhawk-first-drive-hellcat-suv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/jeep-trackhawk-first-drive-hellcat-suv","title":{"rendered":"Jeep Trackhawk first drive: Hellcat SUV"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"jeep_bandwidth\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

Tamworth, New Hampshire<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 First things first. What you want to know is whether the 707-horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk \u2014 the one with the Hellcat engine \u2014 is quicker than Dodge\u2019s signature Challenger Hellcat. The answer is yes, with the SUV breaking the zero-60 mph tape at 3.5 seconds versus the coupe\u2019s 3.6. I managed multiple 3.4-second runs \u2014 with a best of 3.3 seconds \u2014 using launch control\u00a0at Club Motorsports race track<\/a>\u00a0here for Trackhawk\u2019s first media test.<\/p>\n

Credit all-wheel drive traction vs. the Challenger\u2019s rear-driven power.<\/p>\n

But there is also this: The Jeep is quicker to 60 than the 3.8-second all-wheel drive Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, which costs $75,000 more than the Jeep and was until now the benchmark for SUV insanity.<\/p>\n

The Trackhawk bookends an SUV brand that now offers the widest performance bandwidth of any nameplate. Where full-line brands like Toyota and Chevrolet offer everything from sports cars to SUVs, Jeep\u2019s utes spans the terrain from its king-of-the-outback Wrangler Rubicon to the apex-carving Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you say Jeep, everyone sees a Wrangler. It\u2019s the most capable off-road production vehicle on the planet,\u201d Scott Tallon, Jeep brand director, said at the Trackhawk\u2019s media meet-and-drive. \u201cNow the Trackhawk has done the same thing, but at a different level of capability. Driving a Jeep on the track that fast is probably not something anyone expects. The breadth of the Grand Cherokee lineup is incredible \u2014 the price point starts at $30,000 and winds up at $85,000 in a single nameplate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Around Club Motorsports\u2019 serpentine, 2.5-mile roller-coaster \u2014 with elevation changes of 250 feet over a single lap \u2014 the Trackhawk is a rhino on rails, an improbable track animal that Jeep has tamed with stiff Bilstein shocks, 11.5-inch Pirelli tires and Brembo brakes the size of Captain America\u2019s shield.<\/p>\n

Hurtling down the front straight \u2014 the V-8 roaring in my ears, the eight-speed TorqueFlite transmission firing off shifts like cannon shots \u2014 the thought crosses my mind that this nearly three-ton meteor could ignore the looming, 45-degree Turn 1 and simply burn a hole thought the surrounding Presidential Mountains. Then I stomp the brake with my racing shoe \u2014 racing shoes in an SUV! \u2014 and the 15.75-inch Brembos slow the Jeep like a steel net thrown over a charging rhino.<\/p>\n

Jeep has been playing in this performance space since 2006 with Chrysler\u2019s SRT performance package, first with the SRT8 and then the current generation, 475-horse SRT. Not satisfied to be a performance player, Jeep now applies the Wrangler\u2019s best-or-go home expectations to Trackhawk.<\/p>\n

It wants to win the space.<\/p>\n

\u201cSRT has been in the market since 2006 and has served as a really nice halo for the Jeep brand. But the performance segment among utility vehicles has surpassed what the Jeep has been for the last 12 years,\u201d continues Tallon. \u201cIt was the most capable SUV, now a lot of European luxury marques offer phenomenal levels of performance. So we said let\u2019s redefine what capability is. It has to be the ultimate vehicle, not just competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The numbers tell the story: best zero-60 ute short of the Ludicrous-mode electric Tesla Model X, best quarter-mile at 11.6 seconds, best top speed at 180 mph.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

But for all its Hellcat-like numbers, the Trackhawk is no Hellcat. Dodges and Jeeps are for different demographics. The more family-oriented Trackhawk customer demands refinement for a family of four riding to the race track while towing, say, a race car. Even if the Trackhawk might lap the track faster than the racer on the trailer.<\/p>\n

So Jeep has toned down the supercharger\u2019s drama with a Helmholz resonator to keep the 707-horse monster at a dull roar. Or at least until you floor the throttle. It has swathed the interior in Trackhawk-monogrammed leather \u2014 offered in base black or sepia suede inserts or premium black and red leather \u2014 for miles of driving comfort. Cruising back to the Maine coast, I dialed the Jeep\u2019s drive mode back from Track to Auto. The cannon-shot shifts turned buttery smooth, the V-8 stereo was replaced by soothing notes of a Harman Kardon stereo system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jeep Trackhawk is a no-compromise vehicle,\u201d emphasizes Tallon. \u201cIt\u2019s comfortable and quiet on the road, tows 7,200 pounds, yet you get close to supercar levels of performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

No compromise means a base price $24,000 north of the Hellcat, $20,000 above the Grand Cherokee SRT and $24,000 above the Grand Cherokee\u2019s luxurious Summit ocean-liner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that our more premium trims get cross-shopped with other premium makes,\u201d says Tallon of the $86,995 Trackhawk. \u201cYes, this is the most expensive Jeep we\u2019ve ever brought to market \u2014 but for that level of performance it\u2019s really not that expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performance peers from Porsche ($160,650 for the Cayenne Turbo S) and BMW ($101, 695) are pricier \u2014 even above my full-bling, full-sunroof, Bright White $94,970 tester. The Trackhawk will only get quicker as Jeep brings a new \u2014 and surely much lighter \u2014 chassis to market by the end of the decade. Is a sub-3-second 0-60 possible?<\/p>\n

With a price walk of nearly $70,000 from its base model to the top-trim Trackhawk, Jeep is a money-making machine. In the last year, the off-road Trailhawk trim has trickled down to all Jeep models. Trackhawk is poised to do the same \u2014 expanding brand bandwidth even more.<\/p>\n

No wonder the Chinese reportedly want to buy Jeep. The Germans no doubt covet it, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tamworth, New Hampshire\u00a0\u2014 First things first. What you want to know is whether the 707-horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk \u2014 the one with the Hellcat engine \u2014 is quicker than Dodge\u2019s signature Challenger Hellcat. The answer is yes, with the SUV breaking the zero-60 mph tape at 3.5 seconds versus the coupe\u2019s 3.6. I managed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21061,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21060\/revisions\/21061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}