Now
and then the head of design decides to build an irrational car, but
it's exactly the stuff men are made of! Jeep has recently introduced
a SRT model of the Grand Cherokee. SRT is the tuning stall of Chrysler,
Dodge & Jeep and simply stands for 'street and racing
technology'.
The
naming used by SRT for its models are indicating the vehicle's engine
type. The number that follows the "SRT" prefix defines the
number of engine cylinders the vehicle has. In this case is a 6.4
litre V8 that produces 468bhp & 624 Nm torque.
To
give you a little feeling what it means, I made a 0-100 Km/h video
for you:
Of
course, such a big car and powerful engine means a lot of weight.
With it's 2,5 tons you would expect the Cherokee to be plump and
shaky but it's absolutely not the case. It's definitely the fastest
SUV I have been driving so far and I'm pleasantly surprised how
agile and crisp it is.
On
a beautiful winter's day we took the SRT and drove it up to Davos. We
had an astonishing week-end I'll never forget... Driving it up the
mountain pass with the infinite scenery of Switzerland and just
endless power, is what our hearts are beating for! The
fire-spitting V8 makes you turning off the radio, opening the
windows, listen and smile.
After
the mountain pass we made some stops to eat a typical meat and cheese
plate with some cider and of course an ice cold beer.
So
let's talk about some technical details and interior...
Interior
- Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT
Of
course you have a lot of room in such a big SUV. The rest is
let's say typical for an American car, even though they have learned.
Let me explain this a bit:
American
car producers were mainly well-known for huge engines, serial killer
cars and masculinity. After a while, they seem to have realised that
it requires a bit more than that. The Grand Cherokee comes up with
all sort of options like seat heating, adaptive cruise control and it
even breaks for you in case you're not doing it early enough.
All
those kinds of things are respectable but still the 'American groove'
is somehow still recognisable. Why? Well it takes you some time to
find all the options hidden somewhere in the board computer. Another
funny detail is the 'Eco' button, I assume it should do something
like reducing the consumption - but it doesn't do anything... not
sure what exactly the button is for.
The
SRT Engine
As
explained: it's a 6.4 litre HEMI engine built by Chrysler. One of the
specialities is the hemispherical combustion chamber (you can read
more here).
A thing I have to mention is the pretty high consumption. It's what
you have to expect from such a huge and powerful engine. If you drive
it like a decent citizen it consumes 17 litres / 100 km - which is a
lot. Also the taxes and charges in Switzerland are quite high for
this car.
Excited
about my rating? There you go!
Daily
Use
One
of the biggest cars I drove so far. 4x4 and all the options you need.
Might be a bit too big for the city and the consumption is really
high.
✭✭✭✩✩
Costs
At a price of 100'000 CHF with all options it's less expensive than a Porsche or Range Rover.
Dependent what country you live, the maintenance could be pricey.
✭✭✭✩✩
Appeal
& Design
Super
sexy SUV with a huge grill, I love the appeal and design
✭✭✭✭✭
Fun
Oh
hell! We had so much fun with this car. The V8 is pure amusement
✭✭✭✭✭
Eco-Friendliness
Pretty
high consumption, even if the 'Eco' button is on.
✭✭✩✩✩
Overall
I've
seen the SRT at the 'Man's World' exhibition for the first time and I
wanted to drive it so much. It's one of the coolest SUV's on the
market and just my type of car.
