2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Given The Green Flag

by Cameron Aubernon

June 19th, 2015 11:33 AM

2017 jeep grand cherokee trackhawk given the green flag

Per inside sources, the green flag has been given for the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, with testing already underway.

The Trackhawk — codenamed Project K — is undergoing powertrain testing using 2016 Grand Cherokee bodies, Motor Authority reports. Said powertrain will be none other than the supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI V8 found in the Charger and Challenger Hellcats, good for 707 horsepower. A ZF eight-speed auto will funnel the raw power to all four corners, with zero to 60 coming in 3 seconds, topping out at 200 mph.

For those whose hearts aren’t hardy enough for the most brutal and metal of all Grand Cherokees, the same sources state the Grand Cherokee SRT would gain a new name and a revised 6.4-liter HEMI V8 set to generated 490 horses.

FCA remains mum on the subject for now, of course.

(Photo credit: Jeep)

#GrandCherokeeTrackhawk #Hellcat #High-performanceSUVs #Jeep #MY2017

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15 of 73 comments

Brn on Jun 20, 2015

Is it trail rated?

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- PrincipalDan on Jun 20, 2015
  
  Yes if the trail is the fully paved Pikes Peak route... ;-)
  
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Geozinger on Jun 20, 2015

These comments have been kind of funny, most here see this car as something (relatively) new, I see this car as playing catch up with Mercedes, Porsche, et al. Who really needs an AMG G63 (Gelaendewagen) or a Turbo Cayenne? Obviously somebody. Why shouldn't FCA cash in on this trend? At the same time, FCA needs to make hay while the sun shines, so to speak. The upcoming stringent EPA rules, and a possible merger with someone could hamstring further development and sales of cars like this. As Der Arnold (Schwarzenegger) would say: Do it now! Not the right ride for me at this time, but if I had the bucks, I'd do it.

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- Baconator on Jun 20, 2015
  
  Mmm...no, this seems very different to me. This bests both the G63 and the Turbo Cayenne by a *large* margin on horsepower and torque. There's also a pretentiousness to the Turbo Cayenne and G63 that doesn't attach to the Jeep brand - those cars are marketed as all-round performance vehicles, which is fake positioning. The Cherokee is supposed to be a straight-line muscle car, a role in which it has credibility. I've never, once, thought that owning a Cayenne Turbo or X6M would be fun or interesting, but somehow a Cherokee Hellcat has me pulling out the spreadsheet to see if I could squeeze in another $1000/month lease.
  
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Hummer on Jun 20, 2015

I feel like I just read comments from some extremists in MADD, not comments on a auto enthusiast site. Deride this and be cursed to drive a moped for all eternity, the best in the automotive world comes from creations that aren't reasonable. This is no different. Your no more likely to die in this than you are a 1969 Cadillac, or a 1999 Accord. I would much rather see a Jeep offer a competitor to the GMT400 design with the GMT800 simplicity and the K2XX quality; besting all 3 categories of course. But your wasting oxygen saying someone else shouldn't have it because your ideals are more salient than any (actual) potential consumers.

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- El scotto on Jun 20, 2015
  
  Or when you need an SUV, you need an SUV. Towing with a G-Wagon or a Cayenne? It doesn't happen often. Some people have boats/horse trailers/jets skis to tow and a Grand Cherokee serves that purpose nicely. The once and future Wagoneer gives FCA demographics Ford and Chevy could only hope for. It is disheartening to see the haterade being served by the pitcher. I understand that many of you don't like SUVs/CUVs. Go research why V-10 Excursions are SUVs of desire. Then you might understand why this Cherokee is desirable.
  
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Derekson on Jun 20, 2015

The issue to me with developing this kind of vehicle is that FCA doesn't have the money to both develop insane performance versions as well as things like plug-in hybrid versions that are needed for the future. Yeah, Porsche makes the Cayenne Turbo S and Mercedes makes a GLE AMG 63 S, but they both also have plug-in hybrid versions in the works to offer eco-friendly options and cover the market as well as hitting tougher CAFE numbers. FCA has limited money for R&D and they're spending significant amounts of it to beef up the AWD system in the JGC to handle a 700+ HP engine. It seems like a very short term plan, investing in more Hellcat things because the Hellcat Charger and Challenger have sold well, but it isn't setting FCA up for the future which is going to be a significant issue soon. It just seems like another sign that Marchionne is only interested in boosting the short-term P&L numbers to prepare for a merger with a company that actually has an R&D future.

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- Power6 on Jun 21, 2015
  
  I see what are saying, but if the program is profitable why not? I do believe the SRT has been one of the most successful in house performance divisions when it comes to making cars enthusiasts want to buy at profitable prices.
  
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- Hummer on Jun 21, 2015
  
  The type of people that buy performance Hybrids and the type that buy SRT performance vehicles are two different groups. Buying a Hybrid Porsche means double the badge whoredom, buying a Hybrid Challenger means the Hybrid whoring badge is cancelled out by the American badge on the front. FCA needs profit and reputation building, which the hellcat throws out in spades. Any company stupid enough to throw all that money down the drain on a Hybrid version that obviously wouldn't sell deserves the end result.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Jun 21, 2015
  
  @Hummer "performance Hybrids" Shouldn't this be an oxymoron, I mean this in all seriousness? The whole point of a hybrid is efficiency and the point of a performance vehicle is well performance at the expense of efficiency.
  
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- Dshiffer on Jun 21, 2015
  
  Precisely. FCA is in trouble and these won't sell more of anything. Non-enthusiasts (overwhelming majority of car buyers) couldn't care less about these things.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Jun 21, 2015
  
  I agree this is a distinct possibility.
  
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- Derekson on Jun 21, 2015
  
  @Power6 The issue to me is opportunity cost. Even if they make some money off of these (the dealers are likely to make more off of them via markups than FCA will actually make on margin though), they're diverting engineering time and money that could be spend on something more forward-looking. They have a finite amount of engineering resources, and every bit they use on niche performance vehicles is taking away from their development of future technology and future volume models.
  
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- Derekson on Jun 21, 2015
  
  @28-Cars-Later Why should that be an oxymoron? Have you ever seen a Le Mans prototype from this decade? Hybrid assist and torque fill make for GREAT performance enhancement, while also helping performance models to attain reasonable MPG numbers.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Jun 21, 2015
  
  @derekson I have not seen this prototype, so no I was not aware. The hybrids which have been marketed thus far have been geared toward economy. If there really is a best of both worlds, sure I think it could be great.
  
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