Yes! Jeep Grand Cherokee May Get a 707HP Hellcat V8

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell

 

 

When Dodge rolled out its mad-scientist Hellcat V8, firing off an earth-shaking 707 horsepower, many Mopar fans were left thinking the same thing, “Will this engine find a home in my car?” If you drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee, we might very well have an answer for you. Yes, maybe. 

 

The exciting news comes from a Car and Driver report, which suggests a Hellcat V8-powered Grand Cherokee could arrive for the 2017 model year, and it may bring more than just a 707-horsepower kick in the pants to the big Jeep. Per the C/D report, this new Jeep will receive the “Trackhawk” moniker, making it Jeep’s official street performance companion to the brand’s off-road ready Trailhawk.

 

Excited yet? This alleged Trackhawk model will effectively replace the current Grand Cherokee SRT trim, which will continue to offer the punchy 475-horsepower 6.4-liter Hemi engine as standard under its new guise. The Hellcat engine will then slot above its lesser V8 brethren as an option, expected to bring its whopping 707 horsepower, 650 lb-ft of torque, and perhaps even four-wheel drive to the table. In the process, Dodge will now have the sole rights to the SRT brand name with the Charger, Challenger, and Viper.

Putting that much power to the ground through a road car’s four-wheel drive system is no easy task, and one can imagine Jeep’s engineers will have to beef up the Grand Cherokee’s drivetrain in the process. Or, as C/D hints, perhaps forgo four-wheel drive altogether.

Regardless of drive type, all that punch under the Jeep hood could permit the rugged family hauler a zero to 60 mph sprint time in the low four second region. The current range-topping 2015 Grand Cherokee SRT Red Vapor (pictured above) achieves the feat in 4.8 seconds.

As far as pricing goes, the base Trackhawk would likely match evenly with the current SRT-branded Grand Cherokee ($65,000), while the Hellcat-powered version would carry a premium above its brother.


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