NYIAS 2017: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Promises 707-horsepower Family Fun

Just in time for spring and dry pavement, FCA heeds the internet credo to Hellcat All the Things by dropping that model’s supercharged 6.2-liter mill in its Jeep Grand Cherokee.

This completes the trifecta of gonzo SUVs, with the Tesla Model X and fish-faced Bentley Bentayga already scorching the pavement. Think a Jeep won’t play in the same league as those rarified SUVs? Both of those vehicles lay claim to 0-60 times in the three-and-a-half second range; with 707 hp on tap, all-wheel drive, and an estimated weight of around 900 lbs more than a Charger Hellcat, the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk should do the same.

That’s quicker than the last Corvette ZR1, Ferrari F12, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren – just to name a few. Keep in mind, this is a two-box SUV into which one can fit a dining room table. With a Jeep badge on the bonnet. Remarkable.

Inside this altar to speed, disciples of horsepower will find a 200 mph speedometer, the Hellcat’s Performance Pages app displaying 0-60 times, and an Eco button. That’s right, an Eco button is found inside a 707 hp, all-wheel-drive Jeep. That’s like putting a Greenpeace sticker on the tip of a Tomahawk missile.

Brembo brakes will arrest forward motion with all the subtlety of a frying pan to the face, while a beefed up TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic and stronger rear axle will be deployed to handle the apocalyptic levels of power. Vanquishing a strategic error of the original Grand Cherokee SRT, the quad exhausts tips will not be centrally positioned, allowing for the installation of a trailer hitch. There is expected to be a tow mode as one of the five driving settings —Track, Sport, Automatic, Tow, Snow — so drivers can haul their trailer to the family campsite in record time. Be sure to batten down all the crockery.

In fact, the Trackhawk will have few visual cues when compared to the Grand Cherokee SRT. Save for the enormous brakes peeking out from behind the 295-section tires on forged rims and those quad exhausts, it seems that the only Trackhawk-specific exterior markings will be a brace of supercharged badges and a front fascia devoid of fog lights.

Jeep describes the existing 475 horsepower Grand Cherokee SRT as possessing “ mind bending performance,” so the marketing mavens will doubtlessly be kicking the hyperbole into overdrive in order to define the pavement-pounding performance of a 707 hp Jeep. Reportedly, power will be shuttled 30/70 front to rear in Track mode, 40/60 in Automatic mode, and 50/50 in Snow mode.

Pricing? Not announced at this time, but a Monroney sticker of about $85,000 would be a good educated guess. Expect to see the GC Trackhawk in dealers towards the end of this year.

[Images: Fiat Chrysler Vehicles]