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Ow, crap !
This is for today’s episode the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT.
You don’t say SRT8 any more as on the previous release as for information
SRT has become an independant brand in the US, from the Chrysler group
In France, it will appear as a variant for this Grand Cherokee
A massive V8, 6.4 liters, that blows out 468 hp and 465 Nm for torque.
This clearly is a US performance beast,
a big muscle car with all wheel drive.
The bodykit is much wider, much more impessive as on a regular Grand Cherokee.
The main item is the black background of the radiator grill. The lights also get
a black background which strenghtens the mean and beasty aspect of the car
The look is very agressive. There is power pouring our of it
BWAH !
You also find two exhaust pipes, very impressive.
Well, there are still ends, unfortunately and a rear, hum, specific, spoiler.
Inside the car, very quickly, you get semi bucket sets, well, bucket seats, SRT.
All the options are available on that car but the thing I’d like to highlight
is the race / performance aspect of the dashboard
There is an application which is called SRT performance that displays
the g you take : lateral g, frontal g, acceleration g, the timings,
yes timings, meaning the 0 to 100, the 400 meters.
There is a lot of information and that’s interesting. You almost feel like you’re in a GT-R.
The finishing, for an American car, is good.
They made a real effort, very nice leather… Well, plastics remain a bit cheap at some spots,
and some finishing details are… but you have real carbon !
So yes, they made a real effort.
I’d like to talk a bit about driving this car in town. Ow ow ow. No !
This is not feasible. This is not possible !
The size of the car is about a truck. Almost two.
"Central to all units. Central to all units."
"We are told about a robbery close to Brienne. The fleeing vehicle was a white Jeep"
"Beware, the suspects are armed and dangerous."
The massive V8 does not know how to be quiet, even with the most quiet mode,
the Auto mode. Even when starting-up, at the red light, you get some jerks,
the car bounces and you are at 40 km/h instantly! Is the fear gear too short?
It’s true there is a 8 gear gearbox but it pushes, bababm, 1 – 2 – 3,
During the precautious maneuvers in town, it’s very difficult to handle.
We are running a 6.4L, we know it, it consumes fuel. Well, you won’t buy that
kind of car to make some savings on fuel consumption but there are limits to this.
It’s too much ! When driving quietly, brushing gently the throttle pedal, you’re
not far from 15 L/100. When flat out, it’s always written 99 L/100 as an instant
fluid consumption. And… that’s where the drama is.
Highways , on the contrary, are its environment. Straight lines.
The car is comfortable, it does not move a bit and… talking now about sporty driving !
Did you notice that smile?
Is this a real and sincere smile or a mixed one, Victor?
Well, I’d say this is a mixed smile, Nicolas.
Efficient, powerful, efficient, but not funny.
It’s not funny. The front axle is quite accurate, it moves well
and it’s quite surprising with such a beast to have a precise and lively car in curves.
The problem is you do not get any feedback in the streering wheel.
Whether you are in town, on a track or here on an air field, it’s the same feedback.
The steering stiffness is good but you don’t what’s happening on the road.
The consequence is you can’t find the limits. Or, someday, you’ll find them
and I think it will be too late and it will hurt badly.
Yes, the day you find them, that will hurt.
Compared to the former version that were almost incapable of steering,
this new SRT is not ridiculous at all on a track.
The chassis is very efficient and again, this is very surprising for such a big car.
That’s it ! We did not talk about the braking system, which is made of 4 huge Brembo
and these brake very hard. A lot of bitting when you brake
but you will lack some endurance when driving fast for a long time
So this is why we have a mixed feeling and do not get fully comfortable with it,
even if clearly could set a time on track with this car
0 to 100 km/h. We made 4.9 seconds. 4.9. For a 6.3 tons vehicle,
well, this is more than good !
More than 2 tons.
The Grand Cherokee SRT is sold 82 100€, the base model we’re testing today.
This is by the way quite cheap compared to the competitors, for this kind of vehicle
but the main thought we have with Nicolas is : “who could seriously buy this car ? » .
We didn’t find the answer ! Which kinf of person might buy this car
except a good American fellow.
When I say American, it’s because there are a lot of straight lines there,
you like making noise and accelerating full throttle to overtake everybody.
There is a lot of things missing on the car to make it really polyvalent.
For instance, the possibility to deactivate cylinders to
lower a little the fuel consumption on highways.
The killing detail to me is the sound system which is amazing. Really amazing.
To be a gangster, it’s perfect. Yeah. Pow pow. The huge booms.
That’s why you look happy. When we made that robbery, it was perfect.
Yes perfect, with some… Booba.
For the stinky detail, there are two of them according to me.
The front lights are not waterproof.
There is always moisture, humidity and water in it.
One more detail, very silly, is the electric windows, there’s a glitch.
When you lower them to the half and want to get them up in auto mode
so they get back to closed position, they simply come more down, to the bottom.
82 100€. That’s a shame.
This is a generally very good vehicle. The overall rating is very good.
It’s handsome, the sound … very impressive, really amazing
the speed you feel, the amazing power. That’s it.
It works, it sticks to the road but you never know the limits
and you do not feel at ease in it.
And, again, and this is the closing remarks :
who could buy this car ?
Well, in the end, it’s very nice and handsome car and if you want something unbelievable
with an unlimited budget, and you want a nice garage,
it really deserves a spot in this garage.
GO QUICKLY TO THE DUEL : JEEP SRT vs AUDI RS6 AVANT