2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 - 5000 Pounds of Fun? - Ignition Episode 25 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:06 This week on Ignition, we sample Jeep's sleeper hit.

00:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:18 [CRASH]

00:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:38 When Fiat took ownership of Chrysler,

00:40 it put a few people at Jeep in an interesting situation.

00:43 They had to explain this, the Grand Cherokee SRT8.

00:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:51 What is it the Italians probably asked in a meeting?

00:53 Well, the engineers had to explain,

00:55 we took the 6.4 liter, 470 horsepower V8

00:59 from a Dodge Challenger and put it in a Grand Cherokee.

01:02 And then we also added adaptive suspension from Bilstein.

01:05 And then we added a limited slip differential.

01:08 How's the fuel economy?

01:09 Not good.

01:10 How is it off road?

01:11 Not good.

01:12 It's got 20 inch wheels and a relatively low approach

01:15 and departure angle.

01:16 You can probably imagine how the Italians reacted,

01:19 but we're certainly glad Jeep followed through and built

01:21 the thing.

01:22 Launching the SRT8 is pretty straightforward.

01:27 You make sure you're in track mode,

01:29 make sure the transmission's in manual,

01:31 hold the brake with your left foot,

01:32 and then mash the gas with your right and lift off the brake.

01:35 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:38 Thing jumps out of the hole pretty quickly.

01:40 0 to 60, 4.6 seconds.

01:45 The quarter mile, 13.3 seconds, just over 100 miles an hour.

01:50 And now for our 60 to 0 braking test.

01:55 [ENGINE REVVING]

01:58 Our best stop from 60 took just 106 feet,

02:03 which is pretty darn impressive.

02:06 Now we begin the figure 8 test in the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

02:09 That's kind of a funny thing to say,

02:12 but it's surprising how well this car works.

02:15 Around our figure 8 course, turning is sharp,

02:18 braking is very good, and you can power out

02:19 of corners pretty easily.

02:22 There's always a little bit of stability control intervention,

02:25 even though we got an ESC off indicator on the dash.

02:29 Understeer at the limit, and when you add throttle,

02:35 there's just that stability control intervention again.

02:39 But still, it's fun to drive a 5,200 pound SUV in anger

02:44 around a parking lot.

02:45 This lap time was pretty impressive, too.

02:52 We were able to beat the Porsche Cayenne S, which

02:55 is pretty impressive from an SUV that costs a lot less

02:59 like this one does.

03:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]

03:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]

03:13 You shouldn't be able to do the things this car can do.

03:17 It's just so capable and so willing,

03:20 it's weird to drive fast.

03:22 I mean, you approach an SUV of this size and of this weight

03:29 with certain preconceived notions of how

03:31 it's supposed to drive, and then you drive it,

03:34 you realize, yep, none of those are true.

03:36 The way this thing goes around a corner,

03:38 how fast you can drive it, it's simply unbelievable.

03:43 And that's sort of the initial appeal of this car,

03:45 is the absurdity of it.

03:47 This is an SUV that weighs 5,200 pounds,

03:50 has 465 pound-feet of torque, weight distribution of 55%

03:55 over the front axle, 45% over the rear.

03:58 I mean, this is an SUV with a track mode.

04:01 This is an SUV you can charge up and down a mountain road

04:04 as fast as you would a sports car.

04:07 It's incredible.

04:07 [ENGINE REVVING]

04:10 At some point, you're going to get over the initial shock

04:12 and awe that is this car.

04:15 And then what are you left with?

04:16 Well, you have a pretty surprisingly comfortable

04:19 and livable SUV.

04:21 I mean, this still seats five.

04:22 It still has a ton of cargo capacity.

04:25 It's still four-wheel drive.

04:27 It still has luxury features like a heated steering wheel,

04:30 heated, cooled seats, radar cruise control, navigation,

04:33 satellite radio, and a lot of other things.

04:36 It's got a lot of features that you

04:38 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

04:39 It's got a lot of features that you

04:41 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

04:43 It's got a lot of features that you

04:44 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

04:46 It's got a lot of features that you

04:47 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

04:49 It's got a lot of features that you

04:51 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

04:52 It's got a lot of features that you

04:54 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

04:55 It's got a lot of features that you

04:57 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

04:59 It's got a lot of features that you

05:00 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:02 It's got a lot of features that you

05:03 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:05 It's got a lot of features that you

05:07 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:08 It's got a lot of features that you

05:10 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:11 It's got a lot of features that you

05:13 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:15 It's got a lot of features that you

05:16 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:18 It's got a lot of features that you

05:20 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:21 It's got a lot of features that you

05:23 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:25 It's got a lot of features that you

05:26 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:28 It's got a lot of features that you

05:30 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:31 It's got a lot of features that you

05:33 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:35 It's got a lot of features that you

05:37 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:38 It's got a lot of features that you

05:40 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:42 It's got a lot of features that you

05:44 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:46 It's got a lot of features that you

05:47 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:49 It's got a lot of features that you

05:51 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:53 It's got a lot of features that you

05:54 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

05:56 It's got a lot of features that you

05:58 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:00 It's got a lot of features that you

06:01 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:03 It's got a lot of features that you

06:05 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:07 It's got a lot of features that you

06:09 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:11 It's got a lot of features that you

06:13 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:15 It's got a lot of features that you

06:17 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:19 It's got a lot of features that you

06:21 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:22 It's got a lot of features that you

06:25 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:26 It's got a lot of features that you

06:28 wouldn't expect from a sports car.

06:30 [MUSIC]

06:40 [MUSIC]

06:50 [MUSIC]

2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 - 5000 Pounds of Fun? - Ignition Episode 25

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