ON THE ROAD: JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE SRT-8

Thunder! Thor!

That’s it. Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8, the daddy of all Jeeps. The thing that grabs your attention is that front lip spoiler, the one that almost touches ground as you drive along. It features prominently as an accessory, very butch indeed, and it sets the tone for the rest of this SUV’s styling. Aggressive and punchy as it is, our lip is probably the single main factor that keeps this Jeep on the tar, and not anywhere near off-road tracks.

A jeep that can’t go off-road?

A first as far as I know. Off-road requires a high approach angle, which is attained by a tightly-angled front bumper, for when you approach a sudden steep and need to go up it. Bad approach angle, bad off-road car. Also, those thin wide 20-inch wheels are strictly tarmac-made, although these can be replaced for bundu bashing. Regardless, the SRT-8 still features Jeep’s Quadra-Drive four-wheel-drive system for absolute grip. I must say, it’s not the quickest-reacting 4x4 system out there; plant the accelerator to the floor and for a second get some wheel spin, and then you get going.

That’s because of power though isn’t it?

Yes, partly. The Grand Cherokee SRT-8 holds a 6.1-litre V8 engine of natural aspiration, mated to a 5-speed automatic gearbox. No turbos or superchargers. It produces 313kW, which is slightly more than a 4.0-litre BMW M3 and a 4.2-litre Audi RS4, but this car weighs a few hundred more kilos than these two. To this effect its 0 – 100km/h sprint time is said by Chrysler to be under 5 seconds, but in reality it is not. It is in fact, 6.7 seconds in Gauteng, which is very quick for an SUV, but still doesn’t warrant Jeep’s tagline “fastest SUV”. You don’t tackle the great outdoors with so much power and not expect to cause major environmental damage. Even on the road, that power comes at a price, and that price is 19 litres per 100km in petrol usage, giving just over 400km from one full tank. Thirsty bugger this is.

Thunder! Thor!

Oh yes, that sound. Deep, throaty, burble, thunder on the rocks. No other SUV on Mzansi roads sounds this brilliant; you hear it approaching a few hundred metres away and just smile. I worked at an office park where one of the tenants owned one, and each day he’d rev it hard as he went past security at the gates. You knew he was in then. It’s those two big pipes at the back, shiny steel centerfolds neatly tucked at the bottom half of the rear bumper. Wide side skirts make it look funkier.

And the interior?

Still Jeep plastic. Not exactly high-grade, but I guess it is a Jeep, and so it needs to be hard and functional, durable even, but doesn’t need to look like a softie, like those German SUVs’ interiors. Steering is a little light, thin-rimmed. I really like MyGIG, which is the Chrysler Group’s touch-screen infotainment system with a 20GB hard-drive for storing files like MP3s, pictures and video, all of which can be downloaded into MyGIG via USB memory stick or CD.

What’s the final verdict then?

Possibly the best value-for-money high performance SUV on the market. It may not have the type of power found in a Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG (378kW, R1 012 000) or a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S (368kW, R1 695 000) but at R600 000 it severely undercuts the two Germans by enough to buy more than one other car each.