DEVASTATING JEEP HENNESSEY HPE800 REVEALED

The Hennessey Performance factory hasn’t stopped working just because it’s the holidays. No siree, these boys from Texas live by the State’s motto: it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings. And for the moment there’s no fatter lady than this so-called HPE800 Twin Turbo.

Obviously based on the JeepGrand Cherokee SRT8, the HPE800 goes much further than the standard car’s 6.4-litre HEMI V8 that gives out 347kW and 630Nm. Hennessey says their car delivers a crushing 600kW and a devastating 1115Nm of torque through its two turbos! For its troubles the HPE800 runs from 0 – 100km/h in 3.2 seconds apparently and completes the standing quarter mile in 10.9 seconds at 209km/h. That’s as quick as a Porsche 911 Turbo S boet.

Other upgrades include a new gearbox to handle all that power and torque, 20-inch wheels, Brembo brakes and a lower suspension system.

“We've built dozens of 600-800 hp Jeep SRT8s over the past five years, so we have an existing client base who will want to upgrade the new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 to an even higher level”, said company founder and president, John Hennessey. “This vehicle is designed for the performance minded driver who lives in Aspen or Moscow and wants to be the fastest in all weather conditions.”

There you are then. Unless you live in Lesotho you can’t have one of these. In any case, only 24 examples will be built at a price of US$235 000 (about R1.9 million) a pop.