2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT video review
We drive the latest edition of the bad boy SUV – it’s a bit like getting The Terminator to take your kids to school everyday
By Shahzad Sheikh
The 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is one of those cars that turns regular humdrum daily life into a blockbuster action movie. It’s a larger than life SUV, a Terminator on wheels, a muscly master of mechanical mayhem that’ll bulldoze your path through life with a passion and zeal that’ll leave you laughing.
Or perhaps that’s just the intoxicating effect of the 6.4-litre HEMI. A V8 that pushes out a raucous and rampant 475bhp (5bhp up on last year) and 465lb ft of torque, launching you from rest in a four-wheel grip-frenzied catapult of ecstasy to 100kph in a barely believable 4.5 seconds. And then goading you into keeping the loud pedal planted and riding a relentless train of surging momentum bound straight for a run-in with Judge Speed.
Watch our video review by clicking below
Fittingly it’s a car that breaks the rules, defies definition – it’s a car that should not exist, quite literally. FCA (Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles) has been trying to figure what to do with the SRT brand – it was the high performance pack, then it became a brand in the style of AMG, but last I heard it was decided that SRT is a Dodge subsidiary brand – though I’m not so sure now.
So the SRT versions of Jeep and Chrysler vehicles shouldn’t exist, yet here is the Jeep in 2015 MY guise. This one apparently exists in most markets because it’s just too hot a seller to kill off, and because it’s the big value underdog that leaves premier league pretenders like the BMW’s X5M/X6M, Merc’s ML63, the Range Rover Sport SVR and Porsche’s Cayenne Turbo S retreating with a bloodied bonnets, like whimpering toffs that brought a fencing foil to a bare-knuckle street brawl.
The Jeep refused to be killed off in other words (although the Chrysler 300C SRT also lives on, but only for our market – more on that soon!). And there isn’t a worthier survivor in the car industry. It’s the fastest Jeep ever capable of at least 250kph, it has ‘Sport’ and ‘Track’ modes with ‘Launch’ control and apps on the instrument panel telling you how quickly it sprints and the Gs it pulls.
And don’t scoff at ‘Track’ mode either. Jeep maybe best known and loved for its ability to traverse all-terrain, but the four-wheel drive in this thing (whilst probably still capable of some decent light off-roading – unlike the first gen GC SRT) seems more geared towards grip and handling.
The Brembo brakes haul up the mass commendably but there’s not too much need to cautiously coax it into a corner, you can simply butcher the turn. Just turn, point, squirt – the tyres hold, slippage caves, the body hangs on, physics gets a rebuttal as more than 2300kg changes direction like a sports car.
This is a simply tremendous machine that just got subtly better for 2015. It continues to thumb its nose at the legislators and naysayers and what’s more, there’s even better news for the truly power-crazed SUVs lovers. There’s something even more mental on the way. Think Hellcat engine!
Meanwhile if you want one of these, expect to pay AED299,999 ($82k) – that’s the price at Dubai Jeep dealer Trading Enterprises (and includes five years free servicing, warranty and recovery), whose vehicle we borrowed for this test. That’s a fair bit of money, but the closest rival to this car is the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S (AED692,800) and Range Rover Sport SVR (AED619,000) which puts things into perspective.
And if you’re still balking at the cost, don’t worry, go down the used route – there isn’t too much difference between this and the 2013 & 2014 MY cars. Callum Knox at Jeep (this SRT is actually his daily driver!) wants you to know that he has a wide selection of Jeep Used Approved cars and 2014 GC SRTs start at AED219,900 whilst the 2013 examples are event cheaper at AED189,900 all with at least one-year warranty.
What ARE you waiting for?
2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT – The Specs
Price: AED299,999k ($82k)
Engine: 6.4-litre V8, 470bhp @ 6000rpm, 465lb ft @ 4300rpm
Performance: 0-100kph 4.5secs, 250kph, 15.7L/100km
Transmission: 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive
Weight: 2336kg
See also Jeep Grand Cherokee review
Let us know what you think of the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT
[…] the Jeep Grand Cherokee still scores very highly indeed in my book. But as a power freak the SRT version is hard to beat – bold looks, outrageous noise, stunning performance. Though I said, […]