Check out our New Jeep Grand Cherokee Inventory!!!

Summary

The Jeep Grand Cherokee has become a staple in the ever popular Jeep lineup. The SRT8 version hopes to improve on that with added power and handling capability. The SRT8 refuses to believe that a Jeep cannot act like a sports car. It has a personality disorder and is a successful venture in that way. With sub five second 0-60 times and a stopping distance of 125 feet the Jeep is beefed up in more than just the engine. It has the ability to get up and go with the equally important ability to stop. The seating is comfortable and important as the driver needs to stay firmly planted in front of the wheel, not sliding around all over the place due to the overall impressive force of the HEMI engine. Overall the SRT8 is worth a look, if you are willing to sacrifice the decent gas mileage of the regular versions of the Grand Cherokee.

Full Review

In many ways, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is one of the best vehicles in Chrysler's lineup. Along with the Wrangler, it packs real off-road capabilities into an angular, no-nonsense body. Then there's the SRT8 version.

This is what happens when you let the hot-rod mavens at SRT play with time-honored Jeep tradition. Over the last decade, many manufacturers have created high performance SUVs and crossovers, but this beastie is the only one available with a HEMI. The SRT8 is the twisted offspring of the unnatural pairing of a Jeep and a Dodge Viper, and Chrysler was kind enough to loan us its hottest GC for a winter trip to the ski mounds of Northern Michigan.

SRT Enhancements

The Jeep SRT8 gets visual and functional enhancements inside and out, turning this off-road animal into a true street performance machine. The body sits one inch closer to the ground with 20-inch forged aluminum wheels at each corner, wrapped in Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires with 255s in front and 285s at the back. Inside those massive hoops are four-pot Brembo calipers grabbing 14.1-inch front- and 13.8 rear rotors, all vented for better cooling.

As one would expect of an SRT model, a deep front air dam, rocker panel extensions and rear bumper cover make the Jeep look even closer to the ground. It's not especially sophisticated by modern standards, with a single cam-shaft sitting in the valley of an iron block. Like the small-block V8 that still serves General Motors' performance products so well, this is a highly developed engine that simply works.

Compared to the regular 5.7-liter HEMI, this boasts larger displacement along with a higher compression ratio and redesigned cylinder heads with better flow in and out. The SRT8's considerable twist goes through a beefed-up torque converter to a five-speed automatic transmission and on to all four wheels. While competitors like the Infiniti FX50, Porsche Cayenne and BMW X6 get six- or seven-speed gearboxes, the reality is the Jeep doesn't really need the extra gears. There's plenty of torque no matter where you dip into the throttle and drivers will never be left wanting for acceleration. The shift lever features Chrysler's Auto-Stick left-right tap shift, but it really isn't needed. Stepping on the go-pedal brings downshifts quickly and maximum velocity on demand.

Today's modern model comes equipped with an independent front suspension, and it still has some of the best ride and handling characteristics of any SUV. Even rolling on 20-inch wheels, the SRT8 isn't punishing on Michigan roads and nobody was complaining when they climbed out at the ski resort after a long stint on the road.

Functional Interior

With as much torque and rubber as the Grand Cherokee SRT8 has, it's even more important for the driver to stay planted in front of the steering wheel. To that end, Chrysler has equipped this Jeep with the same amazing front seats found in other SRT models. The side bolsters are large and firm, and those sitting on the driver's side can adjust the throne to fit different torso widths. The front seats are power adjustable and the driver's seat can automatically slide back when the door opens to ease entry and exit.

That's a surprisingly welcome feature given those large bolsters and the angle of the thick A-pillar. The A-pillars have built-in grab handles on both the driver and passenger side, and their girth can be a bit of a problem, creating large blind spots at the front corners. The only other ergonomic complaint we had is the narrow gap between the doors and seats. The layout of the interior is generally good, with controls within easy reach and even power adjustable pedals. The back seat has plenty of room, enough to satisfy two teenagers who never complained about being crowded in either leg or head room, even though our tester was equipped with the optional sun-roof. The SRT8 was also fitted with the optional rear seat entertainment system with ceiling-mounted DVD screen and wireless headphones, allowing the kids to entertain themselves on the four-hour drive.

The instrument cluster has the usual driver information panel found on a host of other vehicles, although the SRT8 adds performance meters to the usual trip odometer and mileage displays. The driver can select a longitudinal and lateral accelerometer display or several different acceleration timers including 0-60, 60-0, 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile. Chrysler claims sub-five second 0-60 acceleration and 60-0 stopping of 125 feet, and this Jeep consistently lived up to those claims (with a margin for error) even with a second independent measuring device.

Braking Improvements

When the time does come to reduce speeds or deal with roads that are less than freeway straight, all the hardware upgrades on the SRT8 really pay off. One of the beauties of Brembo's brake calipers is the stiffness under pressure. Lesser calipers will flex when the brakes are applied hard giving a soft spongy feel to the pedal. Not so in the SRT8, where the pedal always feels firm and the amount deceleration seems directly proportional to the pressure applied to the pedal. Speaking of proportionality, there is even some degree of feedback in the thick rimmed steering wheel as the Cherokee moves through curves. Since the SRT8 is an SUV, some degree of utility is expected and this one lived up to its middle name. The 2009 Grand Cherokee SRT8 proved to be quite a fun ride and a pretty decent road-trip machine.

Conclusions

Compared to its competitors, the Jeep is also quite a bargain. Given the Jeep's thirst for gasoline, the price difference will take you a long way, and we would be surprised if there aren't dealer discounts to be had, too. Autoblog.com thinks that the 0-60 time of under 5 seconds is amazing for an SUV of this size (read more in their article).The EPA rates the SRT8 at 11 miles-per-gallon city and 14 highway. Over our 450 miles of mostly highway driving, we got 15.1 mpg, but aggressive driving will very easily drive that number down quickly. Autochannel.com thinks "The Grand Cherokee SRT8 is what it has always been; one of the best four-door SUVs available"(read their article). However, if you're looking for a fast SUV that doesn't sacrifice utility and doesn't need to go off-road, the SRT8 is definitely worth a look.