2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee: What's It Like to Live With?
Read the latest updates in our long-term road test of the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee as our editors live with this car for a year.
What do you want to know about?
- Introduction
- The Flying Brick
- A Big Deal
- Eye Candy
- Giving In to the Dark Side?
- 1 Highway, 0 City
- Engine Break-in
- Hot Wheel
- Dressing on the Side
- Nailed It
- Great Adaptive Cruise Control
- Will the Maggie Fit?
- Brakeasaurus
- Not Only Looks Sharp
- All The Cargo Room
- Almost Perfect
- If It's Too Aggro, You're Too Old
- It Don't Match Revs
- House Hunting
- Rudimentary Navigation System
- Open Wide
- 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 vs. 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged: Track Tested
- I'm Split on the Split Exhaust
- Ramp Travel Index
- Kumbaya Plus
- Wheel Curbing Near Miss
- Car Seat Report
- Centralized Mass
- Feels Special
- Battery Sealed And Secured
- Jump Start?
- A Nice Touch
- Leprechaun Tracks
- Bad Ambulance
- What Makes It a Great Roadtrip Car?
- First Service
- Bites
- Using This Truck As A Bed
- Using This Truck As A Truck
- The Only Way To Haul
- An Honest IP
- At Home in the Suburbs
- Rough Patch
- Love the Seats
- Milestone
- Paddling
- Hidden USB Port
- Too Stiff?
- Just Hold Me
- F-Bomb
- 6,000 Mile Service
- Doesn't Play Well With iPhone
- Road Respect
- Going Wheelin'
- Price Goes Up
- Which One Would You Choose?
- Best Idea
- Yup, It Fits
- Should Be Louder
- School Shuttle
- The Smart Way For Rev-Matched Downshifts
- Shell's Best Friend
- Attempting to Sing Its Virtues
- Engine Makes Everything More Fun
- 19 MPG, Best So Far
- Really Like Cross Path Detection
- Cool Hidden Gauges
- Cargo Kills Chrome
- Easy Choice
- Versus the Nursery
- Not So Crazy
- Run Flats?
- Ride's Not Worth It
- The Comfort Factor
- Running Through The Gears Video
- Trailhawk, its Off-Roading Cousin
- Thorough Sun Visor Coverage
- Oil Change Alert
- Frustration
- Towing Reprised
- A Look Underneath
- Eco Mode
- Towing Economy
- Cruise Mode
- This Is Why...
- The Downside To Dash Stitching
- Now That's A V8
- FCW Warning Light
- Interior Glare
- Oil Change Time
- Proving Durable
- 0-60 MPH
- Fuel Cost
- New Tires
- Nice Wheels
- New Shoes
- Run-Flat Tires vs. A Spare
- Crazy Talk
- Supple Sumitomos
- A Wheel Difference
- Diesel Grand Cherokee In the Cards
- Shockingly Improved
- Second Oil Change
- I Would Own It
- Track Test on Non-Runflat Tires
- Should I Drive It To Detroit?
- Decisions, Decisions
- Slightly Sour
- The Steering Wheel Heater
- Remote Start Video
- Brake Dust
- That Time of Year
- Seat Memory Quirk
- Towing and the Blind Spot Monitoring System
- Holiday in Denver
- Headlight Logo
- 15,000 Miles So Far
- Towing Impressions
- The Ride to Colorado
- Climbing Vail Pass
- We Finally Drove It In Snow
- Colorado Road Trip Fuel Economy
- Wheelin'
- Auto High-Beams Work Great
- Seat Comfort After 2,400 Miles
- Needs an Oil Change
- A Better Rear Seat
- Navigation System's Screen Is Too Small
- Would I Buy One?
- Heated Steering Wheel vs. Real Metal Trim
- Compliance
- Oil Change and Spare Change
- Seat Wear
- Oil Change
- Fuel Economy Update for January
- Smart Place for the Tailgate Switch
- More Bluetooth Issues
- More Than Just a Big Engine
- Second Row Surprise
- Torque And Trans
- Is There Room for Another "Grand" Jeep?
- Fuel Economy Update for February
- 2014 Model Gets Rev-Matched Downshifts
- Engine Hours
- Top 3 Reasons To Own One
- Why the SRT8?
- Desert Road Trip
- Summer Tires Installed
- Fuel Economy Update for March
- Final Towing Trip
- Towing Ride Explained
- Cruise Control Attitude
- Wrap-Up
Introduction
There's a fork in a road in the hills above Malibu we're extremely familiar with. Veer left and the road twists and turns and climbs high into the hills. Go right and there's a small off-road area that's wide, undulating and pleasantly dusty.
We're at that intersection in our new long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 and we're torn as to which route to take. On the one hand we're in a Jeep, so naturally it has the ability to send power to all four wheels. On the other hand, those four wheels measure 20 inches in diameter and they're turned by a 6.4-liter, 470-horsepower Hemi V8.
Get dirty? Or find out what SRT can do with a Grand Cherokee? It will be a decision that we have to make over and over in the next 12 months as we attempt to put more than 20,000 miles on our newest long-termer.
What We Got
With a starting price of $54,470 the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is the most expensive member of the Jeep lineup.
Part of that has to do with the way the Cherokee SRT8 is equipped. It has standard Brembo brakes, Quadra-Trac all-wheel drive, heated and cooled leather-trimmed microfiber front seats, LED DRLs, hill-start assist, automatic headlights, heated exterior mirrors, keyless entry and start, a power tilt-and-telescoping wheel, 180-mph speedometer, a 6.5-inch touchscreen display with navigation, UConnect, paddle shifters, USB and 20-inch wheels.
Then there's the engine side of the deal. All SRT Grand Cherokees come standard with a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 cranking out 470 hp and 465 pound-feet of torque. Leather-trimmed seats are nice, but this is why you buy the SRT8.
Our entire existence doesn't take place on dry lake beds or winding mountain roads, though, so we added some options. First up is the Luxury Group II. This $4,495 option pack adds leather-wrapped upper door panels, leather instrument panel and center armrest, a power liftgate, blind spot monitoring, adaptive speed control and forward collision warning. We also ticked the $1,995 box for the SRT High Performance Audio option which drops in a 19-speaker, 825-watt stereo to help acoustically counter the effects of the 6.4. Finally, because this is an SUV after all, we got the $995 Trailer Tow Group IV. This includes a seven- and four-pin wiring harness and class IV receiver hitch, and deletes the rear tow hook while giving us the chance to pull 5,000 pounds.
After adding in the $925 destination fee, our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 stickered for $62,880. Jeep provided this vehicle for our long-term test, so we didn't have a chance to negotiate that price down any further.
Why We Got It
We've had a number of Chrysler products over the years: a Caravan, a Ram, a Commander, a Compass, two Wranglers and a totally awesome Challenger R/T. As much as we liked that Challenger, it was armed with the adequate R/T-spec 5.7-liter, 372-hp V8. We've never sampled the big-boy Hemi V8 in a long-term tester and frankly, couldn't let that stand. And there's no better place to sample it than in the new Grand Cherokee. With the exception of that 2009 Dodge Viper SRT10, this will also be the first time we've had a long-term test of an SRT vehicle.
In our Full Test of the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, we wrote, "Allow us to quote the great philosopher Ferris Bueller, who once said, 'Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around every once in a while you could miss it.'
"That's the mindset behind the 470-hp, 6.4-liter, 160-mph, 5,000-pound, $60,000, 12-mpg 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. This muscled-up SUV is about enjoying today, right this very moment. It's about wanting, reaching and grabbing. Pure automotive hedonism. And we absolutely love it."
But will we absolutely love it after having to fill up the tank every two days? Or dealing with the antiquated five-speed transmission? Or trying to keep under the antiquated speed limits? Does the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 bridge the gap between performance and practicality in the long run? We're about to find out.
Follow along with the new Cherokee SRT8 and our entire test fleet on the Long-Term Road Test blog.
Current Odometer: 998
Best Fuel Economy: 12.5
Worst Fuel Economy: 11.7
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 12.1
First impression of our new super Jeep? It's a 470-horsepower vault on four wheels. No, the doors don't close with a deep thud and not every piece of trim is drilled down with three screws, but when you're on the road you feel all two-and-a-half tons of this beast from Detroit.
This is not a bad thing, mind you, especially when you have the big 6.4 Hemi to lean on. Much of the weight melts away when the V8 gets going, so it's a very swift vault.
It's really the suspension and steering that make it feel so solid. This is not just a Jeep with low-profile tires, it's a serious street machine that rides stiff and turns in quick. It takes some getting used to, but after ripping a few freeway off ramps this Jeep starts to feel good. Real good.
Very much looking forward to getting better acquainted over the next 12 months.
I'll bet you're waiting to hear all about how our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 drives, yeah? Well, never mind all that. I'm here to tell you about one of the most exciting changes between the old GC SRT8 and this newfangled one. And it has to do with its... rear bumper?
Hoo-wah! Yes, that black goiter on the bumper is hiding a trailer hitch. This is very exciting indeed — for the first time, you can actually use the Jeep GC SRT8 as a truck. The old one had dual exhaust tips where the trailer hitch should have been.
The goiter is a flexible plastic panel that's held on with two hidden quarter-turn fasteners on the bottom and three little alignment tabs at the top.
I wonder how long it will take before
I
somebody inadvertently snaps off one or all of the plastic tabs. Whatever with that. Trailer hitch!
I didn't just get into my job as an automotive photojournalist to watch sunsets. I got into it because I love cars and the raw emotion a good photo can convey. Kind of like Reese's Peanut Buttercups, they're two great tastes that taste great together.
I came across these shots of a Jeep very similar to ours and I thought they were pretty tough. Enjoy a morning dose of eye after the jump.
I am not an SUV-type-of-guy. I rarely have the need to haul people or cargo and most SUVs won't fit down the driveway at Casahashi. But this...this is a little different.
Before the JGCSRT8 came along, the only other SUV that did anything for me was the Lamborghini LM002 and LM/A. The Rambo Lambo was developed as a military vehicle, but it never got past the trials stage. Only 300 were built and they sported a V12 Countach engine up front. I was a senior in high school when I first laid eyes on this beast in car magazines and was instantly smitten.
I've seen a few in person, and I must admit, I still want one. But I also know they're a mechanical nightmare, so I doubt I'll be getting one unless I come into an obscene amount of money (one can hope).
Back to the Jeep.
On my drive into the office, I was wondering how these two monsters stacked up. The SRT8 makes 470 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque, while the Lambo puts out 444 hp and 368 lb-ft. The Jeep weighs 5,150 (how fitting, it's the police code for a complete wacko on the loose) and the LM002 weighs 5,720. The Jeep obviously won't fare that well in rugged off-road terrain, but the Lamborghini should be fine (at least until the engine goes "non-funciona").\
But our long-termer bugs me, and for the most mundane of reasons: I hate the color. Silver? I think our Jeep should have been painted in something a bit more sinister. A deep, dark red, perhaps? Maybe black with matte black accents or olive drab? This is one of those times when I wish I could give a car the full vinyl wrap treatment. In any case, the SRT8 has made it into my very short list of SUVs I would consider (if I had to).
What SUV makes you go "hmmmm?"
This weekend I got 13.5 mpg over 216 miles in our new Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. There was 18 miles of gridlock in there and a few SRT8-worthy blasts of acceleration around town, but it was otherwise overwhelmingly highway driving usually on cruise control.
Given that I'm one of the more economical drivers around here, it's a safe bet that our JGC might be hitting single digits on occasion this year. It's also bound to challenge the Raptor's 12.7-mpg lifetime average and title of fuel economy anti-champ.
But then, what were you really expecting from a 470-horsepower, 5,100-pound Jeep? And hey, could be worse ...
We could have McBane's SUV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU1iEZnP1m4
Our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 takes a different approach to engine break-in than our Subaru Impreza. There are two obvious differences. One, the Subie wants us moderate on the pedal for the first 1,000 miles. The Jeep asks for half that time. And two, Subaru warns us to "avoid rapid acceleration" while the Jeep recommends "brief full-throttle acceleration" during the break-in.
There you go.
The Grand Cherokee's heated steering wheel gets nice and hot, and stays that way until you turn it off.
Question is: How cold should it have to be before you can use it?
For me, it was a drop below 70 degrees.
This is the reason I don't ask for tire dressing at the car wash. The Grand Cherokee is perhaps more susceptible to it because of the wide tires and lack of mud flaps.
While I won't let the cat (entirely) out of the bag with this post, we have tested our new Grand Cherokee SRT8 to see if we got "a good one." We did. Watch this space for the actual track results. While testing the Jeep, I decided to check the on-board performance data acquisition against our mega-buck VBox on the first default run. Hey, lookie there... They match! This is a first in my experience as most on-board systems like this have been historically wildly optimistic. The quarter-mile is very close too, and perhaps the 0.2-sec difference is due to the Jeep automatically subtracting the infamous "1-foot rollout" where our VBox raw data does not. Along with accommodating the ambient conditions, we do that it "post."
Adaptive cruise control is usually crap. Any time I get into a test car equipped with it, I reach for the button that can drop the adaptive bit from regular-old cruise control. Sadly, that button rarely exists.
I certainly couldn't find it in our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, but I discovered that it doesn't actually need it. The ACC in the JGC SRT8 is in fact A-OK.
To illustrate, let's compare the Jeep's ACC system to those found in the Hyundai Equus and Acura MDX I drove recently. One key feature of any ACC is the ability to grow and shrink the distance the car can get to the vehicle ahead. Usually there are three different increments. The Equus' smallest was absolutely enormous and I can only guess that it's greatest distance was something akin to a U.N. nuclear exclusion zone. This gap provides ample opportunity for other cars to dash in front of you, in which case the Hyundai either cuts throttle completely or slams on the brakes. This all-or-nothing approach is annoying to say the least. Even when driven with no one remotely in front, the Equus just felt nervous as if it was gingerly tapping the throttle and brake rather than driving smoothly like a non-crap driver.
The Acura was barely better. It didn't have that nervous feel, but its smallest range was too large and when it locked onto another car, the throttle cut-off or brakes were far too aggressive.
The Jeep's system, on the other hand, behaves like a normal human. In fact, I was using it for about a half hour in fairly heavy highway traffic and my wife had no idea the car was essentially driving itself. She noticed in the Acura. When you come up to a car ahead, the Jeep is more prudent when letting off the throttle as you might be. It still responds if traffic rapidly slows, but it seems to have a better concept of nuance and the speed at which the object ahead is moving.
Now, I still think ACC would be a waste of money for myself, but if this is a feature that appeals to you, Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram's is one of the very best I've experienced.
Yep. Seat's touching the back of my way-back driver seat, but she was plenty happy riding the pine in the SRT8. Thankfully, as Maggie reaches ~2 years old she seems to be getting over her puppy car sickness, which is good given the SRT8's firm and sometimes jarring ride. More road trips would seem to be in our future. Huzzah!
Holy crap does our longterm 2012 Jeep GC SRT8 have huge brakes. They may not look like much in this photo until you realize that's a 20" wheel, and an entire third of the thing is filled with red. Six pistons. Huge. Good, solid pedal feel, too.
The rotor? Fifteen inches. That's an inch larger than one of the stock wheels that came on Project Miata. Like I said, holy crap.
'Course, when you're trying to slow 5,200 pounds with a C-of-G that's waaay up there — especially when it's been put into motion by the kind of sauce this V8 delivers — brakes this big are exactly what's needed.
Nice looking wheel, too, doncha think?
Our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee looks sharp. I dig the hood vents, the aggressive bumpers and the multi-multi-spoke wheels. It has a lot going for it.
Not only does it look sharp, but it feels sharp. This exterior door trim piece has scratched my finger on two separate occasions now. I know, cut my finger once, shame on Jeep. But twice? It's clearly my fault. It's time to cut back the rough flashing from this molding.
This weekend the Oldhams used nearly every bit of the Cherokee SRT8's people and cargo room. With four aboard, including two in rather bulky child seats, we drove the Jeep up to Santa Barbara for a family wedding and a few days of fun.
As you can see the Grand's 35.1 cubic feet of cargo space was sufficient, but didn't leave much space to haul home any new found works at SB's many art galleries.
I've been living in our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. Since last Thursday afternoon I've driven the Jeep 800 miles including round trips north to Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and a couple of runs down to Anaheim.
And I'm driving it again tonight. It's that good. This is without a doubt one of the top five American cars you can buy.
But it isn't perfect. I'd like three things about the Jeep to be bit different.
1) I'd like its suspension to be tuned ten percent softer.
2) I'd like its steering to be ten percent less heavy.
3) I'd like its seat foam to be ten percent more cushy.
Yes, I'm getting old. And I'd like the Jeep that much more if it supplied a little more comfort, even if it meant sacrificing its ultimate handling numbers a bit.;
This is the driver's seat in our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. It's got bolsters. You see, it's not a couch because this isn't your living room. The Jeep GC SRT8 is a performance
car
truck
wagon
thing. The fact that it has good roll stiffness and steering with actual substance helps make it more than a one-trick drag-race pony. Yet none of its sporting pretenses are over the top, as it is totally suitable for day to day duty. If it's too aggro, you're too old.
It is true, though, that the SRT8's 5-speed transmission is something of an anachronism. It works quite well in feeling "locked-up" at low revs, but forward thrust falls off noticeably with each full-whack upshift. The corporte 8-speeder's closer gear spacing would provide stronger acceleration (and probably better fuel economy too).
And then there's its lack of rev-matched downshifts which is indeed lame considering a) a vehicle badged as 'SRT8' is by definition a performance thing; b) this SRT8 thing costs a thingload of money; c) it's currently 2012. But collectively those circumstantial factors are not nearly as lame as the lawyerly rationale for the lack of rev-matching capability. Other manufacturers apparently don't have
lawyers running the company
issues with allowing their transmissions to match revs, so why does Chrysler/Jeep?
Last September I wrote a Full Test of the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. In that test I wrote this:
"Our only real dynamic complaint is the transmission's inability to match revs on the downshifts. Even when you use its well-placed paddle shifters, you get crude old-school downshifts that throw weight forward and shock the Jeep's drivetrain.
We complained about this same shortcoming during our flogging at Willow Springs last month. Jeff Roselli, the Jeep's lead development engineer, told us it is a "Chrysler Safety Office" issue. Apparently Chrysler's policy is to refuse to open the electronic throttle unless a request for more torque has been made by the driver. In other words, the lawyers win again."
This is still a problem. And the President and CEO of SRT Ralph Gilles (@RalphGilles) needs to fix it. Come on Ralph, show those lawyers who's boss.
I've lived in the same apartment for eight years, but now I'm on the hunt* for a bigger place with a better parking situation (read: a garage with a door on it, and a personal driveway). I had our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 with me while looking at a few places over the weekend, and it proved useful for a baseline test of garage usability.
Our Jeep is neither unreasonably large nor super small by SUV standards, and since it has no roof rack, it should be able to fit in any garage that can legitimately be called a garage.
It would have just fit in this garage, but I wouldn't have been able to disembark from the vehicle. At least the JGC SRT8 looks awesome and imposing as it blocks the alley for an unspecified amount of time. This won't do, though. Next!
*And by the way, I'll be sure to update you daily with boring news of my impending move; stay tuned.
Our long-term Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 doesn't have the newer, larger navigation unit you get in the Charger, Challenger and 300 — I'd guess packaging constraints precluded it.
I can deal with the smaller screen just fine. What I don't care for is the system's rudimentary software. It doesn't automatically zoom in or bring up any kind of inset map to show you exactly where you need to turn. Most other factory systems do this for you now. There may be a setting in the menus for this convenience that I haven't found yet, but it's not the kind of thing you want to dig for when you're driving around in unfamiliar neighborhoods looking at houses and realize that you've missed your turn. Manually zooming in is another option, but I find the small touchscreen a little chaotic and it's not clear to me exactly where to press — an external dial or toggle switch usually works better for zoom.
I did notice that the system provides auxiliary visual prompts for upcoming turns in the trip computer, but depending on which display you're looking at, they don't always come up when I'd expect. And the voice prompts seem to be a little inconsistent in their timing as well.
This nav system offers basic functionality, but since it's in a $60K vehicle, it really should offer more than that.
I was hoping a photo would illustrate this, but unfortunately it does not — the front doors of our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 open reeeally wide. Like freakishly wide. In the pic above, the door is dang near orthogonal to the rest of the car.
Yeah, not the world's most exciting observation, I know. Still, I can think of no other vehicle offhand with doors that open this far, and I wonder why it is so on this Jeep. Ingress, maybe. But if you need to open the door this far just to get into the SRT8, there's no way in hell you'll fit in the seat once inside.
It's just unusual, that's all. Carry on.
Edmunds.com tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.
Despite gas prices, electronic nannies and safety regulations, we're living the glory days, friends. Engines have never been so powerful and so accessible. Take the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, for example. This SUV has a 6.4-liter naturally aspirated pushrod V8 that cranks out 470 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque while meeting strict California emissions standards. And it's not alone in the segment, not by a long shot, and the closest competitor comes from Great Britain in the form of the 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged. (The S/C Range Rover Sport lives on today, but we haven't seen one on our track since that model year.)
The Range Rover makes 510 horsepower to the Jeep's 470. It produces 461 pound-feet of torque to the Jeep's 465. The Range has a six-speed automatic; Jeep's only got 5 forward gears.
The Range Rover is also $20,000 more expensive. Does it show its worth at the track?
Grand Cherokee SRT8 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SC
0-30 (sec): 1.7 2.0
0-45 (sec): 3.0 3.5
0-60 (sec): 4.9 5.2
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 4.6 4.9
0-75 (sec): 7.3 7.5
1/4-mile (sec @ mph): 13.3 @ 101.6 13.4 @ 104.1
30-0 (ft): 27 31
60-0 (ft): 109 123
Skid pad lateral accel (g): 0.87 0.76
Slalom 67.1 61.0
Vehicle: 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
Odometer: 1,859
Date: 5-23-2012
Driver: Chris Walton
Price: $62,880
Specifications: Drive Type: All-wheel drive
Transmission Type: Five-speed automatic
Engine Type: Longitudinal, naturally aspirated V8
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 6,399/392
Redline (rpm): 6,200
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 470 @ 6,000
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 465 @ 4,300
Brake Type (front): 15-inch vented discs with six-piston Brembo calipers
Brake Type (rear): 13.7-inch discs with four-piston Brembo calipers
Suspension Type (front): Independent double wishbones, coil springs, stabilizer bar
Suspension Type (rear): independent multilink, coil springs, stabilizer bar
Tire Size (front): 295/45 ZR20 (110Y)
Tire Size (rear): 295/45 ZR20 (110Y)
Tire Brand: Pirelli
Tire Model: P Zero
Wheel Size: 20-by-10 inches front and rear
Tire Type: Summer performance
As tested Curb Weight (lb): 5,261
Test Results:
Acceleration
0-30 (sec): 1.7 (1.8 w/TC on)
0-45 (sec): 3.0 (3.2 w/TC on)
0-60 (sec): 4.9 (5.1 w/TC on)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 4.6 (4.8 w/TC on)
0-75 (sec): 7.3 (7.6 w/TC on)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 13.3 @ 101.6 (13.5 @ 100.9)
Braking:
30-0 (ft): 27
60-0 (ft): 109
Handling
Slalom (mph): 67.1 ( 66.2 w/TC on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.87 ( 0.87 w/TC on )
Db @ Idle:
Db @ Full Throttle: 76.4
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 61.7
Acceleration: The Jeep punishes pedal overlap at launch so the best technique was near-simultaneous off-brake/on-throttle. Either way, the Jeep leaps off the line and the tach swings freely up to redline and "burps" off very quick upshifts (noticeably quicker in Track mode). Sounds magnificent and burly.
Braking: These brakes like some heat for optimal performance, so the shortest stop occurred on the 5 (of 7). Medium-firm pedal, steep jump-in, minimal dive (in Track or Sport) and essentially fade-free. Remarkable for a 5,000-plus-pound SUV.
Handling:
Skid pad: With ESC off, I could steer merely with the throttle — allowing the mild understeer to come and go. Couldn't detect AWD shifting power around. With ESC on, I was much busier with the steering wheel as the electronics applied brakes and cut throttle. Resulted in same outcome.
Slalom: A little lazy with initial steering response, but takes a set immediately (in Track). Relatively little roll means it transitions quickly/predictably. With ESC off, the Jeep is essentially neutral and wants to be chucked past each cone, then becomes slightly loose. Luckily, the AWD and throttle solve this "problem." The tires allow predictable break-away at a high threshold. ESC On snubbed understeer subtly and quickly. Effective and obviously well-tuned ESC settings. Again, this is a remarkable performance for a 5,000-plus-pound SUV.
Vehicle: 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged
Odometer: 1,743
Date: 11/10/09
Driver: Chris Walton
Price: $82,345
Specifications:
Drive Type: Permanent four-wheel drive with two-speed transfer case, and locking center and rear differentials
Transmission Type: Six-speed automatic with Sport and Manual modes with steering-wheel-mounted paddles
Engine Type: Supercharged 90-degree V8
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 5,000/305
Redline (rpm): 6,800
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 510 @ 6,000-6,500
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 461 @ 2,500-5,500
Brake Type (front): 15.0-inch ventilated disc with 6-piston fixed calipers
Brake Type (rear): 14.4-inch ventilated disc with single-piston sliding calipers
Steering System: Variable-ratio, hydraulic-assist power rack-and-pinion steering
Suspension Type (front): Independent, double-wishbone, air springs, adaptive dampers
Suspension Type (rear): Independent, double-wishbone, air springs, adaptive dampers
Tire Size (front): 275/40R20
Tire Size (rear): 275/40R20
Tire Brand: Michelin
Tire Model: Latitude Diamaris
Tire Type: Asymmetrical, directional summer tires
Wheel size: 20-by-9.5 inches front and rear
Wheel material (front/rear): Aluminum
As tested Curb Weight (lb): 5,853
Test Results:
0-30 (sec): 2.0 (2.1 w/TC on)
0-45 (sec): 3.5 (3.8 w/TC on)
0-60 (sec): 5.2 (5.5 w/TC on)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 4.9 (5.2 w/TC on)
0-75 (sec): 7.5 (8.0 w/TC on)
1/4 Mile (sec @ mph): 13.4 @ 104.1 (13.7 @ 103.3 w/TC on)
30-0 (ft): 31
60-0 (ft): 123
Braking Rating: Very Good
Slalom (mph): 61.1 (59.5 stability control on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.76 (0.73 stability control on)
Handling Rating: Average
Db @ Idle: 48.8
Db @ Full Throttle: 72.3
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 59.2
Acceleration Comments: This new motor is damned powerful and an enormous improvement over the last Range Rover Sport S/C. Smooth, torquey and happy to rev. Upshifts are both smooth and fast.
Braking Comments: Impressive power, excellent fade resistance (best stop on fifth run) and pretty decent feel. Expected more forward pitch.
Handling Comments: Skid pad: Turning the stability control off only widens the envelope slightly, but noticeably allows the Range Rover Sport to use all available grip. Steering is a little heavy and isolated but appropriately so. Slalom: Trial and error to guess the stability control system's threshold, but still more allowance (and capability) than I expected. Doesn't abuse the tires or feel as if it's going to tip over. The "Sport" designation means something more this time around.
I'm going to side with many of the commenters here and say that I liked the old center-mounted exhaust pipes on the previous SRT8 better than the split pipes on the new model. They were unique, they could be spotted a block away and they just plain looked mean.
I know why they got rid of them though — they're a pain. A pain in the shins specifically. You see, when youire unloading something out of a vehicle with the pipes in the middle you're legs are going to get cooked. I know this mainly because my '75 F-250 used to have twin pipes shooting straight out the back. After one too many cooked knees, I had them relocated to the corners.
Then there's the whole towing thing, but that's another story entirely.
Yeah, I know. Among other things, SRT8 is code for "not exactly trail rated." This is kind of silly.
Or is it? How much Jeepiness does a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee actually lose on the way to becoming an SRT8 hot rod?
Our handy-dandy RTI ramp is one way to put a number on that.
I decided to back this one onto the ramp. Two reasons: 1) it doesn't make any difference to the end result and; 2) the rear bumper looked less threatened by the cheese grater that is our ramp's decking.
Twelve-and-a-half inches of lift was all she wrote. This picture was taken before I adjusted its final position downramp slightly to get rid of the small air gap seen here under the left rear.
That amount of lift and a 114.8-inch wheelbase worked out to an RTI of 318, just slightly less than the 322-point score earned by our long-term 2012 BMW X3.
It's basically a tie. Based on this number, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 should do about as well as the BMW X3 did on my little soft-roading adventure.
Not so fast, pardner. The tread pattern of the X3's all-season mud-and-snow tires and its more compliant suspension do represent an off-pavement advantage, particularly on snow, where the SRT8's 295/45R20 Pirelli P-Zero summer rubber will be a distinct liability.
And no, I don't have the RTI of a standard 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee handy. My buddy just bought one; maybe he'll let me borrow it. In any case a regular Jeep Grand Cherokee like his ought to do better than our X3. I'm guessing low 400s.
Zoinks! I just got back from taking our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 out for a quick spin around the block, expecting nothing. And then fate delivered this "kumbaya" moment on a silver platter.
But this is more than an ordinary kumbaya; it's a chance to compare two generations of Grand Cherokee SRT8. And fate was also mindful of the need to keep the color the same when making styling comparisions. I only wish the tree had cast a big enough shadow to cover them both.
I'm digging the new one. The horizontal taillights make it look wider and lower and I generally prefer blacked-out pillars, which make it look longer and lower. The fender flares look less tacked on (particularly from the rear) and I like the rear spoiler. As for the front end, it comes across as a little less blunt.
But that's me. What do you think?
That was way too close for comfort. I nearly curbed the right-front wheel on our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.
I made a quick U-turn to position our GC on the curb behind another for a quick kumbaya photo, but I misjudged the relative position of the curb and the protuberant 295/45R20 rubber — an occupational hazard when one drives different cars regularly.
A sickening feeling washed over me as the steering wheel tugged ever-so-slighty, a sign that the big Pirelli had just grazed something.
The merest touch is more than enough to permanently wreck the appearance of a wheel if aluminum meets concrete. Had I just become "that guy?"
Expecting the worst, I hopped out to see a pristine wheel. Turns out the tire bead and wheel rim are deeply recessed relative to the sidewall, and the spokes do not protrude beyond the sidewall plane until they're several inches above the asphalt — well above curb height, in other words.
And so I got away with it. There isn't even much in the way of a sidewall scuff, indicating that it truly was a light touch. A more solid impact may indeed have led to wheel damage.
Still, I can't help thinking that maybe Jeep engineers understand the value of sidewalls when it comes to protecting wheels and such. I think they're hard-wired to get that more than most.
Meanwhile, I've got to stay on my toes.
This was surprising and, I'll admit, a bit dissapointing. The Grand Cherokee accommodates car seats only marginally better than a Mazda 3.
The convertible seat in the foreground fits fine and is easy to install. Both passengers make small comfort compromises, but my four-year-old didn't care. And my wife is only 5'4" so she managed moving the seat forward a bit without a huge compromise in leg room.
The massive, rear-facing seat, however, is a different story.
I'm 5'9" and this is what happens when the driver's seat is in my preferred position. I'm comfortable, but a taller driver wouldn't be. I had to move the driver's seatback forward to get the baby seat fully locked in its carrier.
Ironically, this is similar to what happens with these seats in the same locations in the Mazda 3.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 might weigh 5,150 or so pounds, but you'll be glad to know it packages its heavy battery low and toward the middle of the vehicle. In fact, it's in the floor under the front passenger seat.
Seems like an odd place for a vehicle which puts a priority on ground clearance — at least in base trim.
But it's likely that the optional Quadra-Lift air suspension, which varies the non-SRT models' ride height by as much as 4.1 inches, negates any loss of clearance this placement might create. Plus, it's not as if the battery compartment hangs down. It's flush with the rear-mounted fuel tank.
Makes me wonder if the current-generation Mercedes-Benz ML places its battery in the same location since the two share components and were in development at the same time back when Mercedes owned Chrysler.
I really enjoy having our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 around as a daily companion. Partly it's the driver seat, which is incredibly well-shaped, comfortable and supportive — but not so supportive that you feel confined in any way.
The other part of it is the driving experience. I expected to like the Jeep, because I really dug driving the plus-size version, the Dodge Durango, on an inappropriately twisty road a couple years back. But this SRT8 Grand Cherokee version is better still. It steers very nicely and changes direction well. Parking in tight spaces isn't bad at all, and it's pretty engaging during assertive cornering.
Of course, the 6.4-liter V8 is sweet, too. The Jeep jumps off the line if you whack the throttle, but considering how much torque you're dealing with, the throttle calibration isn't that crazy. You can ease it along when the authorities are near — it's not nearly as abrupt as it could be.
It makes good sounds, too, at least at low speeds. It's grunty and burly and loud enough to advise others that you're up to no good when making moves in city traffic. A friend riding shotgun observed that it's too quiet (and not nearly as exciting) when you plant the throttle on the highway, and that's a fair criticism, but I'm sure the aftermarket has a remedy.
Here's a close-up shot of the Grand Cherokee's battery tie-down. Someone posted yesterday concerned that the battery, because it was contained in the floor, wasn't properly fixed for autocrossing and aggressive driving. It is. Relax.
Also, because it shares space with passengers, it's a sealed AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery which has its electrolyte absorbed in a fiber-glas mat seperator rather than floating freely around the plates as it would in a conventional lead-acid battery. As a result, it's less likely to vent and can be safely inverted, which is nice since it sits right below the passenger seat. Also, if you look carefully at the top photo you can see that the pressure relief valve is routed outside in case the battery does vent.
Yesterday's centralized mass entry has some of you concerned about jump starting. Rest assured, Chrysler doesn't have you digging around under the passenger seat should your Jeep need a jump. These underhood terminals ensure conventional jump starting.
This compact LED flashlight is built into the left rear corner of the Grand Cherokee's cargo area. It stores in its charger, releases with a solid push and snaps easily back into place
Nice.
I prefer black interiors to just about any other color. But the Grand Cherokee is so new and its carpet so dark that this happened last weekend. I half expected to find a pot of gold behind the seats.
Instead, I found this...
Well, OK, she didn't look exactly like this when I caught her dirty little feet leaving tracks on the carpet, but it's pretty close.
Either way, I'm pretty sure she's the culprit. And I'll still take black carpet over tan. Every time.
If there's one thing our JGCSRT8 is good at, it's going really freaking fast. But there are plenty of other things it does poorly. I found out last night that it makes for a very poor ambulance.
At the end of another night of indoor rock climbing, my girlfriend slipped and twisted her ankle. It was bad enough that I thought it might have been broken. There was no way she was going to be able to drive her car home (manual transmission Genesis Coupe), so I enlisted the help of Kurt Niebuhr to get her car back to Edmunds HQ while I drove the gimped redhead home in the Jeep.
With every dip, rut, pothole and intersection, the stiff SRT8 suspension transmitted the jolts right into the cabin, and, right into her ankle. It's really not all that stiff when you're just driving around, but when you have to drive like there's a bomb on a mercury switch in the back seat, it feels like a skateboard.
In this rare instance, the Explorer, Audi A8, Jag XF and Infiniti JX would have been better, but it was too late to switch cars. I suppose it could have been much worse if I had the Miata or NSX, though.
As you can tell from the above photo, I'm not going to say that what makes our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 a great roadtrip car is its seat heaters, plush seats or anything like that. It's the simple fact that not only does it have a USB port located to the right of the navigation screen but it also has one hidden away in the center console!
Here you don't have to fight with the passenger/driver over whose iPhone should be plugged in (mine). And not to say that it's the end of the world to be stuck in a car for several hours with an unplugged iPhone, but it's just really nice when that's not the case. Especially when, as I've stated before, I'm always on it and run that battery down like a mofo.
As for offering more music options, that's always a plus on a roadtrip. Not only do you have Sirius Satellite Radio but you can access the music on your iPhone via Bluetooth and, naturally, the USB ports. This all especially sounds good thanks to the SRT High-Performance Audio package ($1,995) which includes a 825-watt Harman Kardon 19-speaker system.
The HEMI in our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 turned 3,000 miles recently. That equaled half of the first recommended service interval of 6,000 miles. For us, this meant it was time to think about scheduling an oil change.
We drove to Buerge Chrysler Jeep without an appointment and asked for an oil change and tire rotation. The advisor offered some resistance, "Ok, but we don't usually rotate the tires this early." We asked him to rotate them anyway. About 3 hours later he called to inform us that the car was ready.
This marks the best service experience we've had at Buerge here in Santa Monica. Maybe the service department is pulling its act together. Or maybe, when our advisor typed the VIN into his computer, it came up as being owned by Chrysler. I'm going with the latter. Still, the service was completed promptly and without drama.
Total Cost: $125.00
Days out of Service: None
Whatever this thing is, it's not a Jeep. Its chrome badges say Jeep sure, although at a distance, a friend mistook the small "Jeep" badge on the liftgate for Audi's four rings. But the JGCSRT8 is a Jeep only because Chrysler says it is, and because there's some concession to all-terrain four-wheel-drive, although the approach and departure angles limit you to maybe a snowy run to the Christmas tree lot or some postcard magic drive along Daytona Beach.
Alright, maybe that's an exaggeration. But the SRT8 offers less approach (18.4 degrees) and departure angle (21.9 degrees) than the standard Grand Cherokee Laredo (26.3; 26.5 degrees, respectively), and 0.3 inches less ground clearance than the Laredo.
No matter. The Grand Cherokee SRT8 is awesome in 17 languages. Its brakes are part of its grandness. The Brembos stop the damn thing from 60 mph in 109 feet. Test driver Walton noted the brakes like some heat for optimal performance, exhibit minimal dive and are essentially fade-free. "Remarkable for a 5,000-plus pound SUV," he added.
My only gripe with the SRT8's brakes is their grabby nature when just navigating around town. Pedal feels fine, but they are quick to clamp and send you surging forward into your belts, just requiring some mental re-calibration if you're carrying wimpy passengers to places where they can spend their money on stuff.
But on the way home, with an open highway lane...payoff.
One thing about 24 hour-long races - they're 24 hours long. You gotta catch some Zs at some point during the race. For me the best bet was in the cargo area of our longterm 2012 Jeep GC SRT8. I folded down the backseats and threw down a Thermarest and some blankets.
I had to lay kittycorner to fit all 6'1" of me, and those backseats don't fold completely flat. But when it's 3:30am and you've been awake for 22.5 hours - five of which entailed wheel to wheel racing - even this suboptimal slumber zone is a little slice of heaven.
Given that our longterm 2012 Jeep GC SRT8 is hi-po trucky wagon thing and not a draft horse the way a pickup is, it does have a tow hitch and so I have been curious about its ability to tow.
Last weekend's 24 Hours of LeMons race at Buttonwillow Raceway provided just that opportunity.
Buttonwillow is 137 miles away from Los Angeles and comprises a slog through urban freeway traffic, a big grade (the Grapevine) and then a long, boring run through the middle of the desert.
The Jeep's console selector has a tow mode that recalibrates the shift points. Once that was selected, I was underway with my load — my horrible FrankenMiata race car and a steel trailer, plus sundries in the cabin. This is easily within the capabilities of our GC SRT8, which is equipped with the $995 Trailer Tow Group IV option allowing a towing capacity of 5000 pounds.
Power-wise, this thing has plenty, though it falls off the power noticeably with each upshift due to the 5-speed autobox's wide gear spacing. I definitely appreciated the solid brake pedal - very reassuring and easy to modulate. At no point did the brakes go soft due to heat, but then, I employ engine braking whenever possible no matter what I'm driving.
You'd think the GC's firm ride quality would become more compliant as a result of the trailer's tongue weight. That's what I expected anyway. I expected wrong. The firm ride worsened with the trailer. It could be that there's not much bump travel in the suspension, and that this load was enough to put the GC's suspension on its bump stops. It was a pretty punishing ride; not unsafe, just busy and uncomfortable.
Gotta love the passing power, though. Having a large amount of reserve power while towing makes for terrific peace of mind - it really is a stress reducer. Guys who tow a lot will relate.
To keep tabs on the truck, I cycled frequently through the coolant, oil and transmission temp readouts on the GC's handy display. The trans stayed surprisingly cool, no worries there whatsoever. The oil crept up to 260F on the grade (85F ambient, 55 mph and a/c switched off), which is acceptable, but I do wonder what would have happened to oil temps were I towing the full 5000 lb instead of ~3500 lb, and if the ambient air was truly hot.
Yeah, that's right. Seat coolers are the only way to roll when you climb into our longterm 2012 Jeep GC SRT8 after it has been parked for hours in Buttonwillow's unrelenting sun. The air temp is only in the mid-90s but the insane heat load pouring down from overhead makes it feel like 190.
Go ahead and call seat coolers sissylike. This sissy will be enjoying cool, dry nether regions. So there.
(Excuse the dust on the buttons. Along with being in the sun, Buttonwillow is also in the desert, which is where dust apparently is manufactured. It'll pervade every nook if you leave your windows open for any amount of time.)
Under promise and over deliver. It's a safe M.O. no matter what you're doing. In the Grand Cherokee that means adapting to "most" road conditions. Rarely do you see such honesty in a promise, especially from a computer.
Truth is, I'm not sure which conditions this Jeep would have trouble adapting to out in the real world. I suppose some heavy duty rock crawling would give the computer some trouble, or maybe a little mix of mud and snow maybe, but other than that it seems to adapt quite nicely to various road conditions.
I used to put into Sport mode right off the bat, but now I've found that Auto mode feels pretty good most of the time. Having 470-horsepower helps. Then again, the owner's manual says that the Auto mode orders up the most compliant suspension to start, so maybe I just like the cush.
It only took a week in my new place for me to embrace suburban living .
I eat doughnuts now instead of going to the farmers market, and I almost need an SUV because I've been visiting the hardware store every day. Bought some patio chairs last week, and although our Camry could have handled them, they went right into the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 without a second thought. (I do wish the power liftgate would respond to a long press on the keyless remote button, rather than requiring a double-tap, but a quick yank on the gate itself will also activate the power mechanism.) It's a nice size, our Jeep... large enough to look serious, roomy enough to be useful and compact enough to park almost anywhere.
Some days I also have a longer commute (about 30 miles), and the Jeep's torque keeps flared tempers at bay, because I almost never miss a hole in traffic. The cabin's quiet, too. Maybe you'd like more of an exhaust note, but at least you're not hearing a whole bunch of noise from the 20-inch wheel/tire package.
Those tires do affect the ride, though. After driving the Grand Cherokee on a few more freeways, I have to agree with some others that it's overly stiff on the slabbier roads. (See? Suburbia has already softened me.) At least its excellent seats insulate you from some of the impact.
I've now scratched my hand a couple times getting stuff out of the backseat of our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 on the driver side. The culprit? A sloppily molded piece of black plastic that caps the strip of brightwork running along the bottom of the driver-side rear window.
This morning during a 90-minute drive in our long-term Grand Cherokee SRT8, I realized how much I love its seats. Nappa leather and suede, combined with the perfect seat bottom width and length, and nice, high bolsters on the back and bottom.
Many days I question whether I've spent more hours at my desk or in the car. Either way, I'd gladly toss my expensive Aeron office chair if I could pull up to my keyboard in an SRT seat.
We're just getting going with our long-term test of the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, and last night we hit the 5,000-mile mark.
So far it's been mostly positive, although a few old fogeys have complained about the GC SRT8's stiff ride, and the lack of rev-matched downshifts annoys as well. And one cutting-edge piece of door/window trim.
But we're digging the monster V8, sharp handling and supportive seats. In sum, there's lots to love here.
Someone once said so eloquently about the new Grand Cherokee SRT8, "It don't match revs."
Which is true, and annoying, especially in a vehicle that begs you to drive it hard the way this GC SRT8 does.
But there's possibly something even more annoying than the lack of rev-matched downshifts: ;
The transmission upshifts quite abruptly in Manual mode when using anything more than mild throttle. I like to use the paddles so that I have full control over when the transmission shifts — call me bossy.
There's two ways around this: First, leave it in Drive for upshifts and only access manual shifting on downshifts. The second option is to back off the throttle slightly as you upshift, like what we had to do to make the original single-clutch paddle-shift gearboxes work smoothly many years ago.
Seems kinda silly to have to do this with an automatic, though.
Wait, what's that hiding in the upper deck of the JGC SRT8's center console? Why, yes, it's a USB port in the portion of the center console that flips up and locks into the lid. Never seen a USB port here.
Good idea?
I say it's a good idea. Largely because there's this dash-mounted USB port which can be used as the primary interface for iPods, etc.
What do you say?
The Above Amazing Photo Brought To You By Josh Jacquot
Since a few folks around here have complained that the Grand Cherokee SRT8's ride is too stiff, I was wondering if maybe it would prove to be a poor choice to haul me, three friends and all our gear north of Sacramento for a weekend of river rafting.
Would my friends hate the GC SRT8, and me by association? And could the cargo area hold our tents, sleeping bags, water guns, coolers and clothes needed for the two-day trip down the river, along with a few extra items we'd haul up for some friends who were flying?
Good questions, all.
As far as the luggage room, mission accomplished there.
But what about the ride? One of my friends (let's call her Christine to protect her identity) is extremely susceptible to getting carsick, which apparently is magnified by cars with stiff suspensions.
Turns out, she was just fine. Must be my ultra-smooth driving. In fact, no one complained about the ride even once during our 1,058-mile road trip.
As for me, yes, the ride is a bit harsh at times, but not overly so — especially when you're mostly sticking to the highway. Plus, the front seat helps because it's plenty comfortable.
On the fuel mileage front for the 470-horsepower V8, we averaged 16.5 mpg, fully loaded with four people. Most of it was just cruising along at normal speeds, but of course there was the occasional full-throttle blast. It can't be helped.
I don't know about you, but the last thing I want when it's scorching hot outside is the experience of something — anything — touching me. That's why I tend to prefer looser clothes in warm weather, and that's why I thought I'd hate the Jeep's seats. They're pretty aggressively bolstered, which means they really get in there and give your ribs a hug when you slide into position.
It sounds like the kind of thing that would drive me crazy during the dog days of summer, but that's not the case — I really like the seats. I like the experience of being held firmly in place, and the bolsters are a perfect fit for my frame; I wonder, though, if they might not be too constrictive for those with wider builds. The seat's soft, suede inserts also work in concert with the bolsters to further enhance grip.
Heard this story from someone at the scene. In the final days of the first-gen JGCSRT8's development, then-Chrysler Group President/CEO Dieter Zetsche came in to see a near-finished prototype. Engineers and designers stood around quietly while the boss did a walkaround and then paused to consider the center-exit exhaust.
Dr. Z stood there for a few silent seconds, thumbing the coolest mustache in the automobile business, while one of the designers talked nervously. He assured The 'Stache that the exhaust was just something they wanted to try, something easily changed.
"We just think it says something," the design guy said.
Dr. Z broke a grin from under his considerable caterpillar and, extending a middle finger, remarked, "Yes, it says something. It says 'f********* you!"
Presumably, our JGCSRT8 says something a little different.
We caught some flak after getting our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8's oil changed after only 3,000 miles, so we're expecting an equal amount here when you find out that we went ahead and did it again at 6,000 miles.
The first oil change was done early in part because of our driving habits over those first few thousand miles and with the full intention of getting it done again at 6,000. We've tested this Jeep, towed with it, driven it hard and otherwise exploited every one of its 470 horsepower. We're generally against pointless oil changes, but without a "heavy duty" use maintenance schedule (other manufacturers give guidelines for heavy use), we're on our own here.
Like the first, this service was done at Buerge Jeep (by far the closest dealer to us now that LaBrea Chrysler Jeep moved out of my neighborhood) and cost us $147.63. $54.10 in parts, $88.75 in labor and about $5 in tax.
We will likely return to the normal schedule after this. Look for the next oil change at the 12,000 mile mark.
Specifically, it doesn't play well with my iPhone. It does this. It doesn't think I have any music tracks and it thinks whatever is playing is stopped.
My iPod works in the Jeep. The girlfriend's iPod works in the Jeep. So does her iPhone. My iPhone — despite being on the same version as hers — does not.
It thinks I'm connected here.
And this thing thinks it's connected.
But it's not. And I'm not going to use a USB drive.
The mean streets of Los Angeles are no place to mess about. It's not as bad as Boston, but if you're a passive driver who leaves 15 carlengths between you and the guy ahead of you, expect to get cut off every other second and cause the ire of everyone behind you.
But even if you're not a passive driver, LA can be a tricky place with Porsches and BMWs cutting in and out with wild abandon. Drive around in a normal SUV and it's even worse. The lane splitters and full-throttle mergers see you as an easy get — unless you're in the Cherokee SRT8. I can't remember the last car I've driven that gets this much respect on the road. Nobody cuts in on it. Nobody tries to pull up in the right-turn lane to get a jump on the green. People just stay clear of the monstrous Jeep even if they don't know cars.
It almost makes up for the sub-12 MPG rating in the city we're getting.
I'll hand it to the SRT guys, they not only blessed this Jeep with some serious brake hardware, they also gave it some serious wheels to match.
Wheels have long been a sore point with the Big Three. In short, they sucked at making any cool ones. Sure, once in awhile they struck gold, but all too often high-performance domestics got stuck with bad chrome wheels with barely any lip on them.
As you can see, these wheels not only have some nice dish to them, they're not chrome. They also have some intricate detailing that makes them unique. Glad to see that someone at SRT is paying attention.
A year ago I wrote a full test on the new 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. I wrote this:
"Trouble is, all the added spiff comes at a price. The old Jeep Cherokee SRT8 started at about $41,000. That's nearly $15,000 less than this new version. Then you add the options to our test truck, which include a panoramic sunroof, a 19-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, a power liftgate, a blind-spot monitoring system and additional leather, and the sticker price climbs to $60,780. Back in 2007 we tested a loaded example that cost about $45,000. Sure, the new one is better than the old one, but $16,000 better?
Apparently we're not the only ones complaining about the price. Ralph V. Gilles, president and CEO of Chrysler's SRT brand, wrote on a recent Web chat that the automaker plans on "decoupling" some of the features to reduce the price on the high-performance SUV.
"Grand Cherokee pricing has been sensitive," Gilles acknowledged. "We understand."
"We will look at decoupling some of the features in the future as the usual new product surge subsides," Gilles wrote. "We will start with immediately decoupling the DVD and sunroof." "
But now Jeep is raising the price. Significantly.
Today Jeep announced that the 2013 Grand Cherokee SRT8 starts at $60,920, including a $925 destination charge, reflecting a $5,625 increase over the 2012 model.
Hmmmm.
I don't think it was a coincidence that this Cayenne GTS owner parked right next to me. The parking lot wasn't all that crowded for one, and the similarities between the two were probably just enough for him to pull up to get a closer look.
Shocking how similar the two high-powered, sport utility beasts are when you look closely. The wheels, the spoiler and even the red brake calipers. The Jeep wins the horsepower race in this instance and is about $25,000 cheaper, too.
For me, though, it's the styling that seals the deal. The SRT8 is big, blocky and suitably tough looking while the Porsche is all sorts of awkward. I wonder if its owner was jealous? Dismissive?
Hands down, best idea on the market for audio controls. Hyperbole? Of course. But any time I drive a recent Chrysler, I wonder why more manufacturers don't copy this design and place rocker switches on the backside of the steering wheel. This doesn't force you to move your thumbs or otherwise change your fulcrum on the wheel. You remain in total control of the interface. I dare say it's even safer. NHTSA should create a rating for it.
Important stuff.
It was an emergency. I needed to borrow a car that could haul a coffee table asap and the Craigslist seller I contacted was expecting me to swing by in an hour. So I asked keeper of car keys Mike Schmidt if there was a long-termer up to the task.
"What cars would be appropriate?" he emailed me back.
"Whatever would fit these dimensions: 56 by 21 by 15. The Explorer or the Quest?"
"Sorry. I don't know the dimensions on these cars. I'm going to have to ask you to do the legwork. As for the Explorer or Quest, both are spoken for today," he replied.
I scanned the signout sheet and saw that our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee was still available. Then looked through long-term blog posts (I was too lazy to go allll the way downstairs to the garage to check the Jeep out myself). I know, you'd think it would be obvious that a car like the Grand Cherokee could haul furniture. But I had read in its Edmunds review that one of its cons was "somewhat limited cargo space."
However, scanning through the long-term blog I found a post about when Editor JayKav slept in its cargo area during a 24-hour race. Sweet!
As you can see from the photo, the coffee table fit in the cargo area with ample room to spare. We just had to pop out the cargo cover spool to make room for the table. Otherwise, easy breezy. Pfew!
Were it up to me, I'd make our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8's exhaust louder. Yes, by normal measures, its V8 sounds pretty cool. It's the daily-driven state of exhaust tuning that makes sense for Jeep to to offer as stock.
But the SRT8 is anything but normal. Just look at the thing — it's got the swagger of Schwarzenegger circa 1982. It should sound as outrageous as its personality.
Every time I start it, I want our SRT8 to sound like I've cracked open the throttle to a Can-Am racer. Or a powerboat. Birds should fly up from trees. Soccer moms in their Tahoes should spill their grande Frappuccinos. The USGS should record seismic activity.
Today was the first day of kindergarten for my daughter, and the JGC SRT8 was put to use for drop off and pick up. As you can see in the photo, the parking lot was packed with SUVs and minivans. The Grand Cherokee pretty much fit right in, even if it is the high performance version.
For what it's worth, my daughter much prefers the "black Jeep," as she describes it, saying it's much more fun. I'd agree with that. But the JGC is worlds more practical and easier to use than our Wrangler for daily schlepping duty.
No doubt you've seen our previous comments concerning the SRT8's lack of rev-matching ability for downshifts, the result of which is a harsh and chassis-unsettling gear engagement when you're using the shift paddles. And yeah, it doesn't do upshifts all that well, either.
But there is a workaround: blip the throttle yourself. I used to do the same thing on our departed Smart ForTwo because of it's clunky single-clutch automated manual. As soon as you click the SRT8's downshift paddle, blip the throttle, and voila, a much smoother downshift.
To be honest, it only works OK, and at least for me takes too much concentration (the unfamiliarity of trying it on an automatic) for too little reward.
To the surpise of nobody who follows our monthly fuel updates, our JGC SRT8 gets pretty crappy fuel mileage. Right now it's averaging just 13.8 mpg, last place in the fleet. Granted, you could argue that 13.8 is actually pretty good considering EPA combined is 14 mpg. Our Jeep's right on target!
But anytime I see a $100 tank of gas like I did last night when filling up, I can do little more than cringe. Then I just feel glad it's not me paying for the fuel bill.
I shuttled my family to a friend's house yesterday in the JGC SRT8. My friend's a lawyer and has been thinking about replacing his 2009 Mercedes CLK350, which is coming off lease. Occasionally he asks me what I think about certain cars. I knew crossover SUVs were on his radar (GLK, Q5, X3), but so far all he was talking about were import brands. So I figured I'd show him the SRT8 and wave the American flag a little.
I knew it'd be a long shot, so I figured the best way to stoke the fire would be to show off the SRT8's best attributes. So I took him out, then launched from a stop, ran through a few gears full throttle, then utilized the stout Brembo brakes. See, it's like catapulting and landing your own F-14 on a carrier deck.
My friend liked the fireworks display. Then I showed him the back seat and cargo area once we were back at his house. Plenty of room for the kids and dog, I told him. And we did a tour of the exterior. Understated but aggressive, I said. Perfect for today's man. Even his wife liked the look of it. Bonus.
Then, the $20 question. "How much does it cost?" he asked. Me: "Ummm … about $60 grand … but really, that's not much more than those luxury crossovers you were looking at," I said, looking to soften the blow. Still, I could sense the interest sinking. Then: "What kind of fuel economy does it get?" Oh boy. "Well, we're averaging 13.8 mpg with it right now." Sunk.
It just wasn't his kind of vehicle. (Or maybe I'm just not a good enough salesperson.) But it was fun to show off anyway.
The big lump you see pictured here is by far my favorite attribute for our JGC SRT8. Taking the kids to soccer practice? Give the SRT8 a downshift and extra throttle to get their adrenaline going. Slow-going Mercury Sable slowing you down on the freeway? That's nothing 470 horsepower can't fix. Shopping run at Target? It'd be a drag with our Wrangler, but here it's all grins.
I'm finding myself utilizing and enjoying the V8's brawn quite a bit. And I figure you might as well. Otherwise the SRT8 is just a JGC with a barely tolerable ride quality and miserable fuel mileage.
You know those countries during the Olympics that padded their metal tallies by going for wins in sports that nobody pays attention to? Well, similarly, I figured I could earn another fleet-wide fuel economy record by going for gold in our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. Folly, you say? Well, who else is going to go through the effort to drive the SRT8 like a grandma for an extended duration? Nobody. Well, maybe Magrath or Montoya, but there's a very slim chance of that happening.
Anyway, I subjected our JGC SRT8 to same 230-mile highway route and fuel-economy minded driving style that I've most recently used on the Chevrolet Sonic and VW Beetle to get top fuel economy. The result in the SRT8 was 19.0 mpg, easily our best result so far. That's still one fewer than EPA-estimated highway, but I did have a little city driving mixed in on this fill-up, and I had the air-conditioning almost the whole time.
There are different names for the safety feature that warns you about cars coming close to you as you're backing up. Jeep calls it "Rear Cross Path Detection," and it's on our JGC SRT8 (as well as most other JGCs). Basically, it's a modified rear parking sensor that beeps at you not only when an object is really close (as it you're going to run into it) but also if it detects a moving object (another vehicle) coming into your path. It's really useful in parking lots, particularly on vehicles with poor rearward visibility.
The JGC's got decent visibility, but I appeciate this feature just the same.
The analog gauge package on the Jeep SRT8 is very basic. Jeep gives you a tach, a speedo, water temp. (with no numbers), and of course a fuel level indicator.
Some could say it's too basic. After all, if you just bought a 470 hp Hemi-powered muscle ute you might just want some more information, like oil temp and oil pressure. Well, Jeep has supplied such instrumentation, you just need to know where to look. Push the right button and they're displayed on the Jeep's driver information screen, which is located front and center on the Cherokee's instrument cluster.
Jeep even takes it a step further with a transmission temperature gauge and a engine hours readout. Very cool.
The interior of the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is a favorite. It's well appointed, nice detailed and built with care. I might even go as far as to say it's the finest interior in an American car or truck on the market today.
But beauty can have a price.
The four chrome strips on the Jeep's cargo floor are a perfect example. They look great. But not for long. After only 9,000 miles of use ours are heavily scratched and looking beat.
Um, I'll take the one on the left. How about you?
The word nursery seems to be in direct contradiction with everything the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 represents. Yet here it is. Our Jeep was relegated to shuttling plants from the nursery recently because, well, sometimes you still just need an SUV.
The Jeep people brought out some concepts to one of their recent events. The star of the gathering was the Mighty FC, a favorite of Jeep design chief Mark Allen who took everyone for a quick loop. Inspired by the mid-century Forward Control, the MFC is built off a lengthened Wrangler Rubicon and looks like something out of a wayward Soviet military planning meeting. Just the specter of it must make the NHTSA people froth. Damn if it isn't cool to sit in and peer out the glass, though.
And it got me to thinking: If Jeep can roll the dice on a production SRT-8, with the odd and possibly shaky business plan behind it, Jeep could make a case for a minivan. Something with the stout ridges and flares characteristic of all Jeep products and, if not 4WD, then at least all-wheel-drive.
Sacrilege? Maybe. But I think a Jeep van would look better than just about any current production van. I'm kicking around the edges of the minivan market, and I don't like any of them well enough to buy — or at least feel too enthused about my purchase.
I like sitting inside the Odyssey, but still remember its jerky six-speed. And outside, I can't get past that most of it looks like a swollen Fit, with an unidentifiable back-third graft. The Sienna looks equally bland, but the V6 is sweet. The Quest wins with smooth CVT power, upscale interior, and I even dig the unapologetic Japanese styling. The fold-flat second row for most situations seems ideal.
It's that other 10 percent of the time when you really need a van to be a van that the Quest falls short. I'm sure there's an engineering explanation for the absence of quick-release for the second- and third-row seats, but it's an omission that keeps the Quest out of contention.
The Chrysler twins are nice, but seem to do just enough to hang around the segment they pioneered.
I can hear you already: "You don't look at the car while you're driving it. Why care what it looks like?"
Well, I have to walk up to it every time I drive it. I don't particularly care about what my car conveys about my place in the world, but I do need to like its shape and proportions when I'm ambling around and stepping into it. I think Jeep could deliver on this score.
Unlikely to happen, but nice to dream. In the meantime, it's back to searching last-gen Odysseys.
A few of us, including myself, have posted grips about the ride quility of our long-term Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. The high performance SUV is surely stiffly sprung and its ride is on the busy side. I wrote how I felt its suspension could be backed off by 10% without sacrificing enough agility to matter.
Now I'm rethinking that. I'm starting to think it's the Cherokee's run flat tires that are the culprit here and not its suspension. Run flats are to ride comfort as bad breath is to a love life. And any chassis engineer will tell you that run flats make their job much more difficult.
The big Pirelli P Zeros on our Jeep are sized 295/45-ZR20 and they are a max performance summer tire according to the www.tirerack.com. My theory was to be proven with a quick tire swap, but the only other tires Tire Rack offers in that size are an all-season Pirelli run flat and Pirelli's Scorpion Ice and Snow tire.
No thanks.
I kept shopping. Looks like Hankook and BFG are marketing products in that size, but they're also all-season tires, which means they both have a less aggressive compound and tread pattern than the Pirellis.
What do you think, should we mount a different set and see what happens?
The Grand Cherokee SRT8 is purposely nutty. A heavy SUV normally intended for off-roading transformed into a warbling track monster that can hit 60 in 4.9 and go through the slalom at a ridiculous 67.1. I get it, it's ironic. This is casting Leslie Nielson and Lloyd Bridges against type in Airplane!, or having David Bowie sing with Bing Crosby. Such decisions are usually quite memorable, and so is the JGC SRT8.
However, I think SRT took the joke too far because the ride is terrible. Yes, it can go through the slalom at basically the same speed as a Charger SRT8, but in the end, I'd rather it not bob and slam over expansion joints. Keep the power by all means, hell give it more. Keep the steering, the brakes, the looks. Yet, there has to be a suspension sweet spot somewhere in between the stock Grand Cherokee and the SRT8. As it is, the adjustable and adaptive suspension just doesn't achieve it, even in its comfiest Auto setting.
I can see lots of people wanting a crazy pants fast Jeep Grand Cherokee. I could see few people wanting to live with the ride.
Not sure why this caught my eye while driving the Jeep this weekend, but it reminded me what an impossible task it must have been to get this Jeep to ride as well as it does.
Between its weight, its height and the sheer size of its tires, the Jeep isn't exactly a suspension tuner's dream. Throw in the fact that there's no room to put a big giant spare in the back and you're stuck with a set of rock hard run flats.
With all that in mind, I'd say this Jeep rides just about perfect. You want cush? Buy a Lexus.
It's a rare occasion in Southern California when there's room enough to stomp the Grand Cherokee's throttle wide open and hold there through a few gears, but when it happens it's truly satisfying.
And because everyone should get to hear this thing snorting its way up to freeway speed, I've made a video.
Acceleration isn't crushing like it would be in, say, a new Viper, but there's a certain patriotic pleasure that comes with oncorking 6.4 American liters — especially today.
Enjoy.
Our SRT8 long-termer is obviously meant for street-only use. It's the extreme on-road JGC. But if you prefer to have a Grand Cherokee that's highly capable in the dirt, Jeep is bringing out a new special edition JGC for 2013 called the Trailhawk. Jeep showed it in concept form at the Moab Easter Jeep Safari and officially announced it last week.
A couple months ago, I was able to briefly drive a Trailhawk at a Chrysler press event.
The Trailhawk comes with the Grand Cherokee's top off-road equipment, which includes the adjustable air suspension (Quadra-Lift) and four-wheel drive with the two-speed transfer case (Quadra-Track II or Quadra-Drive II (V8 engine)). Unique to the Trailhawk are rock rails (steel bars that run underneath the body/doors to help prevent damage when going off-road), special reinforced tires and different styling details that include black-surround headlamps, a flat-black hood decal, gray-painted wheels and grille, red-painted tow hooks and leather/faux-suede seats.
So, yeah, it's pretty much a styling exercise other than the rock rails and tires. But it does look a bit more aggressive, which I like. And while it's been a long time since the JGC came with solid axles front and rear, it's still one of the most capable new crossover SUVs you can buy. Thanks to the adjustable air suspension, you can select the "Rock" mode on the terrain selection knob and have the ride height increase to provide 10.6 inches of ground clearance. That's more than the Wrangler Rubicon.
I did a bit off-roading with the Trailhawk at Chrysler's Proving Grounds where there are some short but challenging trails. The JGC did really well, never scraping on anything and providing plenty of traction thanks to its advanced electronically aided 4WD system. I guess I'd expect that considering Chrysler designed the trails, but I felt the trails were still a solid representation of what a typical owner might encounter and tackle off-road.
The Trailhawk should be at dealers next month with a starting MSRP of $41,995. What do you think — would you rather own an SRT8 or a Trailhawk?
Why are sun visors so hard to get right? Why do they rarely cover all the places the sun goes? Why don't they all do this?
Go Jeep.
That will be all.
Wouldn't you know it — very early in a long-distance towing trip in our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, the oil change alert sounded. Right upon startup there was a chime and the display above that flashed up in the instrument cluster. It was also stored as a message, if you are so inclined as to scroll through them.
We'll get right on that, then. More on the towing trip later.
Few messages in our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 are as disheartening as this one when you're cruising on an empty freeway in the middle of nowhere, using its nav system to locate a nearby motel to catch some Zs before getting an early start to complete a long towing voyage. And to be clear, it was my passenger using the nav system.
Fie.
A few months ago I used our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 to tow my crappy LeMons car to Buttonwillow.
Last weekend I took it on a far longer towing trip — Los Angeles to Willows, CA (go to Sacramento, then keep going) and back, a 1000-mile round trip.
Previously I'd wondered how the Jeep would fare towing in hot weather. This time I ascended the Grapevine when the thermometer was in the high 80s to low 90s. Not crazy hot, but warmer than last time.
Oil and transmission temps stayed happy. Coolant temp reached 222 degrees F, which sounds high but turns out to be no higher than what this truck runs in routine freeway traffic conditions. So it seems the GC has ample thermal capacity for this load.
The seat is supportive but, man, the butt cushion is unyieldingly firm. Too firm for long hauls. I had dead but within three hours. I was tempted to pull over and grab the memory foam pad from the race car's seat. Maybe at the next stop. Maybe I'd forget. Yep.
More from the trip later.
This thing is just cool, even underneath.
We finally used our 2-post Rotary Lift to photograph the underthings of our SRT8. Check out the mostly dual exhaust, aluminum suspension bits and the finned differential.
More photos after the jump.
Drive our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee a few times and you might notice this small 'Eco" indicator appear in the instrument cluster display from time to time.
Tow with it and you won't need to look for the indicator. You can hear when it goes into Eco mode.
Eco mode in this vehicle signifies when the big V8 goes into four-cylinder mode. It works like this — the lifters of half of its cylinders are deactivated (oil pressure is re-routed away from them via a solenoid, so the lifters essentially 'collapse' when the cam lobes act on them). This keeps their valves closed, turning those four cylinders into air springs. Basically the same approach to cylinder deactivation taken by Mercedes-Benz and, later, GM.
Cylinder deactivation works best during light-load operation because there's a lot of pumping losses when you try to draw air in against a tightly-closed throttle. By knocking out half the cylinders, the throttle is opened for the four active cylinders, reducing pumping loss and hence improving fuel efficiency.
As you might imagine, four cylinders operating at high load have a very different sound signature than eight cylinders at light load. Chrysler engineers had to fit a doohickey to the exhaust, an electronically actuated flap, in order to manage the sound situation.
And that takes us, full circle, back to my earlier observation: when towing on the freeway, the switch to four-cylinder mode in the GC is much more prominent than when not towing, onaccounta the higher load on the engine. It makes a somewhat boomy sound in four-cyl mode, and you can easily pick out the transition even when the radio's on.
Anyway, the point is, don't be alarmed if your GC occassionally gets boomy when towing. All it means is you're saving some fuel. Which leads us nicely to: what was the observed fuel economy during this ~1000-mile towing trip? Good question. Stay tuned.
After towing a crapcan with our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 over a distance of 1200.4 miles in the summer heat of California's central valley, I expected some pretty dismal fuel economy.
The result — after the jump — might surprise you.
13.4 mpg
Hey, that's not bad. Not bad at all. That's with the a/c working the whole time, with the cruise set to about 65 mph (gasp).
Eco mode, baby.
Adaptive cruise control isn't for everyone or every circumstance. Yet many manufacturers do not provide a means by which to switch their adaptive cruise systems to conventional "dumb" ones when the driver so desires.
So I was pleased to learn during my towing trip in our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 that its adaptive cruise can indeed be switched to conventional cruise. Simply press the 'mode' button on the steering wheel and you can switch from adaptive to dumb.
Other manufacturers, take note.
Now if we could just get Chrysler/Jeep to let people use their nav system without having to pull over first...
This is why it's best to set pressures when the tires are cold, not hot. Not sure exactly how/why this happened, but I'll fix it.
Recommended cold pressures for the GC SRT8 are 33 front/33 rear.
This is the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8's dash. See the nice stitching?
Follow the jump for the problem with this white stitching.
If you look closely you can see the stitching reflected in the windshield, right at about driver's eye level. In all honesty, I'm surprised this showed up in the photo. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see it more clearly.
The reflection isn't a huge problem, it's just something that I notice on occasion — although I'm struck by it when I do. The light has to be just right (or wrong), and it's usually only right after I hop in and start driving. Shortly after I guess my eyes adjust and I rarely notice it the rest of that drive.
Recently I was lucky enough to spend some time in the new BMW M5. Nice car, you'll see more about it on our site soon.
One thing I wasn't a big fan of was the sound of the M5's twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8.
It has an odd, flat note that just didn't do much for me. Some others on staff quite liked it.
My lackluster feelings about the M5's engine tone hit home for me even further as I drove the Grand Cherokee SRT8 this past weekend. Now this thing makes the right sounds, in my opinion. Not obnoxious at low revs, but man does it get burly and kinda angry as the needle climbs up the tach toward redline.
Yes.
Yesterday I was driving our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 when the FCW display lit up. My first thought was WTF is FCW? Our Cherokee has a Forward Collision Warning (FCW) that emits a chime if the car suspects the driver is approaching an obstacle too quickly.
What caused the FCW light? This warning can be the result of dirt on the radar sensors. In my case, it only happened traveling in one direction with the sun low in the sky. And I was in an empty parking lot. So I'm going with the explanation that it was merely the sun reflecting across the sensor and creating interference. The light went off when I pointed the Jeep in another direction and didn't return.
I was lucky enough to spend the past few days in our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. There is a lot to like about the Jeep. But there is one thing I can't stand, interior chrome.
My dislike of these shiny, sun-reflecting surfaces is not limited to the Cherokee. I don't care for them in any car. This center console trim is positioned so the reflection shines up underneath my sunglasses. Sorry, Cherokee. But that is especially annoying.
Our long-term Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 has begun to bark for its next oil change. The SRT's last oil change was done at 6,000 miles. Jeep says the next one should occur at 12,000 miles, but the Cherokee's computer has begun to ask for the service a bit early.
No big deal. We'll take care of it in the next week or two and update you on the dealer experience and the cost.
Today marks exactly five months since our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 officially joined our long-term fleet. That's five months and 11,486 miles of driving.
That's an average just shy of 2,300 miles a month. Hard miles. The Jeep hasn't exactly been babied. We've towed with it several times, we've track tested it and as you can see we've exploited its capabilities on a mountain road once or twice. The real abuse, however, has come from our friends and families. Our kids. And our dogs.
But our Jeep has shrugged it all off and keeps asking for more.
So far we have not had a single issue with the Cherokee. Not so much as a loose piece of trim. Nothing.
Later this week it'll hit the dealer for its second scheduled maintenance. But there's nothing else to fix. No other small issues we've been waiting to have the dealer take care of.
Obviously every car and truck should prove so durable, sadly it's not always the case.
Found this photo today in a set of early JGC SRT8 shots. Reminded me how cool it is to have an on-board performance computer. Especially in an SUV.
With a 0-60 mph time like that, I doubt Oldham was driving.
After driving 285 miles, our JGC SRT8 took 21.6 gallons of 91 octane fuel. At $4.72 a gallon in Santa Monica, that shot us over the $100 fill-up.
My weekly work commute is 370 miles.
As much as I dig the Grand Cherokee SRT8, a 13-mpg vehicle would kill my monthly budget.
How much are you currently spending per month on gas?
We've been living with our long-term Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 for about six months and we've driven it over 11,000 miles. And over that time we've had only one consistent complaint about the high performance crossover, its ride.
For most of us most of the time it's just too stiff. Too uncomfortable. Sure we dig the Jeep's handling capabilities, but the ride is overly compromised. At the recomendation of Ralph Gilles, the CEO of SRT, I've even started running the Jeep's tires at 28 psi (33 psi is spec) to try to smooth things out, but honestly it hasn't really worked.
We're not surprised. The Jeep's stock Pirelli P Zeros are run flats, and we think they are a very large part of the problem.
So we've decided to swap them out. The Jeep's stock tire size is 295/45ZR20. Tirerack.com lists only a few options in that size that are not run flats. We chose a set of the Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P, an all season tire.
We went this way for two reasons, cost and weather. The Sumitomos are cheap ($175 each) and we're curious how they will perform compared to the much more expensive Pirelli's. Also, winter is coming. And we don't want our all-wheel drive Jeep to be unable to navigate the mountains and ski areas of California, which it would be unable to do on its stock summer tires or BFGoodrich KDWs, which were also an option for us.
We plan to get the Sumitomos mounted on the Jeep this week. We'll let you know soon after if this was a great idea or a complete waste of time and money.
In the store parking lot, a Cayenne driver jumped out of his Porsche and asked if he could come closer to check out the wheels on the Grand Cherokee SRT8 that I just parked.
"Sure," I told him as I started to head for the Dollar Store.
"Just want to see if they're 20s," he said to another guy still in the Porsche.
"They are," I replied over my shoulder, walking away.
"She knows what size her wheels are?" the driver said to his buddy, looking surprised.
Duh.
Our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 has new shoes. Scott already told you why: we've grown tired of the stiff ride; we didn't much like the idea of running the tires 5 psi below the recommended pressure (and it didn't work anyway); winter is coming and folks will want to take it skiing in the local mountains.
On the other hand, winter tires won't do because it'll be relatively warm here in the LA basin during the winter months.
So we went looking for all-season tires that would give us reasonable cold-weather performance that were not run-flats. But 295/45R20 is an uncommon size. We were left with two choices: The Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P tires we bought or the Yokohama Parada Spec-X tires we didn't.
Sumitomo is the parent company of Dunlop, and they design and build the Goodyear tires that are made in Japan and installed on Asian cars built overseas — they are by no means small potatoes. Besides, we had good luck with another one of their tires on an earlier iteration of project Miata. Also, the well-regarded Yokohamas were back-ordered.
Because we were curious, we weighed the mounted wheel and tire assemblies before and after we made the swap.
The OE Pirelli run-flats are weighed 79.2 when mounted on the rims. Because we've dismounted these tires we know the wheels weigh 39 pounds and the P-Zero run-flats weigh 40.2 pounds.
It turns out that the new Sumitomos are heavier even though they're not run-flat tires. They tip the scales at 43.8 pounds apiece when loose and 82.8 pounds when mounted. What the heck? Well, the Pirellis do have a bit more than half their tread worn off — that might account for a pound or three.
Still, you might think run-flats would be clearly heavier. And you'd be right except for one thing: the Sumitomos (and the Yokohamas) are "extra load" tires. Their size is P295/45R20 and the load rating is 114 points. The Pirellis are a standard load 295/45R20 tire with a 110 load rating.
The extra 4 points of load rating comes from a stronger carcass. But it's more of a general robustness — XL tires still don't have the kind of heavily reinforced sidewalls found in run-flats. They need air to support any weight, so they should still give us what we want: sidewalls that have some "give" to take the edge off some of the sharper stuff and maybe a little less head toss.
As for the speed rating, the Sumitomos are, in fact, H-rated. The Yokohamas we didn't buy are V-rated. We'll just have to remember to keep it below 130 mph, is all.
We don't expect miracles. After all, the springs are still the springs, the shocks are still the shocks. And it'll take a little time to hear back from everyone that complained before.
But the early returns show promise. The last time my wife rode shotgun she complained bitterly, said the Jeep made her sick, asked me to never bring it home again. Last night we took it on an errand on the new tires and she didn't say a word. Sure, it's firm, it's sporty, but the constant busy movement and head toss seems more muted.
We need more miles, though. And once we get a few hundred or so we'll head straight for the track. Because we didn't stick with summer tires we fully expect to lose a little something in the ultimate grip department. The question is, how much?
Those who abandon run-flat tires and switch to standard tires — like we just did on our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 — are typically faced with a problem, and that problem is this: no spare tire.
That's because auto companies typically don't fit run-flats for pure altruistic reasons such as customer saftey and convenience. Instead the decision to use run-flats is usually made in order to ditch the spare altogether in the interest of other goals that fall into two broad categories: packaging and weight reduction.
Mini uses run-flats on the Cooper S because the sytlists wanted center-exit exhaust pipes, but that routing cut straight through the spare tire well. The pre-2008 Dodge Viper used them because there simply wasn't space for what would have been a massive spare indeed.
Others, such as BMW, have gone with run-flats to eliminate the mass of the spare so the vehicle's weight falls into a lower class, which reduces the dyno load on a test car when it's going through the official EPA fuel economy tests, resulting in a tiny MPG improvement on the right-hand side of the decimal point that the customer will likely never notice.
These largely corporate benefits don't do the car owner any favors. Run-flats are very expensive to replace — on the order of two to three times that of standard tires — and because their operating range is very limited you may not be able to get the correct replacement quickly if you have you flat outside a major metropolitan area.
But their most obvious liability is ride comfort, which suffers markedly because of the extreme sidewall stiffness that allows them do their thing. I know very few car owners with run-flats who have not complained about their car's ride. I know many that have made the same switch we just did.
Their solution to the no-spare problem is easy, and it cost less than $100. It's called a ContiComfortKit, or Continetal kit for those who like spaces between their words. It's an ironic name because your grandfather's Continental kit had to do with spare tires, too.
His Continental kit was named after the 1939 Lincoln Continental, not the tire company, and consisted of an extended rear bumper and an external spare tire mount that allowed the spare — usually a white-wall — to stand up proud behind the trunk in full view. You sometimes see them on questionably-restored '57 Chevys.
This is not that. Continental's Continental kit is compact compressor and tire sealant packed together in one delivery system, and it takes up very little space inside the trunk.
However, having said all that....
...our 2012 Jeep and it's new "get flat" tires doesn't need a Continental ContiComfotKit after all because the Grand Cherokee SRT8 has a spare tire lurking beneath the floor of its hatch area.
Maybe Jeep DID fit run-flats with the customer's convenience in mind after all. It certainly wasn't a nod to ride comfort. Or maybe it made production or certification of this low-volume model that much easier.
Whatever the reason, this state of affairs is a boon to us. No run-flats? No problem.
And we can't help thinking that it also makes life ridiculously easy for the Grand Cherokee SRT8 development should they choose to follow in the footsteps of the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 team, who did away with run-flats and retuned the suspension to take advantage of the newfound tire compliance and made the 2008 Dodge Viper a far better riding — and handling — car than it had been a year earlier.
The 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 could use some of that thinking. Seriously.
C'mon, Mitt. Jeep's never gonna build THIS in China. Come up off the hard cider there, Pops. That's just crazy talk.
Now if they made the Compass disappear over there...
(If you find this post makes no sense, you missed a pearl among the news cycle. Google "Romney Jeep" for more).
So we mounted some new non-run flat tires to make our Jeep ride better, and what do you know, it worked!
Sort of.
Ask anyone who riding in the Jeep for the first time and they'll say it rides like crap. Nothing new there, after all, this is a serious performance machine. Yes, it's a Jeep, and an SUV, but it's a 470-horsepower Jeep SUV. SRT doesn't mess around, so in order to get the performance the engineers wanted they had to crank up the springs and dampers to a point that makes a comfortable ride quality nearly unattainable.
But...to anyone who had seat time before the new tires, e.g. me, there's a definite difference in the ride quality. Yeah, it's still stiff, but the new tires take the edge off the sharp jolts that used to come through the cabin. It's similar to the effect that airing down the original tires had without the loss of performance or wear. Seems like a good move so far.
I humbly suggest that Jeep should consider offering the SRT8's steering wheel as an option on all Grand Cherokees. Yes, it's that good, even with the stupid flat bottom.
It's surprising how a thick, properly shaped steering wheel can affect your perception of a vehicle. In this case, the SRT's meaty wheel constantly reminds you that this indeed a high-performance SUV that will run low 13s. Then again, the awesome seats and the burly exhaust help quite a bit in that regard, too.
But even if your Grand Cherokee didn't have a 470-horsepower V8 under the hood, I bet you would like it better if you grabbed this wheel every morning instead of the stocker.
Not to get too personal, but the fuel door on our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is huge, and its utter massiveness reveals something interesting about the near-term future of the Grand Cherokee.
All you need do is open it and take a gander at the extra real estate to the right of the gas cap. There's so much empty space that we can make a pretty good educated guess that it will eventually house ...
... the same sort of Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) fill port seen on diesel-powered Ford Super Duty pickups (above) and other modern clean diesels.
Now, a diesel-powered Grand Cherokee is no new thing; they've existed in Europe, Australia and elsewhere overseas for awhile. But last time I checked the European and Aussie diesels don't need DEF the second downstream SCR catalyst it's injected into to meet local emissions requirements. If that's truly the case they won't have the second filler cap shown above.
So our GC's extra large gas door and the extra space it conceals seems to be a sign that a US diesel model — which would absolutely need the DEF additive and an SCR catalyst to pass our emissions regs — has been in the cards for this generation of Grand Cherokee since Day One.
Earlier this year the rumor mill pegged 2013 as the model year the US-spec diesel version would appear. But we've got 2013 Grand Cherokee pricing and order guides and they contain no mention of a diesel powerplant.
That doesn't make diesel a dead issue; Jeep could release a 2013 Grand Cherokee diesel in the next few months and still call it a 2013 model. Or they could release it when the 2014 Grand Cherokee changeover happens next fall. So far there's been no official word.
Whatever happens, it would seem that the prospect of a US-spec diesel Grand Cherokee was strong enough at the outset to warrant a fuel door design that was compatible with the eventual fitment of a DEF tank and filler neck.
I was quite vocal in my distaste for the Grand Cherokee SRT8's ride. In short, it crashed over pavement imperfections and its subsequent handling improvements could rarely be enjoyed in the real world to justify the unpleasantness. Personally, I was a little skeptical that switching from the standard run flats to regular all-seasons would make much of a difference.
Well, it does. Big time. I was flat out shocked last night at how much the Jeep's ride had improved. It's still firm, but no longer crashy, and I don't find myself sighing with annoyance and displeasure every time I hit one of the umpteen expansion joints, pot holes and general concrete crapiness along I-10 and my neighborhood surface streets. I could be crazy, but I also think the steering has gotten a bit lighter in effort, which I'm totally fine with.
Frankly, I question why this thing even has the run flats when there's a regular spare lurking in the trunk in the event one of those expansion joints, pot holes and general concrete crapiness blows a regular one up. Sure, our new Sumitomos are only H rated, but I'm more interested in the mighty Jeep's ridiculous acceleration than its ability to go above a buck 35.
This is how the JGC SRT8 should feel all the time.
With over 12K miles on the clock, our SRT8 was asking for some new oil. No problem, the local Jeep dealer is right down the street, how hard can an oil change be?
Turns out, as simple as it should be. I was skeptical since this dealer has never been very prompt when it comes to repairs, but this time Buerge Jeep got us in and out without much hassle.
I pulled in without an appointment at around 9:30 and told the service writer I wanted an oil change and nothing else since we had just mounted new tires. He asked if I wanted to wait for it or come back later. I had already arranged a ride so I told him to just call when it was ready.
About an hour later he called and said it was ready to go. The total was $70. That's for 7 quarters of synthetic oil, a filter and labor. A little expensive, but for a $65K vehicle, not that bad.
This is a fantastic vehicle. It's built like a tank, runs like a muscle car, can embarrass German sport sedans on a mountain road, and after our tire swap, it rides like it should. Plus, I just think it looks tough.
For the past eight months I've been in lust with our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, but recently that lust has grown into an all out passion for this truck. And now I'm just flat out in love with it.
That's right, I used the L-word.
I've been living in the Jeep for the better part of a week now, and my biggest complaint is that I didn't get the optional sunroof when I ordered the truck. Dumb move on my part. It's been nothing but sun here in So Cal, and the sunroof would really open up the Jeep's interior.
But I could and would own this truck very happily just as it is. If I was in the market for a five-passenger SUV and had a little extra scratch to throw around, this is the one I would buy. It not only does what I need it to as far as family duty, it also makes me smile.
Every time I drive it, it makes me smile. And no other SUV in the SRT's price range can manage that.
As you know, we ditched our Jeep's punishing runflat tires for an affordable set of Sumitomo HTR Sport tires with none of that runflatness.
We're expecting — and experiencing — a big difference in on-road manners, but what about on the track? Well, we took it back to see how it did.
Would you be okay with the trade off?
Every January my world takes me to Detroit for the North American International Auto Show. But a few years ago I decided flying to the big D was too boring. Too easy. So I drove. I drove our long-term BMW X5 and I had a great time.
Last year I chose our long-term Audi A8 for the round trip. It was another epic run, hitting BBQ heavens in KC, St. Louis and Memphis along the way.
And now I need to choose what I'm doing for 2013. Do I fly to Detroit this coming January or do I drive? And if I drive, what do I drive?
With its new all-season tires I'm seriously considering our long-term Jeep SRT8. Our Jag XF has already been to Alaska, but the Jeep hasn't really ventured too far from home.
What do you think I should do?
Hmm, I dunno. Alright — think I'll go with Sport. Yeah, Sport — after all, it's the weekend, right?
For the record, Track is like Sport, only firmer, for optimum performance. And Snow and Tow — well, those are self-explanatory.
After spending some time in the Grand Cherokee SRT8 since the swap from Pirelli P Zeros to these Sumitomo all-seasons, gotta say I'm a little bit soured. We've emasculated the once-all-mighty GC SRT8.
If you want proof of what the tire swap has done to the Jeep's handling, go here. But what's more important is how it performs in the real world. You know, can it still carve up a twisty back road? Do you want to attack that freeway on- or off-ramp?
In a word: Not so much.
I learned quite a bit as I took the sharp three-lane left-hander off my freeway exit. Going the same speed as traffic (meaning pretty slowly), the GC did something I never remembered it doing before: It squealed the tires through the turn.
The next day I was alone through that same turn, got a bit more aggressive with the speed and the Jeep actually started to understeer into the next lane. Steering feel? Hardly any.
Because of this I'm a bit soured on driving the GC SRT8. Sure, it still makes awesome V8 sounds and it goes like stink in a straight line. But I really liked the fact that it was such a ballsy beast. It wasn't for everyone. Most high-performance vehicles aren't. And it had some tenacious stick through turns.
Sure, the ride quality is better, but I personally didn't have a problem with it before, especially since I knew it was that way for a reason. I wasn't the only one, although we were clearly in the small minority.
But it turns out, these Sumitomos aren't all bad news. With so little grip, exit a turn hard on the throttle now and you can actually get some tire slide and coerce the tail into coming out a bit. It was almost impossible to get the thing unstuck with the summer tires.
You can also get a chirp launching from a stoplight and dang, it'll do a four-wheel burnout (if it's been raining and the roads are wet) all the way through first gear.
Hmmm...maybe I'll de-sour on these tires after all, even if it's for reasons I wasn't expecting.
Sure the Jeep's heated and cooled front seats are quite nice, as are its heated rear seats, but we've covered that territory before. Its heated steering wheel, however, is new ground. It's also a little luxury solely for the driver that's right in line with the SRT's hedonistic nature.
As you can see the wheel warmer is activated by a button on the vehicle's center stack. Unlike, some heated wheels it warms up quickly, but doesn't become a flame thrower that forces you to shut it down a few miles down the road. Instead, it throws just right amount of BTUs through the truck's leather wrapped wheel. It's warm enough for a truly cold December morning in Detroit, but not too hot for a cool L.A. evening by the beach.
Don't tell my yoga instructor, but I use it all the time.
The Jeep's remote start is a feature I used to snicker at, but I've really gotten to like. Fire it up remotely to warm the interior in the winter or cool it off in the summer. Just push the button on the key fob twice. It's so easy, even my six-year old daughter can do it.
If brake dust covering your front wheels is on your deal breaker list, then a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is not your ride. I took these photos after just one week of normal driving. The Jeep's front wheels are already covered in brake dust, which makes them look darker than the vehicle's rear wheels. To illustrate the problem better I ran my finger through the soot and created a clean line.
Remember, this is after just seven days of driving. After another week, the Jeep's front wheels would be almost black.
This is not an issue for many people. The more aggressive brake pads used on the Jeep, as well as all models from BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche, are notorious for this. But their superior performance is considered to be worth the mess by the buyers of those brands.
I'm not saying the brake dust is a deal breaker for me, but having dirty wheels just a few days after a car wash is frustrating. And I think consumers should consider this issue when choosing a new car or truck.
So it's that time of year when chatter raises about some guy in a red suit, reindeer and trees inside houses. In the spirit of the season we picked ourselves up a tree and strapped it to the roof of our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I felt a little guilty subjecting the Jeep to such tedium, but it didn't complain.
For those of you wondering, yes, the picture quality does leave something to be desired. It turns out you need light to take a clear picture. There wasn't much of that at the time. And no, the paint was not harmed during transport.
This is the warning our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 displayed when I tried to press the seat adjustment memory button while in motion. That's strange. It will allow me to adjust the seat manually while moving, no problem. But it doesn't like to call up my preset seat settings if the car is not in park. There you go.
Over the past two weeks I added over 1,000 miles to our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. Over half of this was done with a trailer in tow. The Blind Spot Management System (BSM) didn't seem to like what I was doing.
Take a look at the photo. The yellow warning light in the side mirrors illuminated at each slight bend in the road. It appeared the trailer behind me was just wide enough that it triggered the BSM warning. It didn't bother me. But I see how somebody could find this to be annoying and want to turn the feature off.
It's time to put our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8's all-wheel-drive system (all-wheel drive in that all four wheels are driven all of the time, plus no low-range) and Sumitomo all-season tires to work: I'm driving it to Denver for the holidays. It'll be my first time on Vail Pass, and there's no better time of the year to do it. I've been looking forward to this road trip for weeks.
There will only be two of us traveling, plus luggage, Christmas presents and trail mix (lots of trail mix), so there's little doubt the Grand Cherokee SRT8 will accommodate us with room to spare. Will those new tires improve the ride quality enough that we won't mind all that time at the wheel, or will the Jeep's limited fuel range drive us nuts... I've already proposed a first-night detour in Monument Valley, Utah.
Surely, you have suggestions for places we should stop along the way or questions about our SRT8 Jeep that only a road trip can answer. Write me at eriches (@) edmunds.com, and I'll tackle your questions in my road trip reports after New Year's.
I spent the past two weeks driving our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. I stood outside the Cherokee talking, climbed in and out five to ten times a day and I must have walked past it a hundred times. But it was not until I picked up a sponge to hand wash the SRT8 that I found this detail in the headlight.
Hidden in plain sight is the Jeep grille logo, right there in the headlamp. This is one of those neat touches that, for the most part, only an owner will know about. I've always found this sort of detail appealing in cars. It certainly isn't going to make or break a sale, but in my book, it helps add that unique touch to the ownership experience. I like it.
We are nine months into our long-term test of the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 and the SUV just turned 15,000 miles. That puts us right on pace for our goal of 20k in a year.
So far the Jeep is trouble-free. Dealer visits at the prescribed 6,000-mile and 12,000-mile intervals mark the extent of our maintenance history. Fresh oil, tire rotations and routine safety inspections cost us $147.63 and $70.63 for each service, respectively.
Ride quality complaints led us to swap out the stock summer tires for a set of Sumitomo HTR Sport all-season tires. The exchange indeed softened the ride quality. But as we expected, some performance was lost in the shuffle. Still, the Grand Cherokee is mechanically sound and moving along as well as we could hope.
Our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is equipped with the $995 Trailer Tow Group IV option. Translation: Tow package. According to the manual, its towing capacity is rated at 5,000 pounds. As it turned out, we recently conducted a test requiring several electric cars to be towed around town. Our Cherokee was the most appropriate long-term car for the job.
The engine was suitable for our needs. Aside from a couple of uphill freeway on-ramps, power was not an issue. With the transmission in tow mode, the SRT8 had enough grunt to keep us in motion. We averaged 14 mpg after 500 miles of car-laden towing. Another 500 miles or so were spent transporting an empty trailer to the next location. Here fuel economy swelled slightly to nearly 16 mpg, thanks largely to a 55 mph speed limit.
Ride quality with a car in tow was one area the Grand Cherokee struggled. Over rough pavement, of which SoCal freeways have no shortage, the Jeep bucked mildly. To a degree this attitude was expected. We didn't necessarily expect the creaking and groaning noises that accompanied the dance. Some originated from the mature rental trailer behind us. The rest can be attributed to the Jeep's unibody construction. It made for a noisy ride.
There was one aspect of the Jeep that was a pain, the driver seat. After an hour or two on the road life was good. Anything longer and the firm seat bottom took its toll. I found myself shifting regularly to find a new groove, but never quite finding the sweet spot again. This isn't my favorite seat for the long haul.
In my opinion, the engine and ride performance were acceptable under the circumstances. The SRT8 satisfied our needs just fine. But I did not care for the long-range seat comfort.
Our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 spent the holidays in Denver, and when I pulled into my driveway after a week on the road, we'd racked up 2,458 miles and spent nearly 46 hours in the driver seat. Denver is only about 1,000 miles from Los Angeles, but a detour into Monument Valley via U.S. 191 and 163 on the return leg lengthened our trip. It was worth it, too. Monument Valley is an awesome sight in the winter with a dusting of snow. (You're seeing the valley from the Utah side in the above photo.)
All the hours behind the wheel gave us plenty of time to reflect on the ride quality with the Jeep's recently fitted all-season, non-run-flat 295/45R20 Sumitomo HTR Sport H/P tires. On the highway, the ride is pretty livable with these tires. Interstates 15 and 70 were both in decent condition, and given its aggressive suspension calibration, our Grand Cherokee SRT8 offered reasonable compliance. It wasn't busy or harsh over the small impacts, and we could just kind of settle back and pretend we were in one of the normal Grand Cherokees instead of the crazy SRT8 version. Road noise was minimal.
When the pavement condition deteriorated, though, the ride suffered. Even with the more forgiving sidewalls on these Sumitomos, the Jeep is pretty crashy over larger ruts and bumps. This got old quickly on the rougher sections of I-40 in Arizona and California.
Surprisingly, the most uncomfortable part of our trip was just outside of Denver. We were visiting family in the distant suburbs where farmland is gradually giving way to tract housing, so some of the main thoroughfares are still barely improved ranch roads and the Jeep just hated those ranch roads. We saw plenty of current-generation Grand Cherokees in the area, but not one of them was an SRT8. Even if you could afford the SRT8's $60K price tag, it wouldn't make sense to own one here.
Similarly, the Jeep had a pretty hard ride on our light off-roading adventure through Monument Valley's 17-mile scenic loop. I hesitate even to call it off-roading, given that it's a decently maintained dirt road with very few large ruts. There were plenty of Camrys and Altimas on the trail with us, although every time I saw one of them picking its way up the trail, I thought to myself, "Gosh, I'd never drive my Camry on this road." But every single time, I eventually spotted the tell-tale rental car barcode sticker on the car's driver-side rear window. Tourists. Geez.
Thing is, I would drive the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 on this dirt road again if I owned it. No, it's not pleasant on this route, but it's still a real-deal SUV with adequate suspension travel and a passable 8.3 inches of ground clearance. The Monument Valley loop was no challenge at all for it, though it felt appropriate to be in a Jeep as we drove among the magnificent red mesas and buttes. In my later installments, I'll report on fuel economy and tell you how the Jeep fared in a couple small snowstorms.
I was pretty disappointed when our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 reached the highest point on Vail Pass — 10,666 feet — and there was only an unassuming green highway sign to mark the milestone. There's not even a wide enough shoulder to pull over safely for a photo. What gives, people of Colorado?
Then, I realized that Vail is only the 14th highest highway pass in Colorado, and that list doesn't even include non-highway mountain passes like Mount Evans and Pikes Peak, which are over 14,000 feet. Meanwhile, crossing California's highest pass, Tioga Pass (9,943 feet) on Highway 120, always feels like a big deal (especially since it coincides with dropping 20 bucks to enter Yosemite's eastern gate) and has a distinctive wooden sign. Eventually, I settled for a photo next to this sign for the town of Vail at just over 8,000 feet.
Eight thousand feet is about where the Jeep's 6.4-liter V8 began to feel the altitude. You'll recall that our monstrously powerful SUV is rated at 470 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 465 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 rpm. In Southern California it spends at least 90 percent of its life loafing, with the other 10 percent spent at or near full throttle, at which point it's just explosive as the torque comes together rapidly... right, that's why we added it to our long-term test fleet.
On the higher-elevation sections of Interstate 70 in Colorado, the V8 has to work harder and doesn't feel like it has nearly as much power to spare. It's certainly not slow, but you start to forget that this is the special, larger-displacement, expensive V8 and wonder if maybe it's the ho-hum 5.7 liter.
While climbing Vail Pass, the engine was often around 4,000 rpm to keep a 70-75 mph pace. Those are big revs for a big V8 at a steady cruise. Fuel economy didn't suffer much, likely due to the lower speed limit through the mountains. It's often 65 mph or even 55, whereas earlier in the day, we'd been traveling in parts of Utah and Colorado where it's posted 75 or 80. My westbound trip through the pass netted the lowest mpg of the trip (13.3 mpg), but that was partly due to stop-and-go traffic caused by slippery roads and accident-related sightseeing (look, man, that car slid off the road).
Once we were back down around 5,000 feet in Denver for Christmas, our SRT8 Jeep felt like its old, overpowered self again. But at 10,000 feet, forced induction seems like a good idea no matter how much engine you have under the hood. I'm liking the idea of putting Blizzaks on our Focus ST about now.
One side note is that I like how the Jeep's five-speed automatic transmission is programmed. It's quick enough with downshifts when you need them, and it's smart enough to drop a gear when you're on the brakes headed downhill. And it will hold off on upshifting right away if it detects an enthusiastic/aggressive driving style.
Read the previous installment from the Jeep's Colorado road trip: 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Long-Term Test: The Ride to Colorado
Improved ride quality was our main justification for switching to all-season tires on our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. But the other big reason was the upcoming winter driving season. See, the weather in Southern California is just too mild to warrant a full-on set of snow tires, but road conditions change drastically when you head some place like Lake Tahoe or Aspen. And we didn't want to be driving around on our SRT8 Jeep's original equipment summer run-flat tires.
We hit a couple of snowstorms on my recent Colorado road trip. Mind you, they weren't yet the mega-blizzards they'd later become as they moved across the Midwest, dropping only 2-3 inches in most cases. Plus, Colorado's department of transportation has the snow plows out early and often — quite a contrast to the Missouri-Arkansas region where I came of age and learned to drive. You'll wait days for a plow there.
Not surprisingly, the Grand Cherokee SRT8 had no trouble getting around on unplowed streets in suburban Denver on Christmas morning. (No, that's not suburban Denver in my lead photo, but isn't Monument Valley beautiful in the winter?) I turned its selector dial to Snow, which provides a 50/50 front/rear torque split, when I remembered, but the Jeep managed fine in Auto mode, too (it resets to Auto every time you shut off the vehicle). Later in the day, we happened upon a large, empty, unplowed parking lot and you can imagine what happened there.
Temperatures dropped to near zero in the days that followed, so there were icy patches here and there on the drive home. Again, this was no problem, because my spouse and I drove alertly and kept our inputs smooth. Based on this experience, I'd say our 20-inch Sumitomos get the job done, but if I owned the Jeep and planned to make this drive in December again, I'd invest in a set of smaller steel wheels and true snow tires.
And the main reason is that, depending on conditions, tire chains can be mandatory in this part of the country. A full set of chains for a four-wheel-drive vehicle with 20-inch light truck tires is incredibly expensive (and cleverly, nonrefundable). As such, we weren't carrying chains on this trip, and I drove along hoping the weather wouldn't get bad enough to necessitate them.
Also of note is that the Jeep was parked outside overnight in the frigid temperatures, but it started up immediately each morning.
Really, the only weather-related inconvenience we encountered on this trip was that the Grand Cherokee SRT8's California-grade washer fluid froze and the jets wouldn't spray the windshield or back window for nearly a day. This wasn't a surprise and we'd intended to address this before we left L.A., but in our excitement over the road trip, we forgot. Eventually, we splurged on a gallon of washer fluid rated for -30 degrees at a fuel stop in Colorado, and after a couple more hours of driving, the Jeep's washer function was needed again. Our purchase proved especially fortuitous when negotiating heavier snow and truck traffic on Interstate 40 outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.
I went into my road trip in the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee expecting cruising range to be a limitation. Obviously, if I looked more closely at the Jeep's fuel log beforehand, I would have known better. It has plenty of range — not because it gets great gas mileage, but because it has a 24.6-gallon fuel tank.
Range was not an issue at all during the nearly 2,400-mile trip. Our longest tank was 372 miles, and then, I picked up an easy 380-mile tank after returning home to California. We didn't push the range limit at all, usually filling up before the low fuel light illuminated.
Over 2,335 miles, our 2012 Grand Cherokee SRT8 averaged 16.3 mpg while consuming 143.525 gallons of 91 octane fuel. Its best tanks were 364 and 372 miles long, as it averaged 17.3 mpg in both cases. Its worst reading was 13.3 mpg over a short 127.3 mile run between Denver and Frisco, Colorado.
I've included a snapshot of the fuel log after the jump. Note that I recorded the average mpg displayed on the Jeep's trip computer for each tank (I reset it at each fuel stop). I've also included a snippet from our Excel file for the Grand Cherokee SRT8's mpg where you can see what the actual average mpg was for each tank.
I checked the oil halfway through the trip and again at the end. Both times the oil level registered exactly where it should be on the dipstick so I didn't need to add any. Also, the placement of the dipstick is just excellent, especially for a longitudinally mounted engine. It's right near the front of the compartment, and thanks to a nice long tube, the dipstick protrudes like a weed so it's easy to grab.
Read the previous installments from the Grand Cherokee SRT8's Colorado road trip: 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: We Finally Drove It In Snow
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Climbing Vail Pass
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Long-Term Test: The Ride to Colorado
The big, fat steering wheel in our longterm 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is terrific to use...with one notable exception. See that silver plastic part on the bottom of the wheel rim? It's smooth. Far smoother than the leather elsewhere on the wheel, anyway. So when you do a hand-over-hand motion like in a U-turn, sharp hairpin or three-point turn, your (my) hand can (does) slip right off it. Maybe those of you with tacky hands don't experience this.
While I'm whinging, I'll add this - the wheel is also sort of flat in the same region, so it's easy to grab a handful of air in the process, too. Let's end this silly flat-bottomed wheel nonsense right now, please.
The adaptive high-beams on our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 were by far my favorite feature during my holiday road trip to Colorado.
It certainly helps that the Jeep's bi-xenon headlights throw plenty of light on the road to begin with — the low-beams were perfectly adequate to begin with. But when traveling on poorly lit ranch roads near Brighton, Colorado, and on dark stretches of Utah's U.S. 191 and Arizona's I-40 at night, the high-beams were helpful, especially when it started snowing.
I know it's not that hard to click the high-beams on and off, but I enjoyed the convenience of letting the Jeep handle that. Occasionally, on the ranch roads, which were narrow with lots of dips and turns, it would dim the lights a little late when opposing traffic approached. On the highway, though, its timing was generally spot-on. Really, this setup works just as well as the auto high-beam feature available on the current BMWs, and it's one more little thing to help justify our Grand Cherokee SRT8's $62,880 price tag.
Read the previous installments from the Grand Cherokee SRT8's Colorado road trip:
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Colorado Road Trip Fuel Economy
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: We Finally Drove It In Snow
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Climbing Vail Pass
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Long-Term Test: The Ride to Colorado
Lately, I've been a tough customer in the seat comfort department, at least on road trips of more than 300 miles. I always liked our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee's driver seat during my commutes, though, so I wasn't dreading driving to Colorado in it. That is, until I seriously wrenched my back five days before we were due to leave on the trip.
Due to poor planning and procrastination, we hit the road just in time for evening traffic in Los Angeles. If it hadn't been for the comforting voice of Steve Inskeep on All Things Considered, I might have flown into my first rage of the holiday season right then and there. However, thanks to Steve, the Jeep's four-way power lumbar and the mostly toasty seat heaters (only two settings, though), I made it to our first fuel stop on the north side of Las Vegas without complaint.
My back healed over the course of our trip, and the front seats in the Jeep proved supportive enough for some really long stints behind the wheel (the SRT8 has a big gas tank, it turns out). The shaping of the seats is excellent. The seat-bottom cushion is long enough to support your thighs, and the heavily bolstered seat-back really wraps around your shoulders — it's great for driving and sleeping (haha, passenger seat only) alike.
The cabin space is also good. The foot wells have plenty of room whether you're driving or stretching out as a passenger. There was ample shoulder room, too, so that my husband and I weren't continually bumping elbows, yet it didn't feel like we were sitting in a huge cavern of an SUV either.
After nearly 2,400 miles, there was only one thing we didn't like.
The head restraints really aren't that great for resting your head. They're mounted toward the rear of what's really a very thick seat-back. No matter how you have the seat positioned, they don't come out to meet your head. Worse, when you do make a deliberate effort to rest your head on them, they turn out to be firm and unyielding.
Maybe they'd do a decent job of preventing whiplash in the event we got rear-ended, but for this kind of money, they should also be more comfortable for day-to-day use as headrests.
Read the previous installments from the Grand Cherokee SRT8's Colorado road trip:
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Auto High-Beams Work Great
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Colorado Road Trip Fuel Economy
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: We Finally Drove It In Snow
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Climbing Vail Pass
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Long-Term Test: The Ride to Colorado
With just over 18,000 miles on its odometer, our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is telling us it needs an oil change. For a few seconds this "Oil Change Due" message appears on the SUV's instrument cluster every time we start up the Jeep's supersized 6.4-liter V8.
Its last oil change took place at 12,000 miles.
We'll hit the local dealer service department in the next few days and let you know how it goes ASAP.
One of the biggest criticisms of the Jeep Grand Cherokee has always been its lack of passenger space. The driver and front passenger never had much to complain about, but anyone in the second row typically felt like a second-class citizen.
As you can see, it's still not a cavernous back seat, at least compared to some of the latest midsize crossovers. There is decent knee and toe room, however, and the shoulder and head room is more than adequate for average-sized adults. Three kids will fit back there with ease and they might not even complain.
The worst that can be said about the current second row is the fact that the seats aren't nearly as aggressively bolstered as the awesome chairs up front. Shotgun, anybody?
One irritation during my December road trip in our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 was its navigation system's ridiculously small screen. It's only 6.5 inches measured diagonally. Plus, there are so many touchscreen "buttons" crammed onto it that it's hard to see exactly where you are at a glance.
You can press the orange arrow to clear away a bunch of those buttons to try to get a better view, but the map still just looks small with minimal detail whether you set the scale at 700 feet or 2 miles (or half a mile as I did here). And when you choose the minimalist display, you no longer get the bit of text that shows the street you're currently on, obviously not what I wanted when driving in unfamiliar areas.
The other thing we noticed is that when we left the screen on the Automatic brightness setting, it would never dim to a Night setting when it got dark. This frustrated my husband, and he would go into the settings and manually select Night (there's also a Day setting of course).
This worked fine, except we'd forget to change the setting back when stopping for the night. The next morning we'd get into the Jeep in bright, sunny motel parking lots and we couldn't see the display at all. It was so washed out that I'd have to peer at it super closely and retrace the buttons to the display settings menu based partly on memory.
Thank goodness, Jeep is going to remedy this for the 2014 model year, as the Jeep Grand Cherokees at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show had a new dash with an 8-inch display. I'm including a couple of photos of it below. Certainly, the maps will be better to look at in the 2014 model, and I certainly hope the display will dim and brighten properly as well.
It has been a month since I took a road trip across the Rockies in our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. Fitted with all-season tires we bought on the aftermarket, it was a great vehicle to have on a wintertime adventure, since we drove through snow and subfreezing temperatures. Plus, there was the unexpected off-road drive through Monument Valley.
Since my return, I've reflected on the drive and considered whether I'd actually want to own a Grand Cherokee SRT8. You know, really own own it, as in my very own, and not have to share it with the other editors. And the answer is probably not.
The reason is I'm way too practical and way too cheap when it comes to buying my own stuff. And when driving at high elevations in Colorado, the Jeep's ordinarily potent 6.4-liter V8 simply didn't feel that powerful, yet it still consumed just as much if not more 91 octane. I totally expected that (the engine is naturally aspirated after all) and wasn't surprised or disappointed. I just know that if I owned a JGC, I would take it on road trips and I'd want it to feel great all the time.
And that's why I'd get the 2014 Grand Cherokee with the turbodiesel 3.0-liter V6.
That diesel is going to be rated at 420 pound-feet of torque at 2,000 rpm. And that's really not much short of our SRT8's 465 lb-ft, which hit at 4,300 rpm. And it's projected to have a 20 mpg city/28 mpg highway rating even with four-wheel drive. Diesels are great, aren't they? Although, the new eight-speed automatic for 2014 likely helps in the efficiency department as well.
Thing is, even though I'm not ordinarily an SUV person, I like the size of this Jeep. It had good space for my husband and me up front during our 2,400-mile trip. It's roomy enough that we weren't bumping elbows yet not so huge that we couldn't see out of it. And there would have been plenty of room for another couple of people (adults or kids) in back. I could totally see using a diesel Grand Cherokee as a family vehicle. Well, that is assuming the price lands comfortably south of $50,000.
Read the previous installments from the Grand Cherokee SRT8's Colorado road trip:
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Seat Comfort After 2,400 Miles
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Auto High-Beams Work Great
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Colorado Road Trip Fuel Economy
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: We Finally Drove It In Snow
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Climbing Vail Pass
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Long-Term Test: The Ride to Colorado
During my Colorado road trip, I became smitten with our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8's heated steering wheel. See, we were visiting relatives who don't happen to be coffee drinkers. I am an incurable coffee drinker. So every morning, I'd get up in subfreezing temperatures and drive the Jeep to the nearest coffee-themed watering hole. (There wasn't one in walking distance, or otherwise, yes, I would have walked to burn off some of the holiday feasting.)
Since I don't own a good set of winter driving gloves, the heated steering wheel and the heated seats were the first things I'd turn on in the Jeep. I wouldn't bother with the heat until it was all warmed up, because I sure didn't want chilled air blowing in my face.
Let me tell you that steering wheel heats up quickly. However, unique to the SRT8 version is genuine metal trim, and it stays cold, cold, cold even when the rest of the wheel is toasty. It takes a deliberate effort not to touch the metal sections on the spokes. It's a small price to pay, I suppose, for an interior that has modern metal trim instead of old-world plasticky wood trim. But on a functional level, I wouldn't I mind a bit if our Grand Cherokee SRT8 had an all-leather steering wheel.
Read the previous installments from the Grand Cherokee SRT8's Colorado road trip:
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Would I Buy One?
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Seat Comfort After 2,400 Miles
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Auto High-Beams Work Great
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Colorado Road Trip Fuel Economy
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: We Finally Drove It In Snow
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8: Climbing Vail Pass
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Long-Term Test: The Ride to Colorado
With its run-flats, the SRT8 drove many on staff, including Editor Oldham who commissioned the switch to Sumitomos, to distraction. For whatever reason, I'm in the minority by never being too bothered by the JGC's prior ride. You wouldn't call it compliant, but I always felt the seats and acceleration made up for it. At $60,000-plus, I can see why you'd want a better ride, but I figure you don't buy a 470-hp Jeep for its compliance. That's why they make ML550s.
My first time back in the JGC after its Sumitomos, I couldn't discern a major difference. But it's been awhile. Maybe my memory of the run-flat ride has sufficiently faded. I think it's quieter. But the suspension seems like the main suspect in any ride quality investigation. Simply rolling over a speed bump at a single-digit speed brought it to the bumpstops. No matter. This is still primetime fun and it's still a head turner. One of my neighbors asked "is that really a Jeep?"
Sure is. A weird one, but a Jeep all the same.
The SRT8 went in for a routine oil change, but there was nothing routine about the price: $100.76. That's 65 bucks for the oil change ($49 of that to cover seven quarts of 0W-40, the other $15 for filter and labor) and $30 for a tire rotation.
That's Santa Monica prices for ya, but that's also price of ownership for the SRT8. Stomping on the pedal with an open lane makes you believe it's worth it, but fishing a Benjamin out of your pocket for an oil change/rotation still stings.
We've put nearly 19,000 miles on the SRT8 and the outside driver thigh bolster is starting to show it. Granted, we've had bodies of all shapes and sizes sliding in and out of this seat for 19,000 miles. That's a lot of denim, twill, rough cotton, linen, hemp, silk, satin and bare skin (nothing wrong with driving naked now and then) passing over that patch of leather. Clearly the bolster needs some conditioning. My question is: should it need it by now?
At about 18,200 miles, our JGC SRT8 let us know it was due for an oil change via a reminder in the instrument cluster. So we took it to Buerge Jeep located just a few miles down the road. As I went to drop off the car, I steeled myself for the task of fending off a bunch of unnecessary additional "dealer recommended" services.
To my surprise the amiable service guy, assistant manager Jeremy Battat, didn't give me any business when I stated we simply wanted an oil change/filter and tire rotation just like the scheduled maintenance called for. He said "sure" and that he'd call us when it was done.
Two hours later we picked up the Jeep. Total cost for the service was $100.76. No, that's not cheap. But considering that this high-performance SRT8 baby takes seven quarts of synthetic oil and that it included rotating the big donuts, not too bad either.
Fresh from a video shoot where we used the SRT8 to haul plenty of gear and crew from the beaches of Santa Monica to the mountains off Angeles Crest Hwy, it's time for the fuel report on the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.
In January we drove our Grand Cherokee SRT8 nearly 2,000 miles. During those four weeks the SUV averaged 14.88 miles per gallon of mostly 91 octane premium (one tank was filled with 87 octane).
That's slightly above the 14.0 mpg we've averaged so far and with the Jeep's 14 mpg combined EPA rating.
Worst Fill MPG: 10.8
Best Fill MPG: 19.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 14.0
EPA MPG Rating (City/Highway Combined): 12 city/18 highway/14 combined
Best Range: 393.2
Current Odometer: 19,933 miles
There are plenty of examples of smart design in our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. From the steering wheel, which I have already noted, to the great seats, the SRT8 is well executed.
Here's a smaller example, literally. This is the button for the power tailgate. At first I thought this was kind of a silly place for it, mainly because I didn't know to look for it there. Most SUVs put such button on the tailgate itself.
Seems like a smart idea, until you take everything out of the cargo area and have to reach up to hit the button with your hands full. With the Jeep, the button is right there where nearly anyone can reach it. A small detail for sure, but one that is likely very much appreciated by those who are smaller in stature.
This past Saturday I drove our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 from Santa Monica to Los Feliz in Los Angeles to attend my first live Internet concert supporting the band The Mots Nouveaux. The band features lead vocals by Emma Fitzpatrick.
Emma is currently enjoying success with a recent viral video where she played the role of Anne Hathaway in For Your Consideration. The video is on target to break 1 million views this week. Congrats, Emma.
Anyway, the distance between my house in Santa Monica and the concert venue, a house in Los Feliz, was 20 miles. Traffic wasn't too bad and the trip was pretty uneventful except for one small problem. We couldn't sync my friend's iPhone 5 to the Jeep's Uconnect system.
What better way to prepare for a concert than to stream songs from the band via your smartphone, right? Well, unfortunately we couldn't do it. This has been a sporadic problem with other iPhones throughout the 20k miles we've driven the SUV.
Most people figure that the Grand Cherokee SRT8 is nothing more than a plain old JGC with a big motor stuffed into it. To some degree, they would be right. But as you can see from something as simple as its door panel, there's a little more to it.
Take the "carbon fiber" trim for instance. It's well done in this Jeep. It's not stuffed into every nook and cranny, just tastefully applied in places where it's visible without being overly decorative. Add to that a dose of suede and leather trim and you have an interior that looks and feels a step above your average Grand Cherokee.
It might not seem like much, but interior quality is one area where Jeep (and Chrysler as a whole) has made big strides in terms of quality and craftsmanship. This is a good example of it.
Here's an unexpected JGC surprise: rear seat heaters. I've never had cause to use them and haven't driven with anyone who has. But shows how much I know. The Grand Cherokee Limited, starting at around $37,000 comes standard with a heated second row. Our SRT8 would cost nearly $63,000 new off the lot. Still, heated rear seats aren't a given, even in this exclusive space.
If you're buying in this exclusive space, you'd need to equip a Range Rover HSE with the Luxury package (a $4,700 option) to get heated rears, for an MSRP of around $64,700. A BMW xDrive50i starts at $64,200 and you'll have to add the $750 Cold Weather package to get heated second row (although they are three-stage heated, not the two-stage like our SRT). Finally, the Mercedes-Benz ML550 comes off like a bargain here: a $620 option that brings the sticker up to about $59,400.
The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee will be available later this year. New headlights align it with the Chrysler family look and it gets a new eight-speed transmission. But the biggest buzz is a new 3.0-liter diesel V6 option. The new Italian-built diesel makes 420 pound-feet of torque at 2,000 rpm and Jeep says the Grand Cherokee diesel can travel 730 miles and tow up to 7,400 pounds.
Our SRT8 makes 465 lb-ft at 4,300 rpm, tows up to 5,000 pounds and we're averaging 14 mpg combined in our travels. Jeep hasn't announced an EPA-estimated combined MPG spec yet, but the marketing department is pretty happy with the 4x2 diesel's 30 mpg highway mpg.
For 2014, the JCG SRT has dropped the "8" from its name but ironically adds an eight-speed transmission, an optional 8-inch touchscreen display and increased towing capacity (now 7,200 pounds).
Obviously not apples to apples, but is 420 lb-ft of early twist enough to sway you away from 470 V8 horsepower? Not to mention the extra $20,000 in your pocket? The SRT8 is a thrill, no question, no debate. But a more mortal Cherokee with loads of torque is also an exciting prospect.
It's only been around for roughly two decades, but the name "Grand Cherokee" has become almost as synonymous with Jeep as the name Wrangler. Much of that comes from the fact that the Grand Cherokee arrived right in time of the dawn of the modern SUV and has managed to stay relevant ever since.
On more than one occasion over that time period, however, there has been a rumor that Jeep was planning an even bigger Jeep, one that would offer three rows of seating. Usually those rumors were accompanied by the name Grand Wagoneer, the iconic nameplate that the Grand Cherokee effectively replaced
Those rumors are swirling once again, but does Jeep really need a bigger Grand Cherokee? I'm not so sure now that the current Jeep is finally the right size. There's plenty of room in the second row and a good amount of space in the cargo area, too. I even folded the second row recently and it swallowed a small couch.
Granted, anyone who needs a third row immediately crosses the Grand Cherokee off their list, but adding an even bigger Jeep at this point doesn't seem like the hole in the lineup that needs filling. Then again, a high-performance Grand Cherokee like our SRT8 was probably not one of those holes either.
During the month of February we drove our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 1,031 miles. During those four weeks the SUV averaged 13.5 miles per gallon of premium 91 octane fuel. That's slightly below the running average of 14.0 mpg it has produced over 21,000 miles, a number which aligns perfectly with the EPA's 14.0 mpg combined rating.
Worst Fill MPG: 10.8
Best Fill MPG: 19.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 14.0
EPA MPG Rating (City/Highway Combined): 14
Best Range: 380.4
Current Odometer: 21,283
One of the worst things about our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is the behavior of the trucks' five-speed transmission on downshifts. Something about lawyers and unintended acceleration meant that that generation of Chrysler products were not able to add fuel unless the driver hit the gas pedal. This prevents nice, smooth rev-matched downshifts from the autobox. Instead, you get a hard drop into the lower gear. Think the first time you drove a stick. It's not great.
Thankfully, though, this has been remedied for the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. That's right, apart from all the other good stuff the 2014 brings to the table, the new Jeep will now rev-match so you don't lurch all over the place on downshifts.
We'll have to get one of these for a year now. You know, for science.
Our Grand Cherokee has 627 hours on its engine. I know this because engine hours are among the data available in the instrument panel's Vehicle Information menu. It's in there with other items like coolant temperature, oil temperature and transmission fluid temperature.
Also, since the mileage is right there, it's easy to know that during those 627 hours we've averaged all of 34.3 mph.
That will be all.
I'm not married, I don't have any kids, I live in a two-bedroom apartment, and the most I ever need to load into my car is a few bags of groceries and a duffel bag for the gym. But after driving our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, I feel like I need one.
It puts an ear-to-ear grin on my face every time I flex my big-toe near the throttle, and for that reason alone I'm happy the entire time I'm driving it. Still, there are three specific reasons I would want to own this truck.
1. Cupholders. A few years ago a roommate of mine traded in his Dodge Magnum and bought a slightly used Porsche Cayenne that had depreciated off a cliff and lost almost half its value in less time than it took to go from 0-60. We went out for an inaugural ride in the Porsche to grab smoothies and I quickly noticed a very disturbing problem. "Hey, where are the cupholders?" I commented. "There aren't any, it's a sports car," my roommate responded.
Actually, it did. But maybe he was embarrassed by the way-too-shallow cupholders hidden under the sliding cover of the center console, but in my mind, this was a deal breaker.
The SRT8 has great cupholders. They even light up at night so you can see where they are, and I can drive around town anytime while enjoying a tasty beverage in my chosen size. Given a choice between a Cayenne GTS and the SRT8, I'd pick the Jeep.
2. Fictitious Movie Land Sharks. Our Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8's got a mean face. Look at that grimace. Even though it's refined and smooth, the front end looks like it could stare down Jaws. Imagine a giant great white shark that sprouted legs, came ashore and started terrorizing the masses. We're not gonna need a bigger boat, we've got an SRT8. The only way it could be any meaner, would be to paint it black. Grrrrrr.
3. Zombies. On The Walking Dead, (a television favorite of mine second only to Top Gear) the flesh-eating deceased roam the earth and our heroes drive a Hyundai Tucson. And whether it's chain link fences, small inclines or even a little bit of mud, it's all too much to ask of the small hatchback.
If I were stuck in a dystopian world, the first thing I'd do is ditch my Hyundai and go looking for a JGC SRT8. The Jeep feels rugged and competent in the city and in the hills, it has remote start for quick getaways, a flashlight in the trunk for night missions, and it could certainly carry a lot more supplies for taking on the Governor.
I picked up my friend for a Saturday afternoon excursion and as usual we talked about what I was driving. Then he asked, "Why would anyone need a Jeep like this with the SRT8?"
After looking at him like he was daft for a few minutes, I told him to listen to the sweet sound of the SRT8 engine roaring to life. Then I told him to pay attention to how effortlessly the SRT8 climbed a very steep hill. If you were driving to the mountains to go skiing, for example, this would be a perfect vehicle to carry your passengers, your gear, and still have no problem tackling the steep incline.
At the end of the day he asked, "Why would anyone not buy the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the SRT8 engine."
I had converted him.
Then after dropping him off, I filled up the gas tank and was reminded why not everyone would want to have a full-time SRT8.
While we are earning a lifetime average of 14 mpg in the SRT8, spot on with EPA estimates, that adds up to a pretty penny with regular use. The 4WD V6 Grand Cherokee Limited earns 19 mpg and is priced significantly lower than the SRT8. I'm sure it would still make it up the hill, just perhaps with a little more effort.
Sometimes, you need to get out of town. Last weekend was one of those times. Our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 shuttled a carload of us to the Calico ghost town outside of Barstow, California. There, the Jeep stood witness to the sort of stuff that happens when a bunch of guys head out to the desert for a weekend.
The Grand Cherokee SRT8 was a great choice for this trip. Gear for four fit into the back well enough that we could still hide it with the cargo cover. With the second row seats at a slight recline, rear passengers sawed logs without interruption. And thanks to the steering-wheel-mounted audio controls, my fingertips could easily tune them out with just a dose of radio volume.
Our time off-road was limited to maintained dirt roads through BLM land, so the Jeep was not put to any test. But this car isn't really built for off-pavement adventures. So aside from the occasional clearing in the road, we kept the dust clouds to a minimum. At no point during the trip did we need any more than the Jeep Grand Cherokee could offer. The Jeep proved to be a good companion for a weekend of blowing off steam.
It's time to put summer tires back on our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. For the past several months we've rolled around on all-seasons. But our time with the SRT8 is coming to an end. We need to restore it to original condition before returning the car to Jeep.
We drove the SRT8 to Stokes Tire Pros. The swap cost us $140 and took about 30-45 minutes. It was very convenient for us. And yes, that is our long-term 911 in the background. The Porsche wheels and tires weren't going to fit in any cargo area it had to offer. So we used the Cherokee as a shuttle. Two birds with one stone, as they say.
We added just over 2,000 miles to our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 during the month of March. Its last hurrah was a 1,200-mile road trip with Jay Kavanagh towing a 24 Hours of Lemons racecar behind it. We say last hurrah because, sadly, the Cherokee will be sent back to Jeep soon. Our year with the car is nearing its end.
Because this is the last month we'll have the SRT8, its lifetime fuel efficiency is listed below. What you won't find on the list is towing fuel economy. After just over 2,300 miles with a trailer on the back of it, we averaged 12.2 mpg in the Grand Cherokee SRT8. That's a tick above city mpg EPA estimates.
Worst Fill MPG: 10.8
Best Fill MPG: 19.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 14.0
EPA MPG Rating (City/Highway/Combined): 12/18/14
Best Range: 380.4 miles
Current Odometer: 23,336
Our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8's final trip was a thousand-mile voyage to tow my crappy race car to Sonoma Raceway and back. This time, I also had to pack all the spares and tools and supplies in the cabin. Big time Tetris exercise, since I had a passenger, our gear and a 50-pound dog to fit as well.
One thing I noticed is that the cargo area is deceptively small. Well, let me clarify: it's wide and accommodating for items near floor level, but as you stack things higher, the space becomes quite pinched by the aggressively sloping hatchback.
I was able to fit all the goods, so no harm, no foul. But styling definitely won over function here.
A previous towing trip in our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 had me scratching my head over its ride quality, which worsened when towing a trailer. My most recent towing trip revealed to me the reason why.
When you twist the SRT8's console selector knob to "Tow" (which is what you should do when towing, natch), the transmission calibration is changed to one that holds gears longer. But I'd forgotten that the SRT8 also has variable dampers, and it turns out that selecting "Tow" mode also sets them to their firmest setting. This is shown above in the text that flashes up when you poke through the various menus in the cluster's information display.
Mystery solved.
I drove our long-term 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 to Sonoma Raceway and back while towing a terrible hoopty. The trailer was a robust steel job, the car formerly a Miata. California caps anything towing a trailer to a speed limit of 55 mph, which I pushed to 65 because, hey, I actually want to arrive at my destination.
All told, this towing trip netted 12.5 mpg; a bit off the previous towing trip I did where it averaged 13.4 mpg.
Wrap-Up
What We Got
One year ago a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 cost $54,470 with standard equipment. Some of the frills included were Quadra-Trac all-wheel drive, heated and cooled front seats, a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, paddle shifters, hill-start assist, LED daytime running lights, 20-inch wheels and Uconnect.
These are all nice features, but the only standard feature that we really wanted was the 6.4-liter Hemi V8. With 470 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, it's the most compelling reason to buy the SRT8, and we couldn't resist.
We did add a few options, though. Luxury Group II added $4,495 and bought us a power liftgate, blind spot monitoring, cross-path detection, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control and additional leather-wrapped surfaces. Trailer Tow Group IV put a receiver on the back bumper along with a seven- and four-pin wiring harness. It cost $995. We added the 19-speaker SRT High Performance Audio package for an additional $1,995 because everybody needs tunes.
With a total MSRP of $62,880, our 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 was as nice as a Grand Cherokee gets. But was it really worth that kind of money? We got behind the wheel to find out.
Our Impressions
"First impression of our new super Jeep? It's a 470-horsepower vault on four wheels. No, the doors don't close with a deep thud and not every piece of trim is drilled down with three screws, but when you're on the road you feel all two-and-a-half tons of this beast from Detroit. This is not a bad thing, mind you, especially when you have the big 6.4 Hemi to lean on.... This is not just a Jeep with low-profile tires, it's a serious street machine that rides stiff and turns in quick. It takes some getting used to, but after ripping a few freeway off-ramps this Jeep starts to feel good. Real good." — Ed Hellwig
"I'm here to tell you about one of the most exciting changes between the old GC SRT8 and this newfangled one. And it has to do with its... rear bumper? Hoo-wah! Yes, that black goiter on the bumper is hiding a trailer hitch. This is very exciting indeed. For the first time, you can actually use the Jeep GC SRT8 as a truck. The old one had dual exhaust tips where the trailer hitch should have been." — Jason Kavanagh
"The Jeep's console selector has a tow mode that recalibrates the shift points. Once that was selected, I was underway with my load, my horrible FrankenMiata racecar and a steel trailer.... Power-wise, this thing has plenty, though it falls off the power noticeably with each upshift due to the five-speed autobox's wide gear spacing. I definitely appreciated the solid brake pedal. It was very reassuring and easy to modulate.... You'd think the GC's firm ride quality would become more compliant as a result of the trailer's tongue weight. That's what I expected anyway. I expected wrong. The firm ride worsened with the trailer. It could be that there's not much bump travel in the suspension, and that this load was enough to put the GC's suspension on its bump stops. It was a pretty punishing ride; not unsafe, just busy and uncomfortable." — Jason Kavanagh
"The high-performance SUV is surely stiffly sprung and its ride is on the busy side.... I'm starting to think it's the Cherokee's run-flat tires that are the culprit here and not its suspension. Run-flats are to ride comfort as bad breath is to a love life." — Scott Oldham
"I was quite vocal in my distaste for the SRT8's ride. In short, it crashed over pavement imperfections and its subsequent handling improvements could rarely be enjoyed in the real world to justify the unpleasantness. Personally, I was a little skeptical that switching from the standard run-flats to regular all-seasons would make much of a difference. Well, it did. Big time." — James Riswick
"Temperatures dropped to near zero in the days that followed, so there were icy patches here and there on the drive home. Again, this was no problem.... Based on this experience, I'd say our 20-inch Sumitomos get the job done, but if I owned the Jeep and planned to make this drive in December again, I'd invest in a set of smaller steel wheels and true snow tires. And the main reason is that, depending on conditions, tire chains can be mandatory in this part of the country. A full set of chains for a four-wheel-drive vehicle with 20-inch light truck tires is incredibly expensive." — Erin Riches
"Our only real dynamic complaint is the transmission's inability to match revs on the downshifts. Even when you use its well-placed paddle shifters, you get crude old-school downshifts that throw weight forward and shock the Jeep's drivetrain." — Scott Oldham
"I don't care for the navigation system's rudimentary software. It doesn't automatically zoom in or bring up any kind of inset map to show you exactly where you need to turn. Most other factory systems do this for you now.... Manually zooming in is another option, but I find the small touchscreen a little chaotic and it's not clear to me exactly where to press.... The system provides auxiliary visual prompts for upcoming turns in the trip computer, but depending on which display you're looking at, they don't always come up when I'd expect. And the voice prompts seem to be a little inconsistent in their timing as well. This nav system offers basic functionality, but since it's in a $60K vehicle, it really should offer more than that." — Erin Riches
"One of the biggest criticisms of the Jeep Grand Cherokee has always been its lack of passenger space. The driver and front passenger never had much to complain about, but anyone in the second row typically felt like a second-class citizen.... It's still not a cavernous backseat, at least compared to some of the latest midsize crossovers. There is decent knee and toe room, however, and the shoulder and headroom is more than adequate for average-sized adults. Three kids will fit back there with ease and they might not even complain. The worst that can be said about the current second row is that the seats aren't nearly as aggressively bolstered as the awesome chairs up front. Shotgun, anybody?" — Ed Hellwig
"There was one aspect of the Jeep that was a pain, the driver seat. After an hour or two on the road, life was good. Anything longer and the firm seat bottom took its toll. I found myself shifting regularly to find a new groove, but never quite finding the sweet spot again. This isn't my favorite seat for the long haul." — Mike Schmidt
"The Grand Cherokee accommodates car seats only marginally better than a Mazda 3.... The convertible seat in the foreground fits fine and is easy to install. Both passengers make small comfort compromises.... The massive, rear-facing seat, however, is a different story.... I had to move the driver's seatback forward to get the baby seat fully locked in its carrier.... This is similar to what happens with these seats in the same locations in the Mazda 3." — Josh Jacquot
Maintenance & Repairs
Regular Maintenance:
Jeep recommends routine maintenance on the SRT8 at 6,000-mile intervals. So we visited Buerge Jeep in Santa Monica each time the service warning lit up the instrument cluster. Buerge did not go out of its way to help us, but it did prove competent in its maintenance of the Cherokee. We spent a total of $314 for three standard oil change and tire rotations. That averaged to roughly $105 per instance.
The only other out-of-pocket expenses during our test were associated with the removal and reinstallation of tires. We swapped out the stock Pirellis after a few months with the intention of smoothing ride quality, installing Sumitomo all-season tires. A total of $260 covered all mounting and balancing costs.
Service Campaigns:
No recalls or technical service bulletins were issued during our test.
Fuel Economy and Resale Value
Observed Fuel Economy:
We drove the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 23,336 miles. During this time we averaged 14 mpg with a best single tank of 19 mpg. One primarily highway drive took us 380 miles on a single fill-up.
Our test included more than 2,300 miles of towing also. The Jeep was the designated tow vehicle for our electric car comparison test. And it made multiple trips to the track with Jay Kavanagh's racecar in tow. We averaged 12 mpg when towing.
Resale and Depreciation:
Jeep supplied a $62,880 Grand Cherokee SRT8 to us for the purpose of testing. After one year and 23,336 miles, Edmunds' TMV® Calculator valued it at $49,259. This marks 22 percent depreciation from its original MSRP, based on a private-party sale. In the world of cars, this is about average.
Summing Up
Pros:
Relentless power in any situation, firm shifts from the transmission, fade-free brakes, very responsive handling for such a big vehicle, can tow a good-sized trailer with little effort, high-quality interior materials.
Cons:
Ride quality is too firm with run-flat tires, fuel mileage is poor no matter how you drive it, mediocre navigation system.
Bottom Line:
The 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 is a no-nonsense, performance-minded SUV. As long as you aren't expecting much in the way of ride comfort or mpg, you won't be disappointed with its performance or build quality.
| Total Body Repair Costs: | None |
| Total Routine Maintenance Costs: | $314.28 (over 12 months) |
| Additional Maintenance Costs: | None |
| Warranty Repairs: | None |
| Non-Warranty Repairs: | None |
| Scheduled Dealer Visits: | 3 |
| Unscheduled Dealer Visits: | None |
| Days Out of Service: | None |
| Breakdowns Stranding Driver: | None |
| Best Fuel Economy: | 19.0 mpg |
| Worst Fuel Economy: | 10.8 mpg |
| Average Fuel Economy: | 14.0 mpg |
| Average Towing Fuel Economy: | 12.2 mpg |
| True Market Value at service end: | $49,259 (private-party sale) |
| Depreciation: | $13,621 (22% of original MSRP) |
| Final Odometer Reading: | 23,336 miles |
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.