Test Drive: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Click image to enlarge

Review by Jacob Black, photos by Jonathan Yarkony

I love physics. Physics is cool. The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT proves it.

“I reckon,” I grinned, “that if you revved this to the right point, and dropped your foot off the brake quick enough – that thing will pick the front wheels up.”

“As if!” snapped one of the technical boffins I was speaking to. I could see him doing quick arithmetic in his mind, “To do that, with a car that heavy, you would need to have at least 400 lb-ft of torque.”

Funny you should say that.

The Grand Cherokee SRT is fitted with Chrysler’s sensational 6.4L Hemi, which punches out a whopping 470 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque. Oh, and a big chunk of it is available pretty much immediately – with 70 percent of it being sent to the back wheels. So theoretically, just maybe, perhaps – you could make it wheelie. See? Physics is cool.

Sure, it sucks juice like an Aussie at an open bar; sure it is big, brash, obnoxious and excessive. But this thing is just so cool. The styling is aggressive and purposeful, the engine note is sensational.

My goodness does this car sound good. Speaking on the phone via the super-easy-to-use Uconnect system I couldn’t help but rev the engine for my friend’s benefit. “Far out!” she exclaimed. “That sounds like a bloody dog barking!”

So if you’re asking about fuel economy, you are probably reading the wrong article. I averaged 21 L/100 km but I have to admit at least three of those litres were “you sound so good, let me hear you roar” litres rather than “actually moving” litres.

There is an “Eco” mode, but it is off by default – meaning you have to turn it back on every time you start the car. Ain’t nobody got time for that! The official rating is 16.6 L/100 km city, 10.7 highway – if there was a reason to use “ROFL” in print [umm, print? –Ed.], this is it.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Click image to enlarge

The Jeep comes packed with features, like a fully automatic sunroof to delight the kids, Sirius XM radio subscription and cooled leather seats – cooled! Autos.ca Senior Editor Jonathan Yarkony dove for the button as soon as he entered the car, and let out a contented sigh once the cool air began to flow over his backside. I was more impressed by the concept than the experience.

The steering wheel is packed with controls, including those to turn on the radar-controlled Adaptive Cruise Control, and a neat behind-the-wheel-spokes setup for audio and media controls. Once I realized they were there I found them super-useful. All cars should have media controls there.

The steering wheel also has a voice-button to trigger voice commands and we found the GPS was able to understand our questions well enough – though we were stumped to find the right town name for the street we were trying to reach.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Click image to enlarge

Uconnect is Chrysler’s answer to the human machine interface and I think it’s one of the better ones. The phone pairing was simple, it was easy to use and the touchscreen was accurate and fast. The nanny-state is in full effect when it comes time to use the nav on the move, though. Even if you are a passenger you can’t use the touchscreen to enter a destination while on the move. Some brands feature a system that senses when there is a passenger (using the airbag seat occupancy sensors) and allows the screen to be used when a passenger is detected – it is infuriating that any car with touchscreen nav doesn’t have this feature.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Click image to enlarge

The only other gripe I had with the SRT was the rear compartment. It is poorly lit, and the child-seat tethers are dangerously confusing. The two down-lights in the tailgate light up when the gate is lifted, but they offer a pitiful amount of lighting, so it’s hard to make out the details in the carpet linings. That’s where the child seat anchors get confusing.

The carpet folds up and covers the opening where the latch is, so you have to know that it is there and fold the carpet out of the way. No drama, except to get it out of the way enough you have to actually remove the entire little panel, or fold the seat forward – difficult when the point of the exercise is to install a big bulky child seat. Adding to the confusion, there is a luggage anchor pretty much immediately next to the seat on the floor – bet your bottom dollar someone will mistake that for the child seat anchor and connect their child seat to it. Bad form that.

This tester also had cross-path warning and a back-up camera with direction guidance – so you know where you’ll end up, not just where you are. Leaving a restaurant in Brampton, one local wannabe racer was kind enough to test the cross-path warning system for me, and as he barrelled through the car park the Jeep gave me plenty of warning time. The side mirrors automatically rotate downwards, too, which is handy if you’re parking next to a curb, but annoying when you want to judge closeness to another vehicle. The forward collision warning system is a gift when parking too – there is a surprising amount of bulge at the front of this rig and the radar helps you not bash it into walls.

Much has been made of the Jeep’s eight-speed automatic transmission and I really expected to be impressed by it. I wasn’t. Eight speeds is probably too much. The gearbox is changing gears constantly – probably in a futile effort to return less obnoxious fuel usage – and I found it intrusive. This car has so much grunt that there is no need to keep it within such a tight rev range. Heck, with the amount of torque in this bad boy you barely need two gears, let alone eight!

Despite the busy gearbox, the SRT ranks high on livability. It’s comfortable, spacious and there are dozens of great little cubby holes for knick-knacks and gadgets.

Everything in the SRT is lit up, from the rims of the cup holders to aeroplane-style floor and under-seat lighting. There is heavy, thick leather on every surface and plenty of chrome trimmings to make you feel all powerful. The cabin wants you to know that you’re a heavy hitter, in a heavy-hitting car. If you were a family businessman, this cabin would give you a negotiation advantage.

The leather seats are soft and comfortable, but like many American-made cars lack side support – big whoop. Yes the Jeep handles nicely for such a behemoth, but if you wanted to buy a car for throwing at freeway off-ramps in this price bracket you’d buy an Audi S4.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Click image to enlarge

Manufacturer’s Website:
Jeep Canada

Photo Gallery:
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT

Not that this isn’t a performance vehicle. It really, really is. I was aching to take it to a drag strip. Thumbing through the plethora of handy info pages in the dash I came across the “200 m Time” recorder complete with a best-time memory – who doesn’t love a high-score challenge? As if that isn’t enough temptation to do silly things, there is the launch button on the console. Press it, and the dashboard advises you to please, “hold brake and full throttle” – um, Okay!

I am told that this will do mid-13s on a drag strip and I definitely encountered enough surprising take-offs to believe that’s the case.

The heart of this car is that incredible engine. It sounds angry and the open bonnet vents give you a sense of power when viewed from behind the steering wheel. This is such an engaging and fun car to drive that I found myself getting eager from about 4 pm each day. This car is about brute force and power – and it delivers both in spades.

Pricing: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT 4×4
Base Price (Grand Cherokee): $39,995
Base Price (SRT): $62,995
Optional Equipment: (Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl paint job – $195, Customer Preferred Package, Luxury Group II – $3,195, Trailer Tow Group IV – $795, SRT High Performance Audio – $995, Dual-pane panoramic sunroof – $1,595, Single Disk Remote CD Player – $200, 295/45ZR250 BSW three-season tires: $350, 20-inch Black Chrome Forged Aluminum Wheels – $895.
Federal Green Levy: $1,000
A/C Tax: $100
Destination: $1,595
Price as tested: $73,910