JEEP’S latest Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is a heck of a quick machine, a super-SUV, you might say.
The $135,000 machine’s 6.2 litre supercharged Hellcat motor cranks out some 522kW, or 707hp, and it can sprint to 100km/h in a brain-numbing 3.5 seconds.
But crazy Texan tuner Hennessey decided to have a go at improving on that, and has produced one that develops 1000hp (750kW) to cut the run to 100km/h to 2.7 seconds – lineball with things like a Lambo Aventador, McLaren 650S or a Ferrari F12.
A quarter mile sprint is demolished in just 10.7 seconds and the HPE1000 Trackhawk , as the Hennessey version is called, exits at 132 mph, or 211km/h.
The tuned engine actually puts out 1012 hp at 6500rpm, thanks mainly to a giant 4.5 litre supercharger twith 14 psi of boost.
Other mods include stainless steel long tube headers and a high-flow supercharger bypass valve with high flow injectors. The standard fuel system is upgraded with a Boost-a-pump system and custom tuning for the engine is done with an HPE engine management chip.
Buy one and you’ll also get lots of badging and interior plaques signed by John Hennessey. Another plaque, under the bonnet, is signed by the technician who built the engine.
However, you might not get quite the performance that the Hennessey blokes got on their dragstrip.
They make it clear that the quarter-mile time was at the hands of an experienced driver on a perfectly prepared course and with the big Jeep wearing drag radial rear tyres.
You can see a video of the sprint on Hennessey’s home page.
Launch control is engaged and there’s a lovely bellow from the V8 a split-second before the brake is released and the Trackhawk takes off – almost literally.
The nose can be seen lifting as the tail end hunkers down, but the vehicle tracks well and the quarter mile is done before you can say a big word, like ‘Hennessey.’
What the HPE1000 costs is not mentioned. But you can bet it won’t be in the bargain category.
