2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk: 707 HP of Hellcat Goodness

When Chrysler trademarked the “Trackhawk” moniker last fall, it was pretty logical to assume the Trackhawk would turn out to be a performance Jeep of some sort. The current Jeep Trailhawk is a Cherokee with add-ons to make it a very capable off-road vehicle—equally at home on the trails and canyons as it is making a grocery store or Walmart run.

So naturally, it would make sense that the Trackhawk would be an asphalt-going version of a Jeep with track aspirations instead of off-road prowess. And boy oh boy are we happy with the new unexpected development.

According to Car and Driver, the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk will come with an optional 6.2L supercharged V8 cranking out a measly 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. The very same engine that powers the current Dodge Challenger and Charger Hellcat variations. Powered by the Hellcat powertrain and combined with four-wheel-drive (provided the driveline holds up to that stonking power), the Grand Cherokee should be able to hit the 60-mph benchmark in under four seconds.

If that’s too much horsepower for you, you can opt for the paltry 475-hp base model, courtesy of a naturally aspirated 6.4L V8 currently employed in the Grand Cherokee SRT.

Car and Driver reports that Jeep is currently struggling with making sure the Grand Cherokee’s driveline doesn’t shatter into oblivion with that much torque and hellacious power. It’s a known fact that most Hellcat owners don’t exactly baby their drivelines and enjoy dropping torque bombs at every opportunity, that’s just science. In order to fix the too-much-torque dilemma, engineers could electronically limit torque in lower gears (that would be no fun); or they could just skip four-wheel drive, also no fun. What to do, FCA, what to do? Hellcat ALL THE THINGS!