The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk was introduced to South Africa in January 2019 – and discontinued in the third quarter of 2020.
During its short run in the country, 117 units of this super SUV were sold, Jeep South Africa told TopAuto.
The reason Jeep provided for discontinuing this SUV in the country was: “[The] engine availability for our market.”
This resulted in South Africans no longer being able to buy a new Grand Cherokee with a brutal 6.2-litre, V8, supercharged petrol engine.
The 6.4-litre unit in the current range-topping Grand Cherokee SRT is nothing to poke fun at, but it provides far less power and torque than the 522kW and 875Nm the Trackhawk was capable of.
Trackhawk specs
The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk launched in South Africa with a starting price of R2,199,900.
Jeep said it was the “quickest production SUV ever” – accelerating from 0-100km/h in 3.7 seconds, finishing the quarter-mile drag in 11.6 seconds, and reaching a top speed of 290km/h.
This claim was not entirely true, as the Lamborghini Urus was revealed in 2017 and reached 100km/h in a slightly quicker 3.6 seconds, finished the quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds, and achieved a top speed of 315km/h.
The speed
However, this speed difference did not discount the Jeep’s abilities – and rather showed how impressive it truly was.
In 2019, buying the Trackhawk instead of the Urus meant you only had to “give up” 0.1 seconds on the 100km/h sprint and 25km/h on top speed, while saving roughly R1.2 million.
At the time, this price difference could’ve bought you something like a BMW M3 in addition to the Jeep to make up for not having a Lamborghini badge on a vehicle in your garage.
Throw in the Jeep’s higher ground clearance and more cargo capacity, and you had a practical super SUV that could take five passengers and heaps of luggage on an exciting grand tour.
Not to mention the Trackhawk’s more low-key personality, which catered to a wider audience.
Interior
Inside, the Trackhawk’s cabin rivaled the best in terms of features and materials.
It offered a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, an 8.4-inch infotainment display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Nappa leather seats, front seat heating and ventilation, a dual sunroof, and a 19-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.
It had clever abilities, too, including adaptive suspension, adaptive bi-xenon headlights, adaptive cruise control, an on-demand four-wheel-drive system, six drive modes, lane departure warnings, and blind-spot monitoring.
Buying a Trackhawk
While the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk might not be available as a new vehicle, you can still find a handful of examples on the second-hand market.
Prices start from R1.7 million and go up to R1,980,000 for a “2021” version with 3,500km on the clock.
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