25 Aug 06
But as I turned into the first corner, instead of the lurch, wallow and squeal I'd expected, the SRT-8 simply locked onto its new co-ordinates like an unusually well aimed SAM missile. Moreover, as I nailed the throttle to the floor, the big Jeep not only made a lot of convincing noises - which I had been expecting - it also fled down the straight to the Craner Curves with an alacrity that, frankly, I had not. If I'd bothered to read further down the press release, I'd have spotted the bit where it talks about 420bhp and 62mph in 5sec flat which, if true, makes it quicker than the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, the car I'd hitherto presumed to be so much faster than any other SUV that further comparison would be meaningless. Not so. I have no more reason to disbelieve Jeep's figures than Porsche's, which means that, until presented with strong evidence to the contrary, so far as I am concerned the fastest accelerating SUV in the world comes not from Stuttgart, but from Detroit.
There's another difference between the SRT-8 and Cayenne Turbo S: at £40,585 it is less than half the price of the apparently slower Porker.
And as we circulated Donington faster and faster, I was stunned by how well it coped. Unlike other Grand Cherokees, this one feeds 90% of its torque to the rear wheels unless loss of traction calls for redistribution, so most of the time it's effectively rear-wheel drive. Moreover there was grip aplenty from the 245/45 ZR20 tyres and even the brakes - massive Brembo discs - did not tire of this, the toughest track on brakes in all the land. The convincingly scooped sports seats did a fine job of keeping me from landing in my passenger's lap in the corners, and while the five speed auto box was not exactly the most responsive shifter I've tried, having 420lb-ft of torque to play with meant it did need to be.
