Driving Line VOLUME V ISSUE 2 | SPRING 2019 | Page 52

5 EXOTIC SPORTS CARS
THE JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE TRACKHAWK
CAN STOMP WITH EASE
When it comes to fast SUVs, there’s the 2019 Jeep Grand
Cherokee Trackhawk and then there’s everything else. With 707
hp and 645 lb-ft of torque on tap from a supercharged 6.2L V8, the
Trackhawk’s phenomenal all-wheel-drive grip allows it to sprint to
60 mph in a mere 3.5 seconds, with the quarter-mile disappearing
in a similarly blistering 11.6 seconds. It got us thinking: With that
much thrust available, there must be a long list of once-cherished
icons of automotive performance that could now be easily dusted
by the supercharged Jeep’s idiot-proof launch-control system.
What a blow to the ego to be shut down in your six-figure sports
car by a SUV that can tow a boat trailer or haul a load of dirt.
Story by Benjamin Hunting
1. FERRARI F40 2. LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP550-2
For many, the Ferrari F40 was the last true
analog supercar to have worn Maranello’s famed
prancing-horse logo. Just over 1,300 of these twin-
turbocharged, V8-powered monsters were built as
the 1980s transitioned into the 1990s, with their wide,
wedge shape defining the image of high performance
for an entire generation of tifosi. What about a newer pasta-rocket? Do they have a chance
against the soccer-team-friendly Trackhawk? Sure, there are
modern supercars that will eat the Jeep for lunch, but you’d be
foolish to think that just because you paid big bucks for a more
recent Italian exotic that you’ll be able to scoot quick enough
to get out of the snarling Jeep’s way.
At the time, the mid-engine F40’s 471 hp and
425 lb-ft were a revelation and propelled it to 60 mph
from a standing start in just 4.1 seconds—or more
than a half-second slower than the Trackhawk, which
weighs a full ton more than its Italian cousin. The
shame an F40 driver must feel while rowing through
the gated six-speed gearbox in pursuit of the portly
family hauler, tempered perhaps only by the knowledge
that the Jeep’s 180-mph top speed is 21 mph slower
than the Ferrari’s.
Take, for example, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2.
Pushing out 543 hp and 397 lb-ft of torque from a 5.2L V10, the
bull-faced Batmobile leaps to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds—quick
enough to take out the much-older Ferrari F40, but not nearly
enough to get ahead of a Trackhawk driver.
Is what you have sitting in your garage at risk of real-world
embarrassment in the face of overwhelming firepower? Check
out these five exotics that don’t stand a chance against the Jeep
Grand Cherokee Trackhawk in the stoplight Olympics.
3. DODGE VIPER 4. JAGUAR XJ220 5. PORSCHE 911 TURBO S
The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk’s cousin,
the Dodge Viper, is another unfortunate victim to the
marriage of ultimate power plus incredible mechanical
grip that defines the SUV’s standing-start advantage.
The early Viper’s 400hp, 8.0L V10 gave it a 4.2-second
0-60–mph time, and two generations later, the larger
8.4L 10-cylinder in the 2008 SRT-10 Viper was good
for another 200 horses and 0.8 second less in the
straight-line shootout. Back in the early 2000s, the automotive world was abuzz about
Jaguar’s upcoming supercar. Having been hyped as a 12-cylinder
world-beater, the twin-turbo, all-wheel-drive XJ220 that emerged from the
British brand’s racing partners at TWR was still an incredible performer,
what with its nearly 550 hp and excellent handling characteristics. The 996-generation Porsche 911 Turbo is a pocket
supercar that can still burn down the track today, especially
if equipped with the X50 package (standard on the 2005-only
911 Turbo S), which fed the flat-six engine by way of larger
turbos and intercoolers. This provided as much as 444 hp
for Porschephiles and resulted in a sub-4-second 0-60 time.
Still, this isn’t enough to walk away with the
pink slip to a Trackhawk. You’ll have to be rocking a
2013-or-later Viper before rolling the dice in Dodge’s
supercar to come up anything but snake eyes
alongside the Jeep.
It set a production-car record at the Nürburgring and quickly
became ensconced in exotic-car lore as one of the rarest and most
desirable Jaguars.
Only 282 XJ220s were produced, and each and every one of
them is inferior in a drag race against the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.
The Jaguar’s nearly £500,000 price tag in 1992 is many multiples
of the Jeep’s more modest $86,500 ask, a fact that those lucky few
XJ220 owners will likely ponder as they see the SUV just barely beat
out their 3.6-second 0-60 surge.
Extremely quick, unless you’re a Trackhawk owner looking
to munch on some Stuttgart-sourced metal. A third of a second
slower than the Jeep, the 911 Turbo S and X50-equipped Turbo
perfectly demonstrate the almost unbridgeable performance
gap that’s somehow opened up between near-classic sports
cars and cargo-hauling people movers.
EXOTIC SUPERCARS AND EXOTIC SUVs
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