[1] Mopar muscle is bad-ass for 2013; of this we and Yahoo Autos [2] have absolutely no doubt. In fact, this year has been the one in which we’ve seen the brand flourish in a way that we never have. Chrysler hasn’t ceased to surprise with their rad performance creations, but as Yahoo reports, their HEMI-stuffed, SUV is by far one of their most important milestones for the year.
[3]The whole HEMI-SUV dynamic changes even further, as there’s even one more feature that adds to the Grand Cherokee’s race-obsessed aura. For 2014, Chrysler’s performance team has made standard on all SRT8 Jeeps a launch control button that not only functions, but clearly spells out its purpose.
That’s because the new Grand Cherokee SRT8’s launch button is detailed just enough to be user-friendly yet simple. If a small “schematic” of a dragstrip Christmas tree isn’t enough to indicate to you that the HEMI Jeep means business, then how about the fact that Jeep and SRT’s new launch control gives the 5,000-pound SUV a perfect jump off of the line on every run?
[4]According to Cars.com [5] reviewer, Aaron Bragman, the launch control button on the high-powered variant of the Grand Cherokee makes a huge difference in the SUV’s bottom-end performance, “Jeep rates the SRT Grand Cherokee at 4.8 seconds from 0-60 miles per hour, but I discovered that this is a conservative figure,” Bragman explains.
Aaron Bragman and others are astonished by the SRT Jeep’s phenomenal performance. The SUV’s full potential is realized when the late-model HEMI’s power is put to proper use, and Bragman discovered this for himself, “Using the SRT’s onboard software and a special launch button, I was able to consistently rip-off 4.5-second, 0-60 times,” says Bragman.
Besides Bragman, Chrysler themselves have verified the performance difference that the SRT8 Jeep’s launch button makes, as SRT engineers have claimed 0-60 times as fast as 4.2 seconds from the Jeep under optimal drive conditions. They say, “Don’t try this at home,” but do you think you can fight the temptation for a quick launch, especially when such a cool system is so easy to use?