Since Chrysler has made it clear to us that they are trying to open up a new, performance SUV segment, we’ve been telling you a few things and dropping a few hints about Jeep’s new SRT8 Grand Cherokee. Quite honestly, there are more than a few features that we like about the HEMI Jeep. Among these are the HEMI itself, a 6.4-liter mill that, in the fast Cherokee, plants 470 brute horses to all four corners of the full-sized sport ute.

Jeep’s 5,000-pound rocket also packs a new and improved, launch control system that’s not only push-button, but makes perfect launches out of the hole possible on nearly every single run. We talked about the Jeep’s launch control button last week, and we and Carscoops agreed that it was one of SRT’s most important new inventions.

Chrysler, however, is not only breaking grounds in the SUV market, as Dodge’s Viper marque continues to evolve as one of America’s greatest supercars. Packing an all-aluminum V10 with enough torque to pull a tree stump, the Viper is as much of a drag car as it is a successful track runner.

In our featured drag race clip, the likes of the super heavy but quick, SRT Cherokee goes head to head with the torque-heavy Viper GTS. One’s a big wagon with a big motor, while the other is about the size of a bucket, but with about as much mill under the hood.

No matter how you look at it, our featured race clip represents two of Chrysler SRT’s latest achievements. Ever since the ’90s, we’ve always suspected that Dodge’s Viper would be the Shelby Cobra’s contemporary. With the introduction of the SRT8 Grand Cherokee, however, we’ve got a feeling that Chrysler may be trying to do what GMC’s Typhoon couldn’t, but tried!