Sealy, Texas - As a high-riding cousin of the Dodge Hellcat muscle car, the 527kW Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is already more powerful than an SUV ideally has any business being.
But Hennessey Performance has a different kind of business ethic - that ridiculously fast simply doesn't cut it - and the Texan tuning company at least puts its money where its mouth is, in this case putting its latest creation against the clock for a record attempt.
Hennessey sought to prove that its version of the Jeep Trackhawk, the HPE 1200, is the fastest-accelerating SUV in the world. The result - as you’ll see below - a 9.66 second quarter mile with an exit speed of 233km/h, and a zero to 60mph (96km/h) time of just 2.3 seconds.
The HPE 1200 engine upgrade muscles up the 6.2-litre Hellcat V8 engine to the tune of 748kW and 1209Nm at the wheels, when running on 109 octane. Hennessey upgraded the pistons, rods and camshaft, ported the cylinder heads and installed a 4.5L supercharger.
The hennessey Trackhawk can also switch between rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive, in order to warm up the rear tyres with some burnouts before an acceleration run.
“Our team really enjoys pushing the limits and discovering what’s possible with the vehicles we build,” company founder John Hennessey enthused.
“Some may say that it’s pointless to build an SUV quicker than nearly every supercar and hypercar on the market today. I say that is exactly the point. And because we can. Thankfully, we have many customers who also share our passion!”