The first reviews of the all-new Jeep Cherokee are in, and so far, the car has been praised for both its on- and off-road capabilities, as it seems to be surprisingly talented at doing both – surprising for what is for all intents and purposes, a tall all-wheel drive hatchback .
Now, specifically because it uses a compact hatch’s underpinnings, there may be more in it for Jeep. Currently, their top of the range Cherokee is the off-road-tuned Trailhawk , however, a lowered, road-going SRT model would make a lot of sense too.
It would only come about, though, if it can convince Chrysler officials that it can make them some money, and not just break even, according to a report from Motoring , citing Steve Bartoli, Jeep's Head of International Product Planning as the source. Bartoli said that a Cherokee SRT would be "a lot of fun" and that he thinks, "the chassis has a lot of legs to it".
"The suspension is really good, nothing's impossible especially with that platform. I think we have a lot of flexibility with it," he replied when asked if an SRT-tuned Cherokee model was in the brand's future.
It if does materialize, most of the modifications are predictable: lower, stiffer suspension, bigger brakes and some subtle styling tweaks both inside and out completed by plenty of SRT badges . The problem is the power plant they could use…
Currently, the most powerful engine on offer is the 3.2-liter Pentastar V6, but that’s just a regular motor, and not a performance-tuned unit, so it wouldn’t do it justice. They could also turbocharge one of their four-pot units, like the base 2.4-liter, and see where that takes them.
By Andrei Nedelea
