2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT

We'll start with the styling. "Aggressive" is the word that best describes the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, from its massive 20-inch wheels – a different pattern than last year's controversial "Spider Monkey" alloys is now available – wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero P295/45/ZR20 tires (Pirelli Scorpion Verde all-seasons are also available) to the unique blacked-out front fascia dominated by Jeep's traditional seven-slat grille. Viewed in profile, there aren't too many clues to the casual onlooker, besides the massive wheels, of course, that this isn't your average SUV. But look a little closer and you'll see details like blacked-out headlight clusters with LED surrounds and a deeply scooped hood with functional heat extractors – telltale signs that this mule is built to haul.

Even if you happen to be behind this brutish 'ute, it will be impossible to miss Jeep's SRT – if the unique rear fascia doesn't tip you off, the rumble emanating from the dual exhaust tips is sure to seal the deal. The soundtrack belted out by the massive 6.4-liter Hemi V8 will stir the souls of all those enamored with big displacement and natural aspiration – you can count us among that group – just as surely as it will irritate your grandparents on long highway slogs.

If nothing else, looking at and listening to the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT proves that SRT CEO Ralph Gilles isn't just blowing smoke when he says that the brand is "Unapologetically selling high performance."
It's also worth noting that the rear glass is no longer separate from the rest of the tailgate. Jeep says the change makes the piece lighter while improving rear visibility. That's all true, but the ability to stick long objects out the back without a fully erect lid is now lost, though that may at least partially be forgiven since the tailgate is now power operated.

The look inside the cabin has also been fine-tuned for performance drivers. Carbon fiber trim replaces the wood accents found in less powerful Grand Cherokee models, and the so-called Laguna leather and suede seating surfaces are nice and grippy. New for the model year is a dual-pane panoramic sunroof option. Oh, don't forget the bright red engine start/stop button. Racy!

SRT's new-for-2014 steering wheel deserves mention. According to Gilles, the automaker purchased wheels of high-performance models hailing from the likes of Audi, BMW and Porsche to make sure its wheel, one of the most tactile parts of the driving experience, is truly world class. As far as we're concerned, SRT has nailed it – the wheel is nice and meaty where your hands want to rest, and the buttons and controls don't get in the way while driving. Similarly, the big metal paddle shifters on either side of the wheel are easy to locate and feel good to the touch.

Along with the new transmission comes a new shifter. Shaped like a traditional T, the lever is now fully electronic, with separate detents when moving from Park to Reverse, Neutral or Drive. As with all such doohickeys, this one takes some time getting comfortable with, but it eventually becomes a non-issue. Directly behind the shifter is a rotating knob with settings labeled Track, Sport, Auto, Snow and Tow, and just to the right of that is a button labeled Launch. We'll talk more about these bits and pieces later.

The biggest changes to the interior are the new 8.4-inch Uconnect central infotainment system, of which many Autoblog staffers voted tops in its category when it won the AOL Technology of the Year Award for 2012, and the seven-inch customizable display in the gauge cluster.

For the 2014 model year, Chrysler is introducing Uconnect Access Via Mobile, which includes navigation and apps like Aha Radio, Pandora, iHeart Radio and Slacker, plus safety features that include an embedded cellular chip that can contact emergency services; remotely lock, unlock or start the car; and alert the owner of a possible theft.

The entire Uconnect system can now be activated using voice commands, from switching radio stations, changing climate settings, answering or making phone calls or calling upon the cloud using Bing search for directions, places of interest or phone numbers. Drivers can also send and receive text messages if they have connected their phone via Bluetooth.

Since this is an SRT model, the center screen also displays performance data. For instance, the driver can call upon a series of gauges to monitor the vehicle's vital signs, a graphic display of the car showing the g-forces from every direction, lap times or current and best acceleration and braking figures.

Directly in front of the driver is a new seven-inch instrument cluster screen that can electronically display things like the car's speed, current powertrain and suspension settings, trip information, fuel economy, radio settings and plenty more.

Now that we're familiar with our surroundings, it's finally time to hit that big red button to start the engine.

You might think that driving the 2014 Grand Cherokee SRT is all about the engine... and you wouldn't necessarily be wrong. The grunt underhood does indeed dominate the driving experience, and we mean that in the best way possible. Acceleration from a dead stop is effortless up to freeway speeds and beyond, though you won't be lighting up the rear tires as with other products from SRT. Instead, instant all-wheel-drive traction is the name of the game, and holeshot starts are as easy as touching the Launch button we mentioned earlier.

One press puts the car into a predetermined mode that optimizes everything for straight-line acceleration. The suspension hunkers down, the transmission goes into its sportiest programming mode and the engine settles into a 2,000-rpm hum. Let your foot off the brake while mashing the throttle, and you'll be to 60 mph in well under five seconds, each and every time, so long as you're not driving on something as slick as snow, mud, snot or marbles.

Assuming you're interested in more than just pin-your-passengers-back antics, we suggest you investigate the dial to the right of the Launch button. If you're driving at a track, there's a dedicated mode that takes as many of the electronic nannies away as Jeep's engineers felt was safe, including the removal of anything that would take full power away from the engine, along with a torque split that sends 70 percent to the rear tires. There's still roll mitigation and some small level of traction control, however, and that's likely a good thing for everyone but professional race car drivers.

Sport mode adds some of those failsafe features back into the mix, but still allows enough wheelspin to make an aggressive driver feel fast while still being under control with a 65-percent rearward torque bias. This is probably where you'll want to keep the knob pointed on the street. Auto mode is self explanatory, as are Snow and Tow, but you may be interested to know that Auto provides the cushiest ride while Snow and Tow modes lock the torque distribution at 50/50 front to rear.

We already talked a bit about how the eight-speed transmission improves performance, but it's also worth mentioning that the gearbox now includes rev matching, meaning the throttle is automatically blipped when downshifting for smoother and quicker shifting. All in, Jeep says its test drivers shaved six-tenths of a second off their lap times due to the upgraded transmission at Nelson Ledges Road Course in Ohio. That's a massive improvement when talking all-out hot laps.

Braking performance is also very good. Jeep quotes a stopping distance of 116 feet from 60 mph along with a 0-100-0 time of 16.3 seconds. We were only given the opportunity to take the SRT around COTA for two laps at a time, so we can't say if brake fade will be a significant issue. We can say, though, that the 15-inch rotors with six-piston Brembo calipers at the front and 13.78-inch rotors with four-piston Brembo calipers stopped the heavy SUV with authority over the course of our track time, limited as it was.

Steering the Grand Cherokee SRT, we were reminded how polished the final generation of hydraulic power steering systems have been... because this Jeep is still fitted with one in lieu of the electronic units that are becoming commonplace. As such, you won't find driver adjustable steering feel or any changes in ratio, which is locked in at 17.5:1. That's just fine and dandy, though, because the settings chosen by SRT's engineers for the rack-and-pinion work perfectly well.

Read more by Jeremy Korzeniewski at Autoblog.com