Last week somebody leaked some beautiful photos of the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk, the off-roadier version of Jeep’s luxury SUV. Now that the company’s released the official brochure we can see what this rig’s got besides pretty red tow hooks.
The 4WD system is Jeep Quadra-Drive II, which uses a Quadra-Trac II transfer case for four-wheel engagement with a 2.72 low-range. An electronic limited-slip rear differential puts power to where the most traction is at the rear wheels. A gas V6 and EcoDiesel should both be optional, just like the rest of the Grand Cherokee lineup.
A special version of the Grand Cherokee’s Quadra-Lift air suspension gives the Trailhawk a tiny bump in articulation and travel, with an extra 0.4 inches with maximum ground clearance at the second “off-road” setting of 10.8 inches.
Terrain-selectable traction control works with Jeep Selec-Speed Control, which is basically off-road cruise control, plus Hill Ascent Control. You basically just turn everything on and point the SUV wherever. Skid plates and that blacked out hood are standard too.
Since the ground clearance increase of the Trailhawk is negligible over the regular Grand Cherokee, don’t expect much of an increase over the regular vehicle’s approach angles of 29.8 degrees (36.1 degrees when the lower front fascia removed), breakover angle of 27.1 degrees and departure angle of 22.8 degrees.
Inside you get some nice bolstering seats and red trim to match your recovery hooks.
So to break it down; the Trailhawk is a Grand Cherokee pre-loaded with all the best traction-management equipment you can order plus some sexy decorative bits. Definitely not the most aggressive off-roader, but cool looking and if it’s as comfortable as every other GC I’ve driven this will be a solid ski trip/weekend adventuremobile.
Trailhawk prices are still TBD but with the Overland off-road luxury trim starts at $47,000, I think we can expect something around $50,000.
It’s not the Hellcat Jeep yet, but it’s good.