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2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk First Drive | Crazy. Good.

TAMWORTH, New Hampshire – We're tempted to tell you that the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is ridiculous. It's borderline frightening to think that we now live in a world where anybody with the money and the gumption can stroll into the nearest Jeep dealership and place an order for a 707-horsepower Hemi-powered Grand Cherokee. Let's put this slice of history into perspective. The original Jeep, the one used by the military, boasted 60 horsepower from the Go Devil four-cylinder engine under the hood. The most powerful version of the muscle car-era 426-cubic-inch Hemi was factory-rated at 425 hp. And even if that legendary powerplant was underrated from the factory, the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk still obliterates it by a couple hundred horses. In an SUV. Seven-hundred-horsepower sport utility vehicle doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? And conventional wisdom says it shouldn't. But we're here to tell you otherwise. After driving the Trackhawk in and around the streets of Portland, Maine, and taking it to Club Motorsports in New Hampshire, we're convinced that Jeep and SRT engineers have managed to defy physics and reason. The Trackhawk isn't just fast, it's also manageable. Subdued, even – at least when you want it to be. Put the hammer down, summon the nearly demonic power of supercharged combustion, and all hell breaks loose. But the tires don't. With launch control engaged and with the programmable engine speed properly chosen, the all-wheel-drive Trackhawk rockets to 60 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds, over and over and over again. No drama, no wheelspin, just g-force, pressing you and four close friends into the backs of your seats. It's addictive, and the only penalty is single-digit fuel mileage. But we'll wager a guess that anyone shopping for a Trackhawk isn't much concerned about its drinking problem. The only proper way to experience the Trackhawk's acceleration is from inside. But, to give you an idea of its speed and power, check out the videos below. Stick around for a walkaround both inside and out, and for a look under the hood. Jeep had to make a few small changes to the well-known 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8 engine to shoehorn it under the hood of a Grand Cherokee. The oil pan is reshaped and baffled, the intercooler is modified, and the exhaust manifolds are new. The result is a reduction in torque from 650 pound-feet in Dodge Hellcat models to 645 in the Jeep, but we wouldn't worry about that.

Supplier says Jeep Cherokee hack only affects FCA cars

Harman doesn't think that drivers need to worry about any further hacks of its products. The company supplies FCA's Uconnect infotainment system where a software vulnerability is responsible for a 1.4-million vehicle recall. "This experimental hack is unique to Chrysler," Harman CEO Dinesh Paliwal said to Automotive News. "This does not exist, to our assessment, in any other vehicle." The reason that the company wouldn't be involved is that automakers aren't simply plugging in the existing infotainment systems into new vehicles. According to Paliwal, Harman supplies the unit, but FCA and other automakers are able to make additional modifications for their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also recently taken up the question of broader software vulnerabilities in Harman's products. On July 29, the agency began investigating the company to check for similarities between Uconnect and the infotainment systems supplied to other automakers. The Jeep hack became national news when two researchers were remotely able to take control of a Cherokee. The vulnerability in the cellular connection even gave control over the brakes. "Once people get in the car and get into the CAN bus, then you can start to mimic and mess up many, many things in the car," Paliwal said to Automotive News. Politicians immediately responded with legislation to create federal standards in hopes of protecting drivers better. NHTSA also opened an investigation to make sure the automaker's software update actually solved the problem. Related Video:

Stellantis will build four electric vehicles in Italy, say union reps

MILAN — Stellantis will produce four medium-segment electric vehicles, of different brands, at its Melfi plant in southern Italy from 2024, the UILM union said on Tuesday. Since Stellantis was formed at the beginning of this year through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA, production in Italy has been under scrutiny for costing more than elsewhere in Europe. "Stellantis announced that Melfi would be the first plant in Italy to get new models, based on post-2022 business plan," UILM said in a statement after workers' representatives met with the carmaker at Italy's industry ministry in Rome. Future production at Melfi will be based on a single enhanced production line that will merge the two existing ones, the union said, adding the restructuring will leave production capacity at the site unchanged at around 400,000 units. UILM's head, Rocco Palombella, said unions had not received all the answers they wanted as Stellantis was still working on its new business plan. "But the positive element is that the company has not absolutely called for structural redundancies," he said after the meeting. Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares has said the group would present its business plan late this year or in early 2022. Stellantis, the world's fourth-largest carmaker, gave no details about what was discussed at the meeting. In an earlier statement the company said it was working "with determination and speed" to support the energy transition of all its Italian sites. Italy's Industry minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, however, said in a separate statement after the meeting that Stellantis had yet to decide where it would build its third electric battery plant in Europe. Stellantis, which already has two battery factory projects in France and Germany, has said adding gigafactories in Europe and the United States would be decided this year. The company is holding talks on this with Rome, as Italy is one of its main production hubs in Europe. Related video: Green Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Fiat Jeep Citroen Opel Peugeot Stellantis