Trail Blaze

Jeep’s revamped 2017 Grand Cherokee range includes an all-new Trailhawk variant especially prepped for off-roading.

- Fraser Stronach

SAY HELLO to the most off-road orientated Grand Cherokee yet offered in the brand’s fourth (WK2) generation range. It’s called a Trailhawk, a nameplate also used for the off-road-pitched models in the respective Cherokee and Renegade ranges. All Trailhawk models carry a ‘Trail Rated’ badge; although, whether that means they’re rated for the fabled Rubicon Trail in the USA’s Sierra Nevada mountain range isn’t quite certain.

The Trailhawk is the headline act in a revamped 2017 Grand Cherokee range, and it uses both existing hardware from the Grand Cherokee options inventory and some Trailhawk-specific bits. Key features include a fully automatic electronic rear locker and height-adjustable air suspension in a unique Trailhawk ‘tune’, which adds more wheel travel and articulation for off-road use.

The Trailhawk also gets underbody protection, a distinctive front lower fascia complete with two prominent (red) recovery hooks, and all-terrain rubber on bespoke 18-inch alloys that carry a small red image of the original WWII Jeep. If all this detail goes unnoticed, you won’t miss the blacked-out bonnet panels.

POWERTRAIN AND PERFORMANCE

THE Trailhawk comes with the familiar 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 from Italian diesel specialist VM Motori. It’s mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, which has received a number of internal upgrades with the model update for improved shift quality and durability.

As before, the engine claims healthy maximums of 184kW and 570Nm, and it delivers on those claims with brisk and lively performance helped along with the relatively close ratios of the slick-shifting eight-speed automatic. From a standing start the Trailhawk will sprint to 100km/h in just over eight seconds – more than handy by 4x4 standards – and offers decisive overtaking performance on the highway.