Dan Neil of the Wall Street Journal describes the new 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 as "one angry whale."
I love this article on so many fronts. Neil states the SRT8, "corners like an 80-foot sperm whale." And goes on to add that "This is the vehicle version of Ray Kurzweil's singularity theory."
Had to look that one up.
His ode to Melville's classic Moby Dick is entertaining to say the least. Check out the full article and corresponding video here:
Exerpt from the article:
"With a 6.4-liter, 470-horsepower Hemi V8 in the powder magazine and a series of very smart clutches and differentials delivering torque to all four half-shafts, the SRT8 hurls its 5,200-pound bulk to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds and barrels through the quarter-mile just fat of 13 seconds. By those metrics, the hyper-Cherokee is the murdering, harpoon-straightening, bang-for-buck champion in performance SUVs, as fast as or faster than the pricier Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, Porsche Cayenne S, Range Rover Sport Supercharged, BMW X5 xDrive 35i or Audi Q7."
He goes on to say, "Now it starts to get interesting, because—as the SRT8 proves—we're getting to the point where vehicle type doesn't really matter. If the computer programming is supple enough and the on-board processing is fast enough, engineers can now virtually nullify effects caused by vehicle height, weight, roll centers and center of mass. Throw enough code at it and you can get a Ferrari to drive great in the snow, an Audi A8 with Quattro to drift like a tail-happy Toyota Supra, and you can get an 80-foot sperm whale—I mean, a Jeep Grand Cherokee—to corner like a sport sedan. This is the vehicle version of Ray Kurzweil's singularity theory."
Wow - this is great stuff. About the Kurzweil thing, as I understand it ... The 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 represents a paradigm shift in vehicle capability through an exponential growth in technology and computing power. But whose responsible for "throwing the code" at the SRT8? None other than a creative and technologically savvy Jeep engineer named Jeff Roselli. He created a game-changing machine that is taking the performance world by storm.
Perhaps Roselli's title should change from Lead Vehicle Engineer and Development Manager for SRT8 to "Captain Roselli."
Now go to your local Jeep dealer and pick up one for yourself. But please, please leave your harpoons at home.
