here is my comment

Build the heavy metal beast.It will be a seller.
People can have more thet one Jeep.
I have friends who use a Grand for everyo day commuting and a Cherokee( you call it a Liberty) with a lift for escapes to the bush.

When is the 5.7 litre going to be available in Australia?

It ain't a JEEP without solid axles.

I don't understand why people are so concerned about Daimler having a good "revenue stream," at the cost of changing the brand to the point of homogenization. Are you car enthusiasts or business enthusiasts?

If I want to go fast, I'll buy a sports car. Making a top-heavy SUV try to pull .9 g's and out-accelerate a Corvette is stupid beyond words. To dilute an iconic brand known for off-road prowess to do it is pure shite. You can teach a dog to walk on it's hind legs, but not well... and people will laugh at you.

To be honest, my remaining interest in Jeep's new products is the TJ (especially the Unlimited). I check here periodically to see if there's any news of new versioning in that line. When it's gone... my interest in Jeep will dwindle with it.

Have fun with your "fast" poseurmobiles (honestly, whatever makes you happy). I'll stick with solid axles and a 3 mph crawl, or my cavernous FSJ when I need to haul.

the 5.9 ZJ was a Dodge 360, not the AMC 360 that was in the grand wagoneers. And I dont think theres a need to lower the suspension to have a "performance" WK grand cherokee. Please DCX, dont ruin the brand by trying to sell an extra thousand vehicles. It will hurt in the long run. I promise you that. build an SRT pacifica or PT cruiser if the guys in the SRT shop are bored.

In reality, I am not sure why they would have to give up off-road capability for speed. With an adjustable air suspension and adjustable sway bar couldn't the vehicle be lowered at high speeds but still maintain full ground clearance and articulation for off-roading?

But my feeling is DaimlerChrysler needs to work on defining and keeping brand images...



Mercedes should concentrate on building luxury vehicles and high-performance luxury vehicles (AMG)

Chrysler should concentrate on building near luxury sedans (300C), coupes (Sebring, Sebring Convertible), minivans, and niche vehicles (PT Cruiser, perhaps something like the Prowler).

Dodge should concentrate on building its agressive image with RAM trucks, sport sedans and wagons, and high performance vehicles (Viper, SRT-4, SRT-10).

Jeep should keep building off-road vehicles and fully off-road capable luxury SUVs. They should not produce two wheel drive vehicles just to satisfy market demand. They should consider expanding their US lineup by adding more trim levels to the 2005 Grand Cherokee (ie, an Overland package), by building vehicles such as the Dakar, the Rescue, the Cherokee 2500, and perhaps a pickup truck (reminiscent of either the J-series, Willys pickup, or Commanche).

Uh ... Sport UTILITY Vehicle. How about getting back to the basics of utility, DC. There are some of us who purchase jeeps because we live in rural areas and need rugged utility. Remember it was this population that help establish the jeep icon. Why do you continue to erode it?

The Exec is wrong. Sure the posrche is superfast, but one does enough research, they will find that Porsche has developed a sophisticated off-road system with this vehicle as well as the Toureg. the standard ground clearance is close to 9" as well as a standard fording depth of close to 20". This ain't no Hummer, but that isn't bad for something that will blow the doors off anyone who challenges you. Furthermore, the Cayenne turbo actually ups the ante with an adjustable suspension
Ground Clearance: 6.18 - 10.75 in
Wading Depth: 21.85 in
The self-leveling air suspension with ride height control, center differential and two-speed transfer case combine to offer exceptional off-pavement capabilities. That is low-range. Not rock crawling low-range, but low range anyway.
A super fast Jeep should at least have an adjustable suspension. Drops low on the highway, raises in 4hi adn 4lo. Keep the Hemi and add the suspension, and your there.

I think high performance SUVs are really stupid, but carmakers and aftermarket folks have made a lot of money selling such things. I guess I can't blame DC for wanting to make huge profit margins on a low volume vehicle. Please, just don't dilute the base model's capabilities. If I get the next GC, it most likely would be a Laredo with the base 3.7 V6. I don't need my Jeep to go fast. The old 4 liter is fine in my WJ. When I fling a car around or spend a day at the track, it's not in a Jeep, for God's sake.

What amazes me is the huge number of SUVs with huge wheels lowered, etc. Also the AMG M-Class and G wagens. Cache is everything, function means nothing. I even saw a Galaendewagen with dub-dub (22") wheels with spinners, and probably 30 series tires. It definitely passes the "gee-whiz" test, but how about the "what for?" If people are rich and dumb enough to want this stuff, it might as well be DC that makes the profit.

This Simple JEEP exec's.....

KEEP JEEP......JEEP!
first you stop producing CHEROKEE...and gave us what? LIBERTY??? Come on now....The WJ/ZJ...now coming in '05..This Mercredes-Monsrosity?..Sorry, but that AIN'T a Grand without SOLID AXLES..You people or TALKING HEADS running JEEP are gonna KILL AN AMERICAN ICON..with these schemes..Go Back to Making REAL JEEPS..Like my 95 YJ..SIMPLE don't cave to the mass market morons....

if i wanted a fast jeep, i'd end up buying a dodge. i love jeep's
ads for getting chills up your spine or whatever when crawling at
3mph and now they're f'ing around with fast? please. someone
needs to take these execs out on a trail for a week and show
them what jeep is about. it seems they're forgetting why people
buy them in the first place.

Interesting... I really like the idea and would probably buy one. A buddy of mine had the famed 5.9L and, well, if you drove one you know what I mean - it was awesome. It wasn't lowered too much, was it? (interesting, the 5.9L was the same 360ci as the Grand Wagoneer, just with EFI instead of a carb, and the carb was the main problem with the GW's V8). I think a Grand Cherokee SRT would sell like crazy, and would probably push the price tag over $45K, if not $50K. Also, the engine would most likely be beefier than the 4.7HO, and would probably be the same thing as is going in the new Grand Wagoneer (2006? 2007?), whether it be a new motor or the good 'ol 360. Its the classic case of Jeep looking at the parts they have and saying "What can we do with this stuff?" Hence my 1996 Cherokee with the same mirrors, overhead console, etc from the Grand Wagoneer.

I personally dont see the problem with it, its not like anyone wheels grand cherokees anyways, at least not enough to influence sales. As far as Im concerned the only thing that should be called a jeep is the wrangler, the original jeep. But if selling some more road worthy vehicles will help put more money into the brand then more power to em. However if Jeep only sold the wrangler and listened to off-road enthusiasts the brand would never have seen the 90s. Get realistic guys

I'm not sure I totally understand everybodys dislike of this idea... It's not as if Jeep is replacing the Grand Cherokee with a superfast, less capable model. It is simply an option; a package. It would be the same thing as the 5.9L (my mistake on the motors). For those of us that still want to buy a dependable, rugged Jeep utility vehicle, it will still be out there in other models - just because Jeep is offering (or might offer) an SRT GC doesn't mean you have to buy it. Frankly, if it sells well and provides a good revenue stream for Jeep, then why not?

Scramblerjim is right