Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi WK

[Huffy]

Not sure whether this is the right place for this as I know they aren't really considered to be part of the American scene but other than the off road section (where I have asked a similar question), there doesn't seem to be a better option!

I am a long time American car fan and have owned a number of Camaros and Mustangs over the years. Until now I have been lucky enough to run an additional family car alongside the yank but this is no longer the case and I am looking to combine my need for a V8 with the need for a capable family vehicle able to do occasional towing. The 5.7 Grand Cherokee seems on paper to be the closest to ticking all the boxes but information on them seems limited/hard to find. Whilst I have considered X5's, ML's and the like, I have to admit they leave me a little cold and always seems a little lacking in V8ness.....if you know what I mean

So, does anyone have any experience of the hemi Grand Cherokee please?

Any experiences or feedback, good or bad would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Mark

[Stu R]

They're pretty good. I don't own one but I'm forever tempted by an SRT. Mate has an Overland and another an SRT.
Have a gander on jeepforum.com - obviously they're a bit biassed and love jeeps but you usually get straight, honest answers.

Can't comment on UK parts availability etc (as I understand it, that's not a strong suit) but there's plenty of places like Rock Auto willing to ship from the other side of the pond.

As for the WK itself, the early ones had a few problems, mainly electrical gremlins. MPG varies from horrific around town to not brilliant on the motorway. Seats are insanely comfortable, and the ride is pretty decent. The SRT is a monster worth investigating, brilliant fun and only an ML63 offers the same feeling of silliness (X5M and Cayenne Turbo are objectively better, just not as 'hot rod' or silly feeling). Interiors are standard Chrysler fare, the good bits are good, and you'll either forgive or hate the bad bits. Overall not too bad though if you get a decent one.

There's bags of aftermarket stuff for pretty much anything you could possibly be interested in. Again, you'll probably find yourself shopping stateside for most of it.

They're good mile munchers if you can forgive the MPG not being brilliant. I suppose in the UK the abundance of LPG makes it a viable option.

You'll also find Jeeps are like Land Rovers, insanely addictive and if you get the bug you'll forgive them most things.

[gt500nick]

Glad to see the back of mine tbh, see my post in off road section. In fairness mine was older than one you might be interested in, so the new generations might be better.

[Huffy]

Thanks for the responses guys. Stu, I know where you are coming from.......had a Jeep itch to scratch for a while now - first I fancied one of the old square 4.0 Cherokees......but at a time couldn't find a good one, then I fancied 4.0 Wrangler......but again couldn't find good one and wasn't sure I could cope with a 600 mile round trip in one over a weekend to see the inlaws (coupled with the fact that it didn't really fit with the idea of young children and all the paraphernalia they entail and now I have moved on to the family option of the WK - just wanted to make it interesting!! Like the idea of the SRT model - but the dual tail pipes rule out a tow bar.

Nick, thanks again for your input - I have responded back there and yes, I got the idea it might not have been your favourite car!!

[gt500nick]

hi Mark,
only just seen it sorry for rambling on, i did like the look of the new jeeps especially the srt or hemi models. they do look very nice and i would imagine run brilliantly but the price tag is still very high on those ones. its quite a hard one to pick in your situation, are you tied to the idea of it being a v8?

[TIS]

currently have a 2009 SRT8 as my wifes car and it is truly amazing. It eats up miles easily and still has loads of room for the little one and dog. You can buy a towbar attachment in the states that mounts above the exhaust and is like the USA pickups in that it has a removable hitch so you can slide it in and out when not required.
Heated front and rear seats is amazing in the current weather along with the auto wipers, HID's and everything else. Quite a few have the optional extra of having the rear entertainment system which is a rear screen and 2 wireless headsets which means no moaning about are we there yet from the kids. They had a facelift in 2008 or 2009 I believe that updated the interior and added a few things
At the moment it is doing 15.5MPG around town and then 20-22MPG on a run on the motorway.

[Huffy]

No worries Nick - yours and any other ramblings/experience greatly appreciated!

In an ideal world, it would be an American V8........I have run them for probably more than 20 years now and the longest I have been without is about 4 months......even when I went European (Australian) I only got as far as a Monaro The problem now is the need to tow (otherwise I could have kept the Mustang and sold the BMW!!) and whilst the reality is it doesn't have to be either American or a V8 (the BMW is perfectly good and the 2 litre diesel gives amazing fuel economy) I only got rid of my Mustang towards the end of last and am suffering severe withdrawal symptoms!!

I keep looking at Croyde's Mercury ......but I have looked at several similar vehicles over the years and the missus (she has to use my car on occasion) won't entertain the idea......yet

[Huffy]

TIS said:

currently have a 2009 SRT8 as my wifes car and it is truly amazing. It eats up miles easily and still has loads of room for the little one and dog. You can buy a towbar attachment in the states that mounts above the exhaust and is like the USA pickups in that it has a removable hitch so you can slide it in and out when not required.
Heated front and rear seats is amazing in the current weather along with the auto wipers, HID's and everything else. Quite a few have the optional extra of having the rear entertainment system which is a rear screen and 2 wireless headsets which means no moaning about are we there yet from the kids. They had a facelift in 2008 or 2009 I believe that updated the interior and added a few things
At the moment it is doing 15.5MPG around town and then 20-22MPG on a run on the motorway.

Thanks for this - that sounds really nice - and I have seen a couple of those rear entertainment options - quiet children make for a much more relaxing journey!!!............On the tow bar from though it was my understanding that whilst this might work on the imported US trucks, on a EU supplied car (rather than an import) unless the vehicle was type approved, this wouldn't be a legal solution.......very happy to be convinced differently though!!

[TIS]

I will check the V5 tonight as not sure. I don't have a tow bar on it as have a pickup truck instead to do towing.

[CMSKenny]

I have a 2005 WK Hemi with 20" startech alloys and privacy glass and have owned it for 6 years now and love it and it looks awesome. Ignore the comments about the interior not being as good as a Range Rover etc, - it isnt. But if you have kids, dog, or any sort of a life then it is brilliant - Hard wearing and practical. Goes like stink off the lights and when you have a prat in a BMW up your chuffer on the motorway!!

I have a towbar fitted to tow my caravan (which weighs 1900kg) and often forget its on the back!! If I drive like my Granny, I get 22+mpg on a run and 17mpg combined. Also returns me 15+mpg whilst towing. Has done 100k miles now (so just run in:-) ) No major problems since owned - a couple of electronic valves have been replaced and front brakes (callipers and discs) These cars are built like tanks as they were made for American farmers who have massive ranches and cannot risk the thing breaking down 50 miles from civilisation!

Get one - you'll never regret it. In fact, if you want to wait a couple of months, you can buy mine!!

[gt500nick]

CMSKenny said:

I have a 2005 WK Hemi with 20" startech alloys and privacy glass and have owned it for 6 years now and love it and it looks awesome. Ignore the comments about the interior not being as good as a Range Rover etc, - it isnt. But if you have kids, dog, or any sort of a life then it is brilliant - Hard wearing and practical. Goes like stink off the lights and when you have a prat in a BMW up your chuffer on the motorway!!

I have a towbar fitted to tow my caravan (which weighs 1900kg) and often forget its on the back!! If I drive like my Granny, I get 22+mpg on a run and 17mpg combined. Also returns me 15+mpg whilst towing. Has done 100k miles now (so just run in:-) ) No major problems since owned - a couple of electronic valves have been replaced and front brakes (callipers and discs) These cars are built like tanks as they were made for American farmers who have massive ranches and cannot risk the thing breaking down 50 miles from civilisation!

Get one - you'll never regret it. In fact, if you want to wait a couple of months, you can buy mine!!

why would you be selling it if its suits all your needs and is a great car?

[CMSKenny]

gt500nick said:

why would you be selling it if its suits all your needs and is a great car?

New job means a lot more mileage so need to get something more economical. Probably going to stick with a GC but will have to have the 3.0 CRD

[bigkeeko]

I`ve had them all. The 3.0 TD, the 5.7 and the SRT8. All different, one naturally more special than the other two.

[chryslerben]

Huffy said:

Thanks for the responses guys. Stu, I know where you are coming from.......had a Jeep itch to scratch for a while now - first I fancied one of the old square 4.0 Cherokees......but at a time couldn't find a good one, then I fancied 4.0 Wrangler......but again couldn't find good one and wasn't sure I could cope with a 600 mile round trip in one over a weekend to see the inlaws (coupled with the fact that it didn't really fit with the idea of young children and all the paraphernalia they entail and now I have moved on to the family option of the WK - just wanted to make it interesting!! Like the idea of the SRT model - but the dual tail pipes rule out a tow bar.

Nick, thanks again for your input - I have responded back there and yes, I got the idea it might not have been your favourite car!!

You can get a detachable tow bar that slots in between the two exhaust pipes on the srt with the benefit of when your not towing you dont have a bloody horrendous tow hitch ruining the back end. From memory we got them from the states and they werent to unreasonable on price.

[Huffy]

Thanks for the additional comments guys - all input greatly appreciated.

Ben, I seem to recall when I researched the towbar issue it was not type approved for UK/Europe.....in fact I think you might also have made such a comment on another thread.

Another thing I got to wondering about, I think the 5.7 has MDS (cylinder deactivation) - is that right and if so can you notice it working.....and perhaps most importantly does it detract from the V8 experience - which after all is at least in part about a nice V8 rumble

[chryslerben]

Huffy said:

Thanks for the additional comments guys - all input greatly appreciated.

Ben, I seem to recall when I researched the towbar issue it was not type approved for UK/Europe.....in fact I think you might also have made such a comment on another thread.

Another thing I got to wondering about, I think the 5.7 has MDS (cylinder deactivation) - is that right and if so can you notice it working.....and perhaps most importantly does it detract from the V8 experience - which after all is at least in part about a nice V8 rumble

I could possibly well have commented on another thread memories not what it used to be though
I believe your right in saying they didnt have type approval for the uk, I'm sure they had the same load rating as a type approved bar.

Yer the 5.7's had MDS on I always wondered if MDS was a marketing ploy because you wont notice if its active or not, its a very smooth system that on cuts in under very low load i.e motorway cruising. I can confirm it isnt a marketing ploy though as I had to demonstrate on a customers vehicle to them it was working with the starscan. Get a set of borla's on it and you'll never get bored of the v8 noise

[Huffy]

chryslerben said:

Huffy said:

Thanks for the additional comments guys - all input greatly appreciated.

Ben, I seem to recall when I researched the towbar issue it was not type approved for UK/Europe.....in fact I think you might also have made such a comment on another thread.

Another thing I got to wondering about, I think the 5.7 has MDS (cylinder deactivation) - is that right and if so can you notice it working.....and perhaps most importantly does it detract from the V8 experience - which after all is at least in part about a nice V8 rumble

I could possibly well have commented on another thread memories not what it used to be though
I believe your right in saying they didnt have type approval for the uk, I'm sure they had the same load rating as a type approved bar.

Yer the 5.7's had MDS on I always wondered if MDS was a marketing ploy because you wont notice if its active or not, its a very smooth system that on cuts in under very low load i.e motorway cruising. I can confirm it isnt a marketing ploy though as I had to demonstrate on a customers vehicle to them it was working with the starscan. Get a set of borla's on it and you'll never get bored of the v8 noise

Cheers Ben - much appreciated - I shall keep the Borla's in mind.....they always sounded good on the Mustangs too