The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is one of the most powerful SUVs on the market thanks to its 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8. However, can a less-powerful Audi RS Q8 rival it in a straight line?
To answer that question, CarWow arranged a series of performance tests between an RS Q8 and a Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. You may be surprised with just how closely the two are matched given the power discrepancies between them.
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The Hellcat V8 of the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk pumps out a cool 707 hp and 645 lb-ft (875 Nm) of torque, all of which is sent through both the front and rear wheels. By comparison, the Audi RS Q8 features a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 but has to make do with 600 hp and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque and is also all-wheel drive. Importantly, the German is slightly lighter than the American, tipping the scales at around 2,300 kg (5,070 lbs) depending on specification compared to the 2,432 kg (5,363 lbs) of the Jeep.
In the first drag race between the pair, the Audi gets the better launch and is able to main a small lead down the entire quarter-mile, despite being at a power deficit. However, the tables turn in the second race where the Jeep has the advantage and finishes a couple of lengths ahead of the Audi. This result is replicated in the third and final drag race where the Jeep finished in 11.8 seconds while the Audi needed 12 seconds to run the quarter-mile.