Here’s a heavy-weight face off for the ages: in one corner lane, we have a 2018 Cadillac Escalade that has been equipped with Hennessey’s HPE800 package, which makes 805 horsepower and 812 pound-feet of torque while weighing in around 5,600 pounds. In the other lane, we have a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, which makes 707 horses (from the factory) while weighing around 5,300 pounds.
Both utility vehicles have the assistance of superchargers and all-wheel drive systems, and they’re both quite heavy. The Jeep has about 100 less ponies, but it also weighs about 300 less pounds. So the question is, which of these big, burly, boosted SUVs will be victorious in a heads-up drag race? Of note is the fact that the Escalade HPE800 edged out the Camaro ZL1, while the Trackhawk bested the Hellcat.
We’ll just say it’s a super close race, and let you enjoy the minute-and-a-half-long video clip to find out which SUV comes away with the win. Drag race aside, the existence of a high-performance crossover like the Jeep Trackhawk makes us wonder why GM doesn’t offer a high-performance CUV of its own.
Comments
Why would anyone want to deal with Hennessey?
Of course GM should build performance crossovers and SUV’s, chances are they won’t though.
GM cant figure out Cadillac so forget them trying to make a performance SUV sub-brand.
Hennessey makes some nice upgrades. No problem with that.
What he is referring to is John Henessey being a crook, I assume.
Cadillac is not a drag-racing brand. Leave those to the mud-wrestling and roller-derby crowd.
Is Mercedes a drag racing brand? How about Audi or BMW, Maserati or Alfa Romeo?
Obviously, they’re not, but they all make utilities with supercar levels of performance that earn the highest profits in the industry do wonders for the brand image.
Here’s to hoping Cadillac can get its $hit together to truly compete with the world’s best.
Would Rolls-Royce improve their image if they came out with a drag-racing model? I don’t think so. In fact it would probably trash-up their image. What’s next, Cadillac monster truck rallies? Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! See the fire-breathing Cadillac! So coooool!
The old “Germans do it, so we should do it too” just doesn’t work for Cadillac. Never has. Johan thought out-performing the Germans at the Nurburgring would lead to consumers flocking to Cadillac in droves. It didn’t happen. The Hot Wheels and Speed Racer crowd needs to learn that not everyone wants a “performance” vehicle.
Yes I realize that the professional auto writers want track-performance in everything from minivans to lawn mowers, but that’s not the reality of the market. There are plenty of actual consumer sports cars and modified dragsters for those who think this is essential. Cadillac needs to get back to being Cadillac.
Hellcat launched at least a half second later…
It’s all complete BS…Add this to my loooooooooooooong list of “exposures”…
Hennessy own numbers:
0-60: 3.7 sec.
1/4 mile: 11.7 sec. @ 116 mph
http://hennesseyperformance.com/vehicles/cadillac/escalade/2015-cadillac-escalade/2015-2017-cadillac-escalade-hpe800-supercharged-upgrade/
Jeeps own numbers:
0-60: 3.5 sec.
1/4 mile: 11.6 sec. @ 116 mph
https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/six-of-america-s-baddest-muscle-machines-ar176960.html
Again the Jeep launched at least a half second later…
Most Jeep buyers are ex-military who seem to believe that just because they served our country, they own the road and can drive without much of any consideration for other drivers. Being a professional driver myself, I’ve seen this scenario time and time again. So really we don’t need a high performance Jeep put into the hands of people who think that everyone else should just get out of their way or get off the road.
Professional driver eh? LOL Way to throw our vets under the bus there. As a vet myself I take great offense.
He is not throwing vets under the bus for the services that they did—what he’s saying no matter who you are,you still need to keep in mind that the roads are for all of us.
Cadillac is a luxury brand,why should they be wasting their time and money on something gooffy like that.
It proves nothing when you want to mfg.luxury!
This post absolutely blew my mind, very well done…
Would love to see your sources that, “Most Jeep buyers are ex-military”, that Jeep owners “drive without much of any consideration for other drivers” and MOST importantly “Being a professional driver myself”…
If you’d like to count how many other would agree with a law banning powerful Jeeps, create a petition at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/ …
Look at that crazy axle hop on the slade. The Jeep can actually corner quite well.
Fast SUV’s seem kind of silly to me. Anyone who cares about performance needs to buy a Camaro, a Corvette, or one of Cadillac’s V series cars.