[canoehead]

I am sure I will get flak for this post. For this heretical notion. But the question must be asked.

Is it truly worth upgrading from a recent model GC SRT to a TH?

If you do mostly city and highway driving, and you don't often access unmonitored backroads, and you never go to the track, and you rarely get to open it up completely...would one really feel the difference between the daily driving of a GC SRT and the daily driving of a TH??
Please tell me. I must know. I cannot make a decision.

Would love to hear the thoughts of all you TH owners on this forum!!

 

[Daniel454]

I have thought about this myself a lot lately as I have seen a few posts on Facebook of people getting bored with them already...

We have a 2016 SRT Jeep in the family, but officially it belongs to the wife. If it was mine, I really don't think I would do the upgrade. The TH is an amazing machine and a great solid upgrade, but to your point, most won't get to really use all the power all that often. And has been pointed out, a complete new chassis is on the horizon which will hurt current model re-sale values and with the new chassis expected to be lighter, if a new TH is made, it will most definitely have even better performance.

But on the other side of the argument, while a TH is said to be scheduled for the next chassis, nothing is set in stone.

For me, my wife is keeping her SRT and I'm moving up from an older Dodge Magnum. Between the risk of the TH NOT being in the new chassis, plus the fact I REALLY want a new vehicle with all the more recent comfort and creature features, the decision was made to go forward.

Sorry, my story is unique and probably not much help, but again, if the 2016 SRT was my Daily Driver, I really doubt I would have made the leap to the TH.

 

[PATRACKHAWK]

I am sure I will get flak for this post. For this heretical notion. But the question must be asked.

Is it truly worth upgrading from a recent model GC SRT to a TH?

If you do mostly city and highway driving, and you don't often access unmonitored backroads, and you never go to the track, and you rarely get to open it up completely...would one really feel the difference between the daily driving of a GC SRT and the daily driving of a TH??
Please tell me. I must know. I cannot make a decision.

Would love to hear the thoughts of all you TH owners on this forum!!

My TH is a DD and I " open it up completely "every day. In terms of performance, there is no comparison to a Stock GC SRT in my opinion.

 

[Car-Guy]

Had a couple of 6.4 GC SRT's and several Corvettes. I never fully opened any of them up (top speed) but I often ran them at full throttle from zero to "various speeds". There really ins't a comparison between the 6.4 SRT and the 6.2 TH from a zero to XXX acceleration perspective or even "highway" passing acceleration. The SRT is great but the TH is nothing short of awesome. However, other than that, they are very similar.

So the "big" differences between the two, IMO, are (1) acceleration, (2) price, and (3) gas mileage, in that order. For me, I really only cared about the first one.

 

[AlaskaMatt]

With the trend of eco-friendly blah, CAFE, blah, why would anyone neeed..blah, we're lucky that we have an opportunity to even own such a monster. I'm not taking a chance on it being the last and while a fast electric car may kick a$$, it ain't going to be the same. At least for someone with gray hairs like me.

 

[Black Track]

+1 to Patrackhawk, Car-Guy and AlaskaMatt

BTW: I've owned over 60 cars in my lifetime, and all of them were the most powerful ones available at the time, in their respective classes. (I've luckily never had to buy a minivan or a family car...ha!)

My "have-owned list" includes a Ford GT, Corvette Z06, 911 Turbo, BMW M5, 2014 GC SRT, 2005 Ram SRT-10, and a gaggle of vintage muscle cars.

I'm probably a bit older than most of you here, but I will love speed and power until I'm six feet under.

And yes, I exercise my TH with full throttle bursts each and every day. (I live in SoCal, so no worries about snow.)

In case you haven't gleaned it yet: To me, the TH is worth the extra $. But, I'm infected with what I call "Mad Car Disease."
Your mileage may vary.

 

[YogiSRT]

Based on your original post i would say no its not worth it. If you dont floor it youre basically paying a whole lot more to stop for gas more often. Besides the acceleration and transmission the car feels the same.

Now if you floor it every chance you get then yes its worth it.

 

[Car-Guy]

Based on your original post i would say no its not worth it. If you dont floor it youre basically paying a whole lot more to stop for gas more often. Besides the acceleration and transmission the car feels the same.

Now if you floor it every chance you get then yes its worth it.

For me, I don't need to floor it all the time for the TH to be worth it. Matter of fact, the acceleration from a standing start is so brutal, I don't do it a lot (only done it a few times since buying the TH). Even at 2/3 throttle it will make most folks smile, a lot, and that's all you need to beat just about anything out there. I'll save the real 100% blast for the rare occasions when I can find something worthy or when I'm making an all out timed run. To me the loss of ~2 mpg and the extra 30k over the regular 6.4 SRT's is nothing when compared to just knowing I have the power when I want/need it.

 

[kodiakz]

I would say this falls under the "if you have to ask rule". Have (had) both and 0 comparison from a driving, handling, performance, and most of all seat of your pants to smile on your face meter!

 

[JeepersCreepers]

You don't always need to floor a car to enjoy it, same applies for exotics because I highly doubt those owners are flooring it every chance they get.

 

[paulwells18]

Hey guys... If you have to ask....then it isn't for you..lol
picked up my white trackhawk 10 days ago...traded out of a 2016 srt...had a catback exhaust and afe cai on her....sounded awesome!!
when i picked up the new hawk..it sounded MEH....i was disappointed...had the dealer swap exhaust for me..was much happier...nobody makes CAI for it..yet...
- other than "sound" my trackhawk (HAteeeeeee THE NAME)...is amazing..just touch the pedal and we're off...love it!!! going to put exhaust cutoffs on it this week..service manager said..as long as its after the cat..no warranty issues..
anyone planning on doing any mods(that dont affect the warranty)??

 

[canoehead]

I have thought about this myself a lot lately as I have seen a few posts on Facebook of people getting bored with them already...

We have a 2016 SRT Jeep in the family, but officially it belongs to the wife. If it was mine, I really don't think I would do the upgrade. The TH is an amazing machine and a great solid upgrade, but to your point, most won't get to really use all the power all that often. And has been pointed out, a complete new chassis is on the horizon which will hurt current model re-sale values and with the new chassis expected to be lighter, if a new TH is made, it will most definitely have even better performance.

But on the other side of the argument, while a TH is said to be scheduled for the next chassis, nothing is set in stone.

For me, my wife is keeping her SRT and I'm moving up from an older Dodge Magnum. Between the risk of the TH NOT being in the new chassis, plus the fact I REALLY want a new vehicle with all the more recent comfort and creature features, the decision was made to go forward.

Sorry, my story is unique and probably not much help, but again, if the 2016 SRT was my Daily Driver, I really doubt I would have made the leap to the TH.

Thank you for the honest insight!!

With the trend of eco-friendly blah, CAFE, blah, why would anyone neeed..blah, we're lucky that we have an opportunity to even own such a monster. I'm not taking a chance on it being the last and while a fast electric car may kick a$$, it ain't going to be the same. At least for someone with gray hairs like me.

GREAT point. We are lucky to be able to drive such a monster on a daily basis with none of the headaches associated with the true 60's/70's muscle cars

+1 to Patrackhawk, Car-Guy and AlaskaMatt

BTW: I've owned over 60 cars in my lifetime, and all of them were the most powerful ones available at the time, in their respective classes. (I've luckily never had to buy a minivan or a family car...ha!)

My "have-owned list" includes a Ford GT, Corvette Z06, 911 Turbo, BMW M5, 2014 GC SRT, 2005 Ram SRT-10, and a gaggle of vintage muscle cars.

I'm probably a bit older than most of you here, but I will love speed and power until I'm six feet under.

And yes, I exercise my TH with full throttle bursts each and every day. (I live in SoCal, so no worries about snow.)

In case you haven't gleaned it yet: To me, the TH is worth the extra $. But, I'm infected with what I call "Mad Car Disease."
Your mileage may vary.

I have a strong desire to hang out with you. Can I take you to lunch next time I am in SoCal??

For me, I don't need to floor it all the time for the TH to be worth it. Matter of fact, the acceleration from a standing start is so brutal, I don't do it a lot (only done it a few times since buying the TH). Even at 2/3 throttle it will make most folks smile, a lot, and that's all you need to beat just about anything out there. I'll save the real 100% blast for the rare occasions when I can find something worthy or when I'm making an all out timed run. To me the loss of ~2 mpg and the extra 30k over the regular 6.4 SRT's is nothing when compared to just knowing I have the power when I want/need it.

This "having the power when I need it" seems to be the most common response to this question in general (off the forum as well), and it's a good one!!

In general, I am really looking to understand where the point of diminishing returns is in daily driving....
It is interesting that TH owners with an SRT in their past are split on whether or not there is a difference outside of the brutal acceleration and passing speed.

 

[canoehead]

Hey guys... If you have to ask....then it isn't for you..lol
picked up my white trackhawk 10 days ago...traded out of a 2016 srt...had a catback exhaust and afe cai on her....sounded awesome!!
when i picked up the new hawk..it sounded MEH....i was disappointed...had the dealer swap exhaust for me..was much happier...nobody makes CAI for it..yet...
- other than "sound" my trackhawk (HAteeeeeee THE NAME)...is amazing..just touch the pedal and we're off...love it!!! going to put exhaust cutoffs on it this week..service manager said..as long as its after the cat..no warranty issues..
anyone planning on doing any mods(that dont affect the warranty)??

I would say this falls under the "if you have to ask rule". Have (had) both and 0 comparison from a driving, handling, performance, and most of all seat of your pants to smile on your face meter!

Is this really a rule? If it is, it is amongst the dumbest I have come across.

 

[paulwells18]

Is this really a rule? If it is, it is amongst the dumbest I have come across.

nahhh, something tells me, you have heard dumber..lol-
it's more of a mantra...than a rule..
and it is SOOO TRUE...
my 69 yr old mother in law asked recently....why do you need all the horse-power....???
well mom..if you have to ask...LOL

- different strokes for different folks bro..

 

[canoehead]

Is this really a rule? If it is, it is amongst the dumbest I have come across.

nahhh, something tells me, you have heard dumber..lol-
it's more of a mantra...than a rule..
and it is SOOO TRUE...
my 69 yr old mother in law asked recently....why do you need all the horse-power....???
well mom..if you have to ask...LOL

- different strokes for different folks bro..

Totally get that; if a non-gearhead doesn't understand why we need 300 hp over the average Civic, probably best not to waste time explaining. They either get it or they don't.

But in this case, we are on a forum made up of a very small segment of the car enthusiast world and many of us are trying to understand the real world differences between two high performance cars before shelling out a 30K premium. To reply "if you have to ask, it's not for you!" is avoiding the question altogether. Whoever coined that mantra might have been too lazy to articulate their position...

So help me understand bro!!

Sorry for the tangent.

 

[kodiakz]

so why are you asking then? do you want us to help you rationalize a non rational decision?? you either want the power or you want a powerful enough suv. you either want the baddest jeep ever made (and therefore pay the premium) or you want a great suv at a great price. When you say "real world" what are you going to use it for? you going to hammer it, race it, probably modify it even further or take the kids to soccer? apples to oranges man

 

[kodiakz]

now if you were going to compare it to say an X5M/X6M, supercharged Rover or A cayenne Turbo(s) then you have a more legitimate comparison. And, having driven all of those, I would still tell you that the raw power of the track hawk blows them all away. Many would argue that the aforementioned would be much more refined and they would be absolutely correct. Bang for the buck, it just cant be beat. Throw in a few mods and some light tuning and Im sure we will be able to get 700-800 reliable whp out of the beast--that is why I bought it! If you read my initial post, I indicated that I previously had a 6.4 srt and that there is just no comparison; not even close and 100% worth the $26k more i paid. That articulate enough for you>

 

[Black Track]

Canoehead:
Sure, we can meet up for lunch sometime you're in the 'hood. Always cool to hang out with others who appreciate massive torque and hp.

As for your "GC SRT or TH" question, I'd recommend you try to drive both back-to-back. Getting a dealer to let you romp on one of his virginal showroom vehicles might be tough, but I think if you tell him that you are the real deal and definitely interested in buying, he might let you have a little bit of a taste.
Even if you can't test out launch control, if you get one fast run up a freeway on-ramp, or down a long country road, that should tell you which one you prefer.

IMHO: If extreme performance, handling and braking are your must-haves, then TH is the only way to go.
If you can afford it and not be short of grocery money, rent, or alimony, then I'd say go for it.

But, yes it is considerably more $$, gets crappier fuel mpg, and looks pretty much the same as a GC SRT.

To most people, a GC SRT is more than awesome. I drove my '14 for 53,000 miles and loved every one of them. I surprised many a sports/muscle car owner at the stoplight in that time, including several 911s and a BMW i8. (I LOVE to smoke green cars!)

We are currently in the most amazing time in production car history. Today's hot cars/trucks/SUVs are mind-blowingly fast and powerful. Even a stock 2018 Camry can smoke about 90% of the muscle cars from the 1960s. But, this trend won't last. "Get 'em while they're hot" is my motto. Before the gov't outlaws gasoline, and cars with actual humans as the drivers.

In ten more years, we will all be looking back to 2018 and saying "Why the **** didn't I buy that super-fast (fill in the blank) when I could?"

Let us know what you decide. Happy hunting.

 

[paulwells18]

canoehead...I'm not sure what you are asking..

-please clarify what you are asking..and i will take the time to answer....
The X5 m and TH are two totally separate animals. The BMW is "benign" at 567 hp...and the way the power comes on..
had it for 6 months...beautiful interior..quality, etc...but the looks(to me) dont compare...and it's lacking in the visceral feel i get when i drive the TH.

 

[nivek]

Well, I took my Jeep on a Poker Run with a large number of exotics, high performance Cadillacs, BMWs, GTRs, etc... and after keeping up with a large number of them, yes it is totally worth it. The look on their faces alone is worth the price of admission. Nothing like a CTS V that has been modified not being able to drop a grocery getter SUV. Loved every minute of it. Plus, it drives so nice on long trips. I put 900 miles on it over the weekend and was comfortable the entire time.