The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and Ram 1500 TRX basically use the same engine, even though neither of them has the Hellcat badge. So when about 300 horsepower is added by Hennessey, makers of some of the fastest cars in the world, you’d expect the pickup to beat its SUV brother in a drag race. However, the “Mammoth” version of the TRX just got spanked, and in a somewhat unusual drag race.
Hennessey products usually end up drag racing on their own channel, put to the test in Texas. But this Mammoth 1000 made it all the way to Britain and in the hands of the Carwow YouTube channel. Just like with the F-150 Lightning, we’re pretty amazed that full-sized American powerhouses are being imported to a market that doesn’t usually welcome them.
The 6.2-liter supercharged V8 known as the “Hellcat” represents the very best of America’s excess, so people want to experience that all over the world. A couple of months ago, the Drift King himself sampled a Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye that somebody brought to Japan. These things are addictive!
Apparently, the custom Ram TRX can be bought for £122,000, which sounds like a lot of money until you read the performance figures. According to the official Hennessey website, the Texas-tuned TRX makes 1,012 horsepower and 969 lb-ft of torque. For some reason, Carwow claims it’s 1,026 hp, which would be a metric number, even though they’re no longer in Europe.
That’s way more than the standard 702 hp, and it’s supposedly enough for 0 to 60 times as low as 3.2 seconds. That sounds almost supercar-fast. Unfortunately, a stock Jeep Trackhawk proves to be more than a match. Jeep’s savage SUV was rated at 707 horsepower and 645 pound-feet of torque (no longer offered), a record at the time of its launch.
The Jeep absolutely demolishes its pickup brother in this V8 adrenaline-packed drag race. Twice they race from a dig and twice a massive gap can be seen. For the record, Hennessey also does a 1000 horsepower Jeep.
The rolling race, which the Mammoth won, reveals where the problem lies. Hennessey fitted oversized tires as part of their Off-Road Stage 2 kit: 37-inch tires on custom 20-inch wheels. The lift kit makes it so tall that you’ll need a side step to get in. Meanwhile, the Trackhawk is great on… the track, as the name suggests.
