World's first Procharged Jeep Cherokee SRT

SLC resident owns first Procharged Jeep Cherokee SRT

When the word SUV comes to mind it can be easy to think of huge, gas guzzling, family assault vehicles taking up more room on the road than they deserve. But Hank Cobb’s Jeep Cherokee doesn’t fall into any of those stereotypes.

Cobb has simple needs when he is ready to purchase a new SUV. It has to be able to tow a few thousand pounds to accommodate his boat and box trailer. It needs to able to fit in a regular parking space without boxing other cars out of the way. And lastly, it needs to have power. A lot of power.

He previously owned a Chevy Trailblazer SS, which did everything he wanted and then some. With a borrowed power plant from a C6 Corvette, that put out 400 horsepower, and having all-wheel drive, it was perfect for his needs. Being able to top that would be tough, but his new Jeep Cherokee SRT did exactly that.

“My ideal vehicle is a mid-sized SUV,” Cobb said. “With plenty of power and good fuel economy.”

From the manufacturer his 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT came with lots of cool features ranging from different driving modes to a fuel economy system that shuts off half of the engine when you’re cruising down the freeway. Weighing in over five thousand pounds and having all-wheel drive, this new Jeep is still rated to squeeze out 19 miles per gallon while cruising down the highway. But all of these fancy factory features, including a 475 horsepower v-8 under the hood, are not what make this Jeep unique.

Right after the purchase of the vehicle in Des Moines, Cobb sent his new top of the line SUV straight to Procharger, a company well known in automotive circles for their high end superchargers. Because his Jeep would be the first of the new body style SRT with a Procharger stuffed under the hood, they threw him a killer deal on the kit, install, and tune before he ever took delivery of the car. To top all of that his new Jeep now produces over 675 horsepower, and Procharger gave him their signature 3 year/36,000 mile warrantee on the powertrain. So he doesn’t have to worry about torching anything under the hood with all of that power. To add to the pro’s list, his Cherokee now averages 20-21 miles per gallon on the highway. Cobb says the new found power makes it easier for the Jeep to stay in low power mode and it doesn’t have to work as hard.

With 20 inch tall wheels, and bright red Brembo brakes stuffed behind them, these Jeep Cherokees stick out in a crowd. But Cobb’s Cherokee would be hard to differentiate from another. Thanks to a quite gear set that was put into the supercharger’s transmission, the only way to tell this SRT apart from another is by looking in the grill to see a small section of the intercooler smiling back at you. Even though it’s only showing a few of its teeth, it will still eat your lunch.