We first got a look (prematurely) at the new Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk which is due to be unveiled later this month at the 2016 New York Auto Show.
While that was all well and good, giving some renewed faith in the appeal of a Jeep Cherokee (at least the exterior appeal), those images, while shockingly detailed despite being a ‘leak’, did not disclose much else about the car.
That left us car folk to speculate about the possible under-the-hood contents as well as changes to the interior.
But now the new info that has emerged gives us a decent explanation to the newness we saw earlier about the Trailhawk. Starting with the front end, the lower portion of its fascia is actually removable to allow for steeper approach angles when offroading.
There are two unmissably red two hoops up front and the two-tone hood is actually more than just ornamental. The darker non-reflective material actually reduces glare, handy when you’re nagivating the barren Nevada expanse while scaling a super colossal rock.
The Trailhawk is meant as a luxurious but capable brute, with standard-fit air suspension that can probably do a decent job at ironing out road bumps while riding on those set of 18-inch wheels, but can also offer 279mm of ground clearance in its highest setting.
Under the hood, Jeep will offer the Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with a choice of two petrol engines and a diesel, all of which will be sending power through an eight-speed auotmatic and a Quadra all-wheel drive system with an electronic limited slip differential for the rear. There’s a 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 petrol unit with 220kW/353Nm, a 5.7-litre HEMI V8 petrol with 268kW/530Nm, or a 179kW/569Nm EcoDiesel V6.
We’ve already covered the interior in our previous report, with its blend of suede-like upholestery matched to trim bits in a piano black finish. Other soft-touch materials could be leather, but we’re not holding our breath. There’s the centre-mounted touchscreen, which will also manage the car’s offroad settings in addition to its usual infotainment duties.
