Audi Suv

Audi Suv

Ever since the creation of the sport utility vehicle (SUV), they have never been known as fast, speedy vehicles. This makes sense because they were not made to be like that. They were made to be practical, all around vehicles. They had the same amount of seating and an enclosed trunk like a regular car but had a larger trunk and was in general much bigger than a regular car so it could do work like a truck. It brought the best of both worlds together. Because off all these things, it was never meant to be thought of as a sports car. That is until Chevy came out with the Trailblazer SS and Jeep came out with the Grand Cherokee SRT8. You would still probably not consider these to be sporty in any way. Chevy already makes muscle cars. Why would they need to try to make a sports car SUV and jeep only makes SUVs which are only known for their impressive off-roading capabilities. Despite these reputations, Chevy and Jeep decided to step out of what they are used to and try something new.

The exterior of the Chevy Trailblazer SS comes with a wide tire base and twenty inch rims. The body of the car has a body kit look which the lowered stance helps out with. It does not look too bad, especially the front. The back has a good looking exhaust tip but would look even better with dual split exhaust. The jeep SRT8 is similar in that it also comes with a large tire base and twenty inch rims. It also comes with the lowered stance and the body kit look but only in the front and back. Also in the back the SRT8 has a dual exhaust in the middle which gives it a very aggressive look.

The interior of the Trailblazer SS comes with black leather seats and adjustments that are electrically controlled. It features separate climate control for the driver and passenger. The car is also OnStar enabled. The dash board does come with extra gauges to makes sure you are not going to destroy anything under the hood but besides that, the interior features are lacking. There is no navigation system or anything fun like that. Also, the shifter has the leather boot around it that I don't think looks very good. One small thing I did like was the SS logo on the seats and steering wheel. The SRT8 interior comes with the leather seats and a very easy to use media center that controls a navigation system, the radio, CDs, iPods, and you can even download your music into the car so that you don't have to deal with iPods and iPod connecters and all the other hassles that come with it. It does not have the extra gauges but instead it has a thin little screen that gives you such information as G-forces, 0-60 time, braking distance, etc... The only downside I could find to the SRT8 interior was that it had very little leg room in the back.

Now to the main point. What is carrying these four wheeled bad boys? The Chevy Trailblazer has a 6.o liter V8 and 390 horse power with 400 lb-ft of torque. The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 has a 6.1 liter hemi V8 with 420 horse power and 420 lb-ft of torque that launches the car from 0-60 in under five seconds. The SS is a 4 speed automatic while the SRT8 is a 5 speed automatic. Both have anti brake locking systems (abs). Also, the SS only has all wheel drive while the SRT8 has 4 wheel drive. Neither car gets very good gas mileage with both of them getting around 12-14 in the city and 16 on the highway.

The very last part is the bang for the buck. The SS is cheaper at about $37,000 and the SRT8 is at about $43,000. Is that extra $6,000 worth it? I say YES. If you are buying one of these, then you are definitely into cars so getting the SRT8 and everything that comes with it is definitely worth the extra money. Being able to pull up next to a BMW and embarrass him by beating him off the line, while listening to the music you downloaded into your car and not getting lost thanks to the navigation system is a great experience. You will definitely be happy with choosing the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.