TFL Today: Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Pricing, Hellcat Road Trip MPG, Ford Figo Spied, and Mazda’s New Gas Engine That Works Like a Diesel [News]

On TFLcar Today

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Pricing Announced

Jeep have announced pricing and options for the much-anticipated Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. The 707-horsepower, 645 lb-ft of torque SUV will have a base price of $85,900. From the factory, Jeep says this vehicle will be able to hit 60 MPH in a mere 3.5 seconds and do a 1/4 mile run in 11.6 seconds. Power is sent from the 6.2L Supercharged Hemi V8 to all four wheels through a re-tuned 8-speed automatic transmission. Jeep has also announced an official towing capacity of 7,200 lbs. Chrysler dealers are taking orders starting Thursday, August 10. Currently, FCA hasn’t formally released info. as to whether the Trackhawk will be a limited production vehicle like the Dodge Demon or whether they’ll build as many Trackhawks as dealers want.

Available options on the Trackhawk include dual-pane panoramic sunroof, three-season tires, lightweight 20 x 10-inch forged aluminum Low Gloss Black wheels, fully wrapped Leather Interior Package in Black or Black/Dark Ruby Red, 19-speaker Harman Kardon high-performance audio system, dual-screen rear-seat entertainment center with Blu-ray, trailer tow package and Dark Ruby Red seatbelts. Finally, Jeep have revealed the color options for 2018: Billet Silver, Granite Crystal, Diamond Black, Ivory Tri-coat, Bright White, Velvet Red, Rhino (exclusive), Redline 2 (exclusive) and True Blue. Pricing on these options, however, is still to be determined.

Hellcat Cross Country MPG

Roman recently drove TFL’s Dodge Challenger Hellcat a total of nearly 3,000 miles across the western U.S. Roman drove the car to San Fransisco from Denver, and then headed south to Los Angeles for a bit before he came back to Colorado. Over the course of his journey, Roman did a mix of city and highway driving. You would be smart to assume that a car with 707 horsepower would chug gas like a frat star chugs beer.

However, the MPG results from Roman’s trip were actually quite good! To be sure he got an accurate number, Roman reset the trip computer before he left Colorado. The car says that he was able to average 24.4 MPG on a 2,771 mile loop. Not too shabby for a car that can throw down 11 second quarter miles from the factory. Note: Roman did the trip in “Eco Mode” with the engine tuned to make 500 horsepower rather than the full 707. Still, we were blown away.

Ford Figo Spied Testing in Colorado

The Ford Figo is a car sold primarily in the Asian and Indian markets. So what was one doing testing in Colorado? Who knows. Ford recently announced that they were going to discontinue the Fiesta for the U.S. market. Could this be its replacement? Possibly, but there is no way to be sure. You’ll just have to stay tuned to TFLcar.com for more news on the Ford Figo.

Mazda Announces New Engines for 2019

Today, Mazda announced a plan called “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030”. This plan is described by Mazda as a “new long-term vision for technology development that looks ahead to the year 2030”. Part of this plan includes the announcement of a new engine coming out in 2019 called Skyactiv-X. The big news about Skyactiv-X is the fact that it will use compression ignition in a gasoline engine. Compression ignition, for those who don’t know, is the type of combustion used in a diesel engine. In this method, the fuel air method is ignited by the compression caused by the piston, rather than a traditional spark plug. What this means is that Mazda will have an engine that burns cleaner, makes more power, and runs more efficiently than any gasoline engine on the market. In short, it is the efficiency of a diesel with the power and cleanliness of a gasoline engine.

According to Mazda, this new engine will produce 10-30 percent more torque and run as efficiently or better than Mazda’s current diesel power plant.