

Why a 4.7-liter V-8? Because Chrysler figured it needed far better mileage from its big Jeep Grand Cherokee than 13 m.p.g. The 5.9-liter also will be dropped from the Jeep then. Of course, the pros and cons of the 5.9-liter V-8 become moot in a few months when Chrysler brings out its redesigned 1999 Grand Cherokee with a new 4.7-liter V-8 to replace the 5.2-liter V-8. and 345 foot-pounds of torque at 3,200 r.p.m. How much more power do you need? The answer seems to be the 245 h.p.

and 300 foot-pounds of torque at 2,800 r.p.m. The 5.9-liter V-8 was added for ’98 because the 5.2-liter V-8 was judged a bit under powered. OK, gas prices are relatively cheap, so who cares about the cost of fuel when the 5.9-liter V-8 can blow the wheels off just about every other vehicle on the road except those with Italian names and those that travel banked tracks on Sundays? city/17 highway if you baby the machine, what does it obtain when you’re checking out the 7.3-second claim? Who pays $41,000 for a 4WD off-road-capable machine to take it to the drag strip? At 13 m.p.g. The homeless certainly can’t afford $38,175, before options and freight.Ĭhrysler boasts that the Grand Cherokee with its new 5.9-liter V-8 is the “fastest, most powerful Jeep vehicle ever built, with a 0- to 60-m.p.h. Of course, those who buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 5.9-liter V-8 are going to have the funds to be fashionable. highway rating is abysmal.Īt a time when some folks are questioning how fashionable it is to be seen in an SUV, with the V-8 Grand Cherokee, you’ll be seen a lot–alongside it, with a lead-free gas nozzle in your hand. Unfortunately, the 5.9-liter, 245-horsepower V-8 in the Jeep Grand Cherokee for 1998 requires you stop as quickly as you start–each time you spot a filling station. Need to move quickly from the light? Tap the pedal and you leave all other SUVs, and most sedans and coupes, in your fumes as the V-8 roars down the pavement as if awaiting a checkered flag at the other end. Everest, where the full-time four-wheel-drive and anti-lock brakes come in handy too.

Need to climb a hill? Take the V-8 Grand Cherokee up Mt. Need to tow a boat? The V-8 Grand Cherokee can pull the Queen Mary strapped to the back of the Titanic. Sure sounded like a good idea at the time, a V-8-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee that would wait for no other machine.
