We Begin Modifying Our Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk:

It was only a matter of time… After being bit hard by the drag racing bug this past year, and having purchased a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk back in September, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I had to start modifying it. To start, I just added the JLT Performance catch can and cold air intake to the Trackhawk. While the catch can won’t add any power, what it will do is help keep oil vapors passed through the PCV system out of the supercharger and intake ports to help keep the 6.2-liter Hellcat V8 performing optimally.

Aside from the catch can, something else I had been meaning to add to our Trackhawk since day one was a cold air intake. After much consideration and research, I decided on going with the JLT cold air intake. While there are a few different brands of cold air intakes for the Trackhawk, the JLT appealed to me as it is one of the few that uses a heat shield to keep the air filter from sucking in hot engine bay air. That, combined with the pricing and favorable reviews, sealed the deal. 

Both the catch can and cold air intake were easy to install and feel like a quality product. One thing I was looking forward to was the increased supercharger whine with the cold air intake, and the JLT unit does not disappoint. Make sure to watch the video above for the install process of both products, along with my honest initial impressions and some sound clips. In the fairly near future, we will by dyno testing the JLT intake compared to the stock unit, along with a few other tricks I have up my sleeve to gain a little bit more performance. Our next round of modifications will consist of a pulley, injectors, and a custom tune.

To make things interesting, we are having a little competition with our friends at White Rock Dodge to see who is going to build the fastest vehicle for the drag strip next Spring. Over the next few months, they will be modifying their Dodge Challenger Hellcat while we modify our Trackhawk. We plan on doing some collaborations and dyno days throughout the process, and in the Spring, we will both be laying it out in a heads up quarter-mile drag race. They have the weight and aerodynamic advantage, while unless they run a full slick traction should be in our favor. Either way, this will add in some friendly competition along with something to look forward to next spring.