westbayou
05-05-2006, 01:40 PM
Well I just got back from the local Jeep dealership and man I haven't been this happy with my SS since the day I picked it up. My brother gave me a heads up that they had a silver SRT8 Jeep on the lot, so I buzzed up there at lunch to check it out under the guise that my wife is looking for an SUV (which she sort of is....). Anyway, while I was checking it out a sales girl walked up. She was very helpful, but didn't know much about the Jeep other than that it hauled butt. Suprisingly, she says "Oh, you have to drive this thing to really appreciate it." So, who was I to say no? She grabbed the keys and away we went.
There is no doubt, the Jeep pulls pretty hard. I immediately floored it pulling out of the dealership because the salesgirl told me to. To Jeep's (or should I say Mercedes) credit, the transmission shifts are buttery smooth compared to the SS. It definitely did NOT snap your neck on the shifts, but at the same time it also didn't feel like it was pulling as hard as my SS does after I got it tuned. I would kill to line up next to this thing on the street and have a go at it. I am absolutely convinced I could hang with it if not pull it. I know it only had 60 miles on it, but I seriously expected more. The seat of the pants meter left me feeling unimpressed in comparison to my own truck.
My impressions are this, the Jeep is a nice, fast SUV. However, I think the Trailblazer SS looks nicer, and definitely has a nicer interior in some aspects. The SRT8 had cloth inserts in the seats compared to our suede. The SRT doors had plastic to our leather. The gauges in the Jeep are nicer looking, but the A/C knobs are really plasticky and the A/C isn't even digitally controlled. I don't care what the reviews say, the interior of the Jeep is NOT nicer than the SS.
As for performance, the Jeep pulls harder stock, but with a tune it would bare minimum be a driver's race if not in the SS' favor. The Jeep rides a little stiffer, but for someone who wants a performance vehicle it is very liveable especially since the Jeep shifts much smoother.
Bottom line, when you factor in the price of $50,969 for the Jeep including the $4000 markup, you would have to be smoking crack to choose the Jeep over an SS. She flat out told me they would not budge on that price since this is their first one, and being that it is the first every one of those 60 miles were put on the truck by an employee test driving it and absolutely flogging the snot out of it. She said a few people had come in to look at it, but nobody had expressed a serious interest in it at that price, I know, shocker.
Long live the SS!!!:p
There is no doubt, the Jeep pulls pretty hard. I immediately floored it pulling out of the dealership because the salesgirl told me to. To Jeep's (or should I say Mercedes) credit, the transmission shifts are buttery smooth compared to the SS. It definitely did NOT snap your neck on the shifts, but at the same time it also didn't feel like it was pulling as hard as my SS does after I got it tuned. I would kill to line up next to this thing on the street and have a go at it. I am absolutely convinced I could hang with it if not pull it. I know it only had 60 miles on it, but I seriously expected more. The seat of the pants meter left me feeling unimpressed in comparison to my own truck.
My impressions are this, the Jeep is a nice, fast SUV. However, I think the Trailblazer SS looks nicer, and definitely has a nicer interior in some aspects. The SRT8 had cloth inserts in the seats compared to our suede. The SRT doors had plastic to our leather. The gauges in the Jeep are nicer looking, but the A/C knobs are really plasticky and the A/C isn't even digitally controlled. I don't care what the reviews say, the interior of the Jeep is NOT nicer than the SS.
As for performance, the Jeep pulls harder stock, but with a tune it would bare minimum be a driver's race if not in the SS' favor. The Jeep rides a little stiffer, but for someone who wants a performance vehicle it is very liveable especially since the Jeep shifts much smoother.
Bottom line, when you factor in the price of $50,969 for the Jeep including the $4000 markup, you would have to be smoking crack to choose the Jeep over an SS. She flat out told me they would not budge on that price since this is their first one, and being that it is the first every one of those 60 miles were put on the truck by an employee test driving it and absolutely flogging the snot out of it. She said a few people had come in to look at it, but nobody had expressed a serious interest in it at that price, I know, shocker.
Long live the SS!!!:p