Get used to seeing the SRT badge - though not for very long, as it will usually be accelerating away from you. It's to Chrysler and Jeep what AMG is to Mercedes and M to BMW; it turns regular cars into fire-breathing monsters.
The Crossfire Roadster SRT-6 was the first to get the big bad wolf treatment, followed by the 300C sedan, and the latest recipient of this steroid boosting is the Jeep Grand Cherokee off-roader.
The nomenclature stands for Sport Racing Technologies - 8 denotes the number of cylinders - and it's the quickest, most powerful Jeep yet, with a 6.1-litre V8 engine producing a monster 313kW and 569Nm.
In sheer one-upmanship this grandest of Cherokees rates right up there with the market's mightiest SUVs and in outright grunt it's beaten only by the top SUVs from the Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes ML stables which sell for between R895 000 and R1.5 million.
Which makes the Grand Cherokee SRT8 a relative bargain at R549 900.
This isn't a Jeep for crawling around in swamps. Ride height has been reduced and it wears low-profile tyres, making it more of an urban gangsta-mobile for the concrete jungle - or to go drag racing and surprise the hell out of the hot hatch brigade.
The big American looks the part with its darkened rear windows, 20" wagon-wheel alloy rims and generally in-your-face styling.
A pair of big bore tailpipes exits provocatively from the centre of the rear bumper and even the engine has classic Hemi visual cues with its orange cylinder block and black valve covers.
It doesn't quite have the visual presence of GM's larger and squarer Hummer, but should run circles around it. Subtlety is not on the menu here, visually or performance-wise.
Its makers claim it will do 0-100km/h in 4.9sec at sea level. Impressive, even with the Lamborghini-esque outputs of that old-fashioned pushrod engine; it weighs in at 2.2 tons, after all.
It feels seriously, brutally powerful and will run away from a lot of cars wearing M or AMG badges. This yank tank gets moving in a hurry - and the best part is there's no lag or hesitation.
Instant response
The SRT-8 comes off the line with instant response when you punch the throttle, which is very useful for blocking arrogant minibus taxis trying to steal a gap. We all have to do our little bit.
Keep the throttle nailed to the floor and the big Jeep gathers momentum with the inevitability of a herd of buffalo.
Top speed's a none-too-shabby 240km/h, helped by the SRT-8 being lower and having a more streamlined nose than standard bread-and-butter Grand Cherokees.
There's no subtlety in the fuel consumption department either, with the computer display in our test car reading a thirsty 18.9l/100km.
Good road manners
The lowered stance, combined with firmed-up suspension, sharpens the handling and the SRT8 has surprisingly good cornering manners for such a big barge.
There's nothing mushy about it and the chassis stays taut and level through fast turns, without feeling particularly top-heavy.
Traction's in generous supply thanks to the wide 255mm rubber and permanent all-wheel drive. The rear-biased system normally directs around 5-10% of power to the front wheels - more when you start exploring opposite lock techniques.
The firm suspension makes for a juddery ride on rough surfaces, however; this Grand Cherokee feels more sports car than SUV and again underlines its unsuitability for driving through dongas.
There's no low range gear either. Mind you, I reckon this high-powered SUV would make mincemeat of climbing tall sand dunes, which is all about momentum.
Impressive numbers
The numbers are impressive on both sides of the firewall, and the audio system is a 276W, integrated Boston Acoustics set-up.
It's part of a generous specification sheet that includes a multifunction steering wheel with height-only adjustment, sports bucket seats bearing the SRT-8 logo, leather door and seat trim and carbon fibre-look steering and gear knob.
What you have here is basically the ultimate in macho, hard-hitting, American-style SUV muscle. Let the good times roll, baby.