Grand Cherokee

Make
Jeep
Segment
SUV

Diesel and performance may have once seemed like contradictory terms, but these days the performance arms of numerous automakers have been looking at diesels. Audi's Quattro GmbH recently debuted an SQ5 with a turbodiesel, BMW's M division has tuned out a series of diesels... even Mercedes has toyed with the idea of an oil-burning AMG. And now it seems that SRT could be preparing to do the same. The report stems from Twitter, where Chrysler design chief and SRT boss Ralph Gilles turned to his 4,000 followers.

Gilles also asked the legions of tweeting enthusiasts what model they'd like to see fitted with an SRT-fettled diesel the most. While the notions of a performance diesel Ram truck was touted, as was a diesel Dart (which would likely borrow an oil-burning engine from Fiat Powertrain Technologies), the more likely scenario would see a diesel SRT Jeep Grand Cherokee hit the street. So don't hold your breath for a diesel Viper. Jeep already offers a diesel Grand Cherokee in Europe and will soon market it in the United States, but a performance-oriented diesel sounds particularly intriguing.

While he was at it, Gilles also hinted at the possibility of making an extreme road-going version of the Dart racer which Travis Pastrana drives in the Global Rallycross Championship. This development may be in addition to the "regular" SRT version already said to be in the works. In other words, things aren't about to slow down at SRT any time soon.