SIZE MATTERS FOR 3-ROW PEOPLE MOVER
If you can live with the size and fuel use, the Dodge Durango is a smooth, capable SUV
When Dodge first introduced its minivan, way back in 1984, the station wagon was all but doomed. Who’d settle for a car with three rows of seats, when you could have that plus extra headroom and a sliding door? But even with all that going for it, the minivan nonetheless fell in popularity compared to the lure of SUVs, which could also be outfitted with three rows but without the “soccer mom” stigma.
Dodge still offers a minivan — at least for a little while longer, until the more upscale Chrysler Pacifica completely supersedes the Grand Caravan — but it also sells the Durango, one of the top contenders in the three-row SUV segment for those who want to haul folks in style. It’s big and expensive, but it’s also roomy, well finished, and a supersmooth driver.
It starts out with a 3.6-litre
V6, and a base price of $44,195. But I went the other way, with the top-line Citadel trim, starting at $57,195, before adding the optional 5.7-litre Hemi V8 engine, a $2,400 option.
All Durango trim levels include all-wheel drive and, need ’em or not, three rows of seats. For 2018, the Durango will also be offered as a high-performance SRT model. The Durango is a sibling to Jeep’s Grand Cherokee, sharing its platforms and engines. However, the Grand Cherokee only has two rows of seats and offers a V6 diesel that the Dodge version does not.
While not as easy to access as a minivan’s, the third row in the
Durango is roomy in comparison to some of its competitors, including enough legroom that you’re not folded up with your chin on your knees. It’s only good for two people, but that also means full-size seats if you’re putting adults back there. The second row comes as a bench seat for seven-passenger seating overall, but can be optioned to a pair of comfortable captain’s chairs for six people.
The V6 engine is the only engine available in the base SXT. It’s also the stock power plant in the GT and Citadel, where it can be swapped for the V8.
The R/T trim uses the eight-cylinder engine exclusively. Making 293 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, the V6 does a decent job despite the Durango’s substantial curb weight, and it helps keep the price down.
The 360-hp, 5.7-L V8 provides snappier acceleration, of course, and a towing capacity of up to 7,200 pounds (3,265 kilograms) versus 6,200 lbs (2,812 kg) for the V6. But the V8 will also add to the fuel bill, coming in at a combined city/highway rating of 14.0 L/100 kilometres, versus the V6’s published rate of 11.3 L.
There’s always a price to pay when driving a large-by-huge ute, although the V8 seamlessly deactivates half its cylinders under light load to save some gas. It’s a great engine, with linear acceleration and a smoothshifting eight-speed automatic to send the power out. Its dial-style shift knob has its detractors, but I like it: It frees up console space, but is far easier to use than those space-saving but hellish push-orpull electronic shift levers. The full-time all-wheel system has a dial to switch it into low range when needed to get through the really sticky stuff.
For all its bulk, though, the Durango drives more like a big car, with a bump-soaking-up suspension and just a bit less body roll than expected on the curves. It’s manoeuvrable enough on city streets, but as you’d guess, the Durango is most at home eating up real estate on highways and rural roads, where its seating and towing capacity will get you and yours comfortably to the cottage. That said, as with all but the longest-wheelbase three-row SUVs, once you put people in all those chairs, there’s precious little room behind them for their luggage. When you don’t have butts in them, both the second and third rows fold flat for extra cargo space.
The cabin is plain, but the materials are top notch. All models include automatic trizone climate control, a proximity key, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror and a stowable, rechargeable flashlight, while the GT and up add leather upholstery and a heated steering wheel. But there are some oddities in the features list: The base SXT doesn’t have a backup camera or parking sensors — really, on something this big, it’s pretty much a must-have — while blind-spot monitoring, which is increasingly becoming standard on many vehicles, was only added to my top-line trim as part of a $1,450 package that also added adaptive cruise control, forward emergency braking, and lane-keeping assist.
The bottom line is this: As nice as the Durango is, you’re going to have to be realistic about it. There are a lot of available add-ons, and the price climbs sharply when you start ticking the boxes. It’s big, it needs a lot of space to park, it’s heavy and, correspondingly, is going to use more fuel than anything smaller that you’re trading in. But if you can live with that, the Durango is a top contender in this segment and definitely worth test driving, whether you’re sticking with the V6 or moving up to the Hemi.
Overview: A big and bold but comfy people-mover
Pros: Smooth ride, great V8 engine
Cons: It gets expensive quickly
Value for money: Average
What I would change: Put a rearview camera in every trim level
How I would spec it: The SXT should work for most buyers