FOR THE LOVE OF MUSCLE SUVS
It just might be perfect ... for some people
For people whose loves include muscle cars, a large family and—forget the jet skis, how about a 25-foot cabin cruiser?—Dodge’s Durango SRT is the perfect machine.
Sure, it’s hard to wrap one’s head around a $70,000 six-passenger, all-wheel-drive SUV whose seven selectable driving modes include a couple with a ride as smooth as a horse buggy, but the SRT folks managed to turn the Durango into a head-slamming, road-hugging, exhaust-roaring ball of fun that can do more work than anything in its class.
For less money, too, which tends to happen when the only competitors who can do what you do come from Mercedes, BMW and Range Rover.
Competence is the word that most comes to mind when discussing this vehicle, which frankly comes as a surprise. We were prepared to dislike it. A souped-up Durango, a stale design in a category ruled by innovative offerings such as the VW Atlas, Kia Sorento, Toyota Highlander, Mazda CX-9, or the all-new 2018 Chevy Traverse? Really?
Dodge gets it right
Really. Once again, Dodge’s engineers proved that even with shoestring R&D budgets, they can get a car right. Two percenters they are called in the industry. Sure, 98 percent of engineering and design teams can make a car work, but only the best can make it right.
Such is the case with the Durango SRT, which takes a regular Durango RT, jettisons the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 and replaces it with an eager and throaty, 475-hp, 470 lb-ft torque, 6.4-liter Hemi V-8. A stiffer suspension, stiffer roll bar and adaptive Bilstein shocks help keep all that power connected to the pavement.
How hard core are these guys? When engineers track-tested Durango SRT with and without an air intake in the lower fascia, they found that laps were 1.2 seconds faster with it, so the air intake made it onto production models.
Ok, that means the Durango SRT is not the best candidate for off-roading, but it was designed and built for what it does on the road. On a straight track, with the National Hot Rod Association watching, the Durango SRT covered the quarter-mile in 12.9 seconds. It went from 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds.
That’s fast for a sports car. For a 5,510lb. 201.2-inch SUV it is astonishing.
You might think something that powerful is a fuel hog, and you would be right. The EPA estimates the Durango SRT, running on the recommended premium fuel, will attain 13 mpg city, 19 highway, and 15 in combined driving. That’s about what we got, but we have no idea how.
After a few days of sporting around town, we decided we liked the muscleDurango enough to take it out in the river bottoms and open her up. Though we never came close to the SUV’s estimated 155 mph top end, we did eclipse a couple of multiples of the speed limit and learned some things.
One is that the Durango manages its mass and power with the finesse and elegance of a Doberman in pursuit of a crook. Turn-in is finely honed and precise, more like grand touring sedan than a truck. At speed, one can feel that stronger anti-roll bar. The SUV is stable, always on an even keel.
Braking is what one hopes for in a performance machine, thanks to Brembo high-performance discs at all four corners, with six piston calipers on 15-inch rotors in in front and four-piston calipers on 13.8-inch discs in rear.
A smorgasbord of software and mechanical engineering gives the driv-
er a seemingly infinite list of choices for playing with this toy. Driving modes include sport, track, snow, valet, tow and eco, or you can punch up your choices for things like traction control, shift logic and throttle response on the center display screen.
We liked to leave it in auto. Even with the suspension and steering set for comfort, the Durango SRT does a nice job taking inputs from the driver and its own sensors to get the vehicle into the right gear.
Switch over to sport and hold onto your hat. It tightens up suspension damping and increases steering gradient feel for improved cornering response. In addition, shift speed increases 23 percent in 1-4 gears and electronic stability control allows more yaw for spirited driving.
“Speeding? Me? Are you sure officer?”
The value proposition Moving up from a Durango R/T to the SRT costs $16,700, putting the starting price at $64,090, a price many people are not willing to pay, but this isn’t a car for the masses.
Dodge does some things inside to make the car feel special, like leather-and-microsuede upholstery and high-bolstered seats for the front row. A stitched dashboard isn’t real leather, but looks and feels like it.
A third row is actually large enough and comfortable enough for adults. One reason is a 119.8inch wheelbase, five inches longer than the Jeep Grand Cherokee who shares the platform.
A SRT trademark is an infotainment screen that can present an array of information that Dodge calls Performance Pages. Select from a handful of gauges and display them either in an analog format or as a scrolling ribbon.
We were also impressed with power and HDMI connectors to facilitate gaming by rear passengers.
Our tester included a $2,495 technology equipment package which added a full safety suite, such as adaptive cruise control, blinkd-spot and cross-path detection, lane departure assist and advanced brake assist. The good news is that Dodge had all those calibrated as well as we have experienced. The bad news is that one must pay extra on a $64,000 car for life-saving technology that others, such as Toyota, make available for no cost.
If you wish to take full advantage of the Durango’s best-inclass, 8,700-lb. tow capacity, be sure to order the $995, factory-installed tow package.
So is the Durango worth the money? The only other soupedup three-seat SUV on the market is the $126,000 MercedesAMG GLS63. The BMW X5 M, at $102,000 is probably quicker than the Dodge, but doesn’t have a third seat. Similarly, the Range Rover Sport SVR, $113,600, doesn’t offer a third row.
The Merc, BMW and Range Rover, it is worth noting, are also gas hogs.
Bottom line: If muscle, seating and hauling are your bag, the Durango SRT is the best buy on the market.