Dodge will now sell you a 475bhp Durango SRT…
… that’ll do 0-60 in 4.4 seconds while carrying six people. Seems like a good idea to us
Before Dodge eventually lets the world in on what exactly the Challenger Demon is capable of, they’ve gone and stuck a 6.4-litre Hemi V8 under the bonnet of a land yacht called the Durango.
And it’s not just a case of wedging in a 475bhp, 470lb ft V8 and calling it a day – Dodge says that this is a proper performance car. Or, in their words, the “Dodge Charger of the full-size SUV segment.”
Of course, traditionalists would argue that a gigantic, 2.5-tonne SUV isn’t the logical starting point for a performance vehicle. But that’s a pretty old-fashioned opinion, and one that the Cayenne Turbo and Range Rover SVR have pretty much squashed into the dust.
In the Durango SRT, we’re talking about a three-row SUV (so basically a four-wheel-drive MPV) that can do the standing quarter mile in 12.9 seconds. For reference – if you don’t live your life a quarter mile at a time – the new Ford GT is said to do it in 10.8 seconds, while a PDK-equipped, 2017 Porsche 911 will do it in 11.9, as will the Alfa Giulia QV.
So, it’ll lose to proper performance cars, and will also struggle to keep pace with a Cayenne Turbo or a supercharged Range Rover, but none of those will carry you and five passengers – at least, legally. So there’s a win. Or a fine reason for land Rover to start building seven-seat SVRs.
And, to make sure that the Durango SRT doesn’t handle like a rocket-powered shipping container, there’s a very modern gamut of tech and toys to keep it under control, or thereabouts. So, it’s all-wheel-drive only, with an active centre diff that’ll shuffle up to 70 per cent of the grunt to the rear axle. There are also adjustable active dampers, stiffer springs and roll bars to keep the marauding beast on an even keel. And, perhaps obligatorily, there are 380mm brake discs with six-pot Brembo callipers up front and 350mm discs with four-pot Brembos up the back.
With the typically reserved nature of SRT-badged Dodges, there’s ‘Demonic Red Laguna’ leather on the inside and a series of bulges, ducts and scoops on the outside.
Of course, the Durango isn’t available in the UK or the Antipodes. So, if you’re looking for similar performance – in a very dissimilar package – there’s always the Range Rover Sport V8. But if you did (or do) have access to the Durango SRT, would you consider it?
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