(Most Pentastar-equipped Chrysler vehicles have six-speed automatics a ZF-designed, Chrysler-built eight-speed is also in the company’s future.) The extra gears also should help raise the Durango’s marginal-to-awful fuel-economy figures, estimated at 16 mpg city and 22 to 23 highway for V-6 versions-we observed 16 mpg overall-and 13 to 14 mpg city and 20 highway for V-8 models. Chrysler’s planned swap of both vehicles’ ho-hum five-speed automatics for more modern units with at least one more ratio could further hasten acceleration. In the quarter-mile, the Durango nudged out the Jeep by a tenth, arriving in 16.5 seconds at 87 mph. Strapping our test gear to the rear-wheel-drive V-6, we recorded the same 8.4 seconds to 60 as we did with the Jeep Grand Cherokee despite the Dodge’s additional 183 pounds. With 360 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque at a more accessible 51 rpm, respectively, the Hemi V-8 makes for brisker acceleration, with an extroverted rumble replacing the V-6’s mechanized whir.
Its torque peak of 260 lb-ft is also somewhat high at 4800 rpm, so we often found ourselves deep in the throttle in our attempt to drive with any sense of spirit. The base 290-hp, 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 is quiet and smooth, although it needs to be revved to its 6400-rpm redline to access all 290 hp. We sampled V-6– and V-8–powered Durangos on the roads in and around Napa Valley, California, and as with the new Grand Cherokee, the Teutonic foundations-the architecture will also be put to work under the next Mercedes M-class-pay big dividends in the driving department. Although the new Durango is heavy-our rear-drive V-6 model weighed in at 4955 pounds, and Chrysler quotes 5200 to 5350 pounds for trucks with the Hemi V-8-Dodge is nonetheless positioning it as a performance-oriented alternative to the current segment offerings, a claim backed up by the retention of rear-wheel drive and the resurrection of the Durango R/T, which nabs a standard Hemi V-8, unique exhaust tuning, sportier styling, and a lowered, tuned suspension. As handsome as the last one was brash, the 2011 Durango offers rear- or all-wheel drive, standard seven-butt seating (the Jeep is shorter and seats only five), a swank soft-touch and chrome-trimmed interior, and assembly quality that rivals anything else in the segment. After a two-year hiatus, the Durango is back, with a unibody design based on the same underpinnings that spawned Jeep’s stellar 2011 Grand Cherokee, which came in tops in its first comparo.
We’ll cut to the chase: This 2011 Dodge Durango is the brand’s best vehicle not called Charger.
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