Before calling the shots, let's take a quick look on the Dodge Durango SRT, shall we? Dodge's third-generation Durango combines the practicality of a sport utility vehicle and the sportiness of what a Dodge can be and due to inconsistent public demand, the SRT version of the Durango was unleashed, giving the soul of a muscle car to this do-all crossover.
Dubbed as the fastest third-row SUV in its class, the Durango SRT is powered by a 392-cubic-inch (6.4L) V8 engine producing 475HP of power and 470lb-ft of torque, while mated to a TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic. As verified by the NHRA, it foes 0-60mph in 4.4 seconds and can go through the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds.
Apart from its V8 power, the Durango SRT rides on a short-and-long-arm independent front suspension with coil springs, specially tuned Bilstein adaptive damping suspension (ADS), upper- and lower-control arms and a stabilizer bar, resulting to sports car-like handling. At the back comes a specially tuned multi-link suspension, and after that, it comes with a performance-oriented AWD system. It has massively new Brembo high-performance six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers and vented rotors at all four corners, resulting to an estimated 115 feet to come to a full stop from 60 mph.
The end result is that not only the Durango SRT is a track weapon crossover in its own right but also a fun people mover doing all sorts of everyday jobs, more than enough to make the neighborhood envy.
Need a little refresher? When I first saw the Durango SRT, I once said that not only you can handle this behemoth like a boss but you can handle any kind of weather condition like it never happened. Of course, it may not be as fast as the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk I drove a while back but you don't got smacked by some fat teenager girl doing a stage dive at the concert. Instead, it's likeyour granny spending the whole day watching Mad Mad-esque films no one heard of as I shall now explain on trip round Laguna Seca.
It maybe a people mover on steroids but the way the Durango SRT behaves is like I was expecting! Of course, this is the ideal crossover for men who got married by accident but going for the family car that is as fun as what they drove when they were single, like I said, and while you can drive it for everyday activities such as taking the kids to school, going to work, going grocery shopping, so on, so forth, but it's sensational to drive. It maybe heavy but it behaves like a Subie and that's just the cherry of the cake.
So, you got my point about how good the Durango SRT is, right? Let's crank it up a notch by proving just how good the Durango SRT is and because I prefer the unscripted life, let's pick a benchmark car for the Durango SRT to play with and I think I got one...
This is the Ford Focus RS, one of my favorite hyper hot hatchbacks ever emerged from the Old Continent to be driven by American hands. It has the same EcoBoost engine from the regular Mustang and has the coolest four-wheel drive system ever made. So cool, you can hoon it like a maniac. Anyway, let's see how the Focus RS fares with the Laguna Seca track...
The Focus RS did it in 1:55.264 and all I have to do is to see if the Durango SRT is as good as this hot Focus. Let's roll the tape!
How did I fare with the Durango SRT? It did it in 1:56.272 and when you round them up, it's a second slower than the Ford Focus RS. Close but this crossover proves its point!
There you are, ladies and gentlemen. The Dodge Durango SRT is almost as fast as a Ford Focus RS and while it's more expensive to buy than the soon-to-be-defunct hot Focus, this crossover is a do-all on the road and on the track and in the world of Forza, this has got to be one of the most enjoyable crossovers to drive at the moment if you think the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is too much of an overkill for you. Like the commercial said, welcome to the Brotherhood of Muscle.
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