Dodge Durango SRT A New Class Of Sport SUV
Is the introduction of the Dodge Durango SRT the beginning of a new class of SUV. Will other manufacturers follow with track built SUV’s?
Leave it to Dodge to throw so much at an SUV that it changes the way we look at the entire industry. When have we ever talked about 0-60 times for this class of car? It has been the Land Rover and everyone else when it came to brute power. That is all about to change with the Dodge Durango SRT.
Sporting the 6.4-liter Hemi V8 producing 475 horsepower, it’s 60 time is 4.4 seconds. Even more astounding is the 12.9 second quarter mile time. This is a beast that will challenge many stock performance cars, but will seat 8! Is it just me or is anyone else getting excited?
With all the weight to go with the power, Brembo has provided a brake package to slow this beast down. So if you are hauling a boat to the lake or late to the softball field, you are going to get slowed down fast. It seems that Dodge has made sure that they put a great package around that powerful Hemi engine.
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To help you know that the SUV pulling away from you at the stoplight is an SRT, the vented hood from the Hellcat identifies this Durango. With sharp badging and the Durango’s sleek lines, you are going to get looks in the car rider line at school. Who does not want to win the race home from the park after the games? I know I do!
The real question here is will other car makers follow Dodge build more powerful SUV’s? With the power race that the truck makers have going on, it would not take mutch to redefine the class. The new Ecoboost Ford put in the Raptor in an Expedition. How about the 650hp motor in the Camaro wrapped around a Tahoe? This could get to be a lot of fun for dads out there.
With the ever growing lines of trailers and RV’s available for bumper-pull, the power could be put to good use. You add in the new transmission offerings and displacement on demand options, fuel economy really does not suffer for daily driving. Surprisingly, there are real applications for this class to get these power boosts.
If Dodge really wanted to go off the chain and turn the industry on its head, they would put the Hellcat supercharger on it. I am sure within days of it getting released someone is going to do it, and I can’t wait to see it. As a driver of an SUV myself, I am excited that the performance evolution could be coming to the class.