Introduction: The Dodge Durango was started in 1998 when Dodge decided to use its Durango as a base to make an SUV. Back then SUVs were selling very well and Dodge had no answer to the wildly popular Ford Explorer and didn't want to lose out. The original Durango got old by 2003 and was replaced with a bigger full sized Durango in 2004. The Durango was still based on the Dakota but was much wider. The Durango is also the first Dodge models to become a hybrid. The Durango however had its production run end in 2008, the last models being the 2009 hybrids.
You probably know I don't have very good things to say about Dodge products so you can expect my intial thoughts about seeing this vehicle.
Performance: The Dodge Durango had 3 options to choose from engines a 3.7L V6, a 4.7L V8(flex fuel) and a 5.7L Hemi V8. I only got the chance to drive the Durango with the regular 4.7 flex fuel V8 so it only produced 235 hp and 300 lb.ft of torque which is clearly isn't enough. It could only accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 10.7 seconds...pretty bad. Considering how large this SUV is I thought Chrysler would give it an adequate design to make it not seem so slow...but they failed. I can't imagine how slow the V6 is.
*Note: Sorry about the pic but apparently nobody but our fleet has this engine in their Durango...they all seem to be Hemi V8s. I would take a picture of one of our own...but we retired them all.
My Score: 3/10 - A 4.7 L V8 that moves a SUV this slowly is not a worthwhile engine.
Handling: The Dodge Durango as you can see from the performance section did pretty badly. Its clearly not a light vehicle if 300 lb.ft of torque doesn't move it quickly enough and as a result the handling is pretty poor. Even worse, the steering wheel is very vague...which is a horrible thing in an SUV like this. I'll be honest, I had an accident in this truck with its massive size and vague wheel I scratched the fat rear wheel arch. This thing is terrible to drive, enough said.
My Score: 2/10 - Bad handling and a very vague steering feel, bad enough that its easy to crash it.
Interior: Here we go again, another bad interior design brought to you from Chrysler. First things first, one of the more important items that is more critical to SUVs is how much more blind are you. This is a blind vehicle(another factor to my accident), the seating position is horrible for someone short which I am. Next item, the interior materials are very cheap and ugly as expected from Chrysler. Its not build very well either, a vehicle built in the USA...I just found loose bits and misaligned pieces in a few places on this SUV. Its not all that comfortable either, you do feel its truck roots. The truck is spacious, I'll give it that allowing it to be an 8 seater.
My Score: 1/10 - Big blind spots, ugly and cheap materials, bad seating position and not very good build quality, you just can't expect a good score.
Styling: Normally a Dodge scores much better with styling, I just didn't find that to be the case here. The shape is pretty uninspiring and its doesn't even have a nice looking grille to go with it. The Rams look good, this just doesn't. You can't even confuse it as a possible Ram variant which would be something in its favour. The fat wheel arches unnecessarily increase its width...for no reason.
My Score: 4/10 - Not very attractive, dumbly designed wheel arches...the only thing in its favour is its not really ugly.
Value for Money: This is a budget priced SUV...unfortunately it also looks that way. Its slow, the interior is horrible, it drives pretty badly, its a gas guzzler, nothing really comes into mind about why this SUV is good other than being cheap and spacious and an 8 seater.
My Score: 4/10 - Its the cheapest 8-seater out there...a shame its a horrible car.
Overall: 14/ 50 - What a big pile of rubbish this truck is.
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