Apart from that engine, which packs 475 bhp, underneath the angry styling lies some pretty serious engineering. There\u2019s SLA independent front suspension, a specially tuned adaptive damping suspension system, and multi-link suspension at the back. The springs are 3% stiffer at the front, and 16% stiffer at the rear. And the rear-sway bar is 18% stiffer. Massive, high-performance Brembo brakes come as standard \u2013 six-piston at the front and four-piston at the back. The rubber wraps around 20-inch \u201cGoliath\u201d wheels and is from the Pirelli P Zero stock.<\/p>\n
All of the power is fed through a fairly sophisticated four-wheel-drive traction control system that delivers seven driving modes – from Auto, Sport and Track to Snow, Tow, Valet and Eco. There\u2019s launch control, too. As a result of all of this, the Durango SRT is much more than the standard car with a big engine; it\u2019s a proper street racer. That it\u2019s capable of ferrying a large family about in comfort is by-the-by.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/20190103_104617-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nHow does it drive?<\/h3>\n
As with every other SRT car<\/a>, the drive is dominated by that naturally aspirated, 6.4-litre V8. It\u2019s a masterpiece, this engine. Whatever car it\u2019s in, it creates an absolutely savage experience. It burbles away with the growl of a deranged hound when it\u2019s idling. And when you gun it, you\u2019re rewarded with the full T-Rex roar. By virtue of the engine being naturally aspirated, throttle response is pretty much instant. Blast it too hard without having mentally prepared, and you\u2019ll find your eyes have rolled around to the side of your head \u2013 such is the backwards G-force this thing inflicts on its occupants.<\/p>\n The stats say that the Dodge Durango SRT will do 0-100 km\/h in 4.6 seconds, but because the car\u2019s so big and (relatively) unwieldy, it feels much faster. The combination of that crescendo of noise and the high driving position creates a rocket-ship sort of appeal \u2013 a feeling that you\u2019re the fastest thing on four wheels. It\u2019s intoxicating.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s just when you\u2019re in the Auto driving mode. Head into the sub-menus on the infotainment screen, select Track, and you\u2019re in for an altogether more aggressive experience. Here, 70% of the 470 lb-ft of torque is sent to the rear wheels, and gearshifts are shortened to 160 ms. That doesn\u2019t translate to a tail-happy, muscle-car drive, but it does mean you can take on corners at insane speeds. You\u2019ll notice the systems wrestling with the car\u2019s high centre of gravity, with quite a bit of obvious pitch and roll, but the tyres stay planted and the tracking stays accurate. It\u2019s a bit of a bus (what large SUV isn\u2019t?), but it\u2019s mightily impressive, given the size of the thing.<\/p>\n It\u2019ll stop well, too \u2013 those big Brembo brakes are pretty fade-resistant (important in such a large car). Certainly, they\u2019re high-performance enough for long periods of road use \u2013 even if you constantly drive about as if your hair\u2019s on fire.<\/p>\n And let\u2019s not forget that this is still a practical, three-row car. You can spec your Durango SRT with either two luxurious racing seats in the second row, or a standard bench. All come with a pair of large third-row seats that are spacious enough for adults. Either way, you\u2019re getting at least six people in very comfortably. The rear seats fold flat, and the middle seats fold up, creating a cavernous van of a car.<\/p>\n The ride also bears mentioning. While the Durango SRT has been fitted with sporty, stiffer suspension, it\u2019s still as refined as you\u2019d expect from an American family bus. Wind and tyre noise is kept to a minimum on the highway, and you\u2019ll barely notice speed bumps \u2013 such are the bump-absorbing properties of the ride.<\/p>\n The one downside to the drive? That aggressive throttle. It\u2019s fabulous for when you want to gun it, but when you\u2019re just cruising about, you notice just how little play there is at the top. There\u2019s a very fine line between setting off gently and simply lurching forward with all 475 bhp \u2013 even in Auto mode. You can cure this by setting the drive selector to Eco. But if you\u2019re going to drive about in Eco mode, why have the SRT in the first place?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re familiar with any of the larger Jeep and Dodge models, you\u2019ll recognise the Durango SRT\u2019s interior in a heartbeat. The overall design is lifted straight from the standard Durango, which is itself a copy-paste job on the Jeep Grand Cherokee. This is no bad thing; while there\u2019s not much beauty to the interior vibe, there\u2019s a satisfying element of form following function.<\/p>\n Still, because this is the top-of-the-range SRT model, you do get some additional luxuries. The Laguna leather seats are fabulous, providing excellent support and comfort. And it\u2019s not just the driver who benefits from this \u2013 you get pretty much the same seats across all three rows, which is a nice touch for passengers in the back. There\u2019s an SRT steering wheel with leather trim, and while the fake leather atop the dash isn\u2019t particularly convincing, it is integrated nicely into the overall design, with lovely stitching adding a touch of luxury.<\/p>\n Tech comes courtesy of the Fiat-Chrysler group\u2019s UConnect system \u2013 still one of the best infotainment systems going. You get a big, 8.4-inch touch screen above the centre console. It controls everything \u2013 from the entertainment to the driving modes. Physical buttons and knobs are reserved only for the HVAC controls and the Beats by Dr Dre stereo volume.<\/p>\n The touch screen is responsive and easy to navigate through. But we\u2019d have preferred a physical drive selector (like you get on the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT<\/a>). Switching from Auto to Track, for instance, requires at least two actions (and perhaps more, depending where you\u2019re starting from), which isn\u2019t great if you suddenly happen upon a great piece of road and want to quickly take advantage of it.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, you get a plethora of USB ports and charging stations. There\u2019s also an SD card slot for your media, and a DVD player on-board. Those link to two high-quality screens in the middle row. Or, if your passengers prefer, they can plug directly into the screens via an HDMI cable or a standard, three-pin AV connection. Either way, there\u2019s no way your kids are getting bored in this car.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got a 6.4-litre V8 powering a two-tonne SUV. You\u2019re going to be paying a lot out in fuel. We\u2019d reckon on about 600 km between fill-ups \u2013 if you\u2019re careful. And the fuel tank isn\u2019t small at 93 litres. At current UAE fuel prices, it\u2019ll cost you around AED 230 to fill the car up.<\/p>\n On the plus side, insurance<\/a> isn\u2019t too bad. Budget around AED 6,000 to AED 7,000 for a decent fully comprehensive policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s something inherently silly about the Dodge Durango SRT. The normal Durango is sensible, well-priced and easy to live with. The SRT takes those qualities and throws them out of the window. What you get in return, though, is a glorious engine that deserves every piece of praise that\u2019s heaped upon it. It may be silly, but we salute the entire endeavor. As for whether or not you should buy one: Well, if you\u2019ve got three kids and you\u2019re hankering after a performance car, the Dodge Durango SRT may be the answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is it? This is the Dodge Durango SRT \u2013 a fairly innocuous family SUV that\u2019s been to the SRT finishing school. Whereas the standard Durango – a harmless family truck with seven seats \u2013 can be specced with a 3.6-litre V6 (or a 5.7-litre HEMI V8, if you must), this one is mean-looking, hunkered…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2666,2833],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","category-suvs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29533,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26396\/revisions\/29533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dodge](\"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DG018_080DUlkgivhsqohqbm58upcj8q5ig8p-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\nInterior quality and tech<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/20190103_104649-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nRunning costs<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/yallacompare.com\/car-deals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/20190103_104416-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/h3>\nOur verdict<\/h3>\n