Dodge Durango: throwing its weight around

The Dodge Durango has a muscular appearance and creates a sense of excitement when you approach it the first time. It has a strong and rigid ladder frame chassis, has little body roll when going round corners, and has enough space for eight people to sit comfortably.



In terms of Olympic boxing categories, the Dodge Durango would be rated a heavyweight, as opposed to a super heavyweight contender for the gold medal. It is not as big as the huge 4x4 vehicles offered by other American manufacturers, but is similar in size to the best of the larger Japanese models on the market. On the other hand, it is a very substantial vehicle with plenty of space and room for families in the eight seats it offers.

The Durango is a classic example of contemporary American SUV design and construction with its very strong and rigid ladder frame chassis. The engine is a powerful V8 with a capacity of a whopping 5.9 litres and capable of producing 245 bhp and torque of 454 Nm. The automatic transmission is a four-speed, with overdrive, type and is controlled by a column-mounted shift lever. The vehicle would normally be used in the overdrive mode for optimum fuel efficiency.

In fact, during our road test ,we noticed that, at 100 kph, switching from normal drive to overdrive reduced the engine speed from 3,050 rpm to 2,100 rpm - just think of the fuel saving. The Durango is a full-time 4WD with three options available. The regular driving 4x4 mode with a centre differential in the transfer case.

Next, you can select 4 Hi and by doing this, you lock the centre differential and send equal amounts of drive force to the front and rear axles. Lastly, there is 4 Lo, where the low range of gears are available. It is recommended, when changing from the normal drive mode to the other modes, that vehicle speed is reduced to a walking pace before switching over.

The transmission includes a Central Timer module, and this is one of the interesting features that one comes to expect when discovering a new model from the Chrysler/Dodge stable. This timer manages the shift points of the gear box according to driving conditions. It also controls the intermittent windscreen wiper speed.

When the vehicle speed drops below 16 kph, the intermittent wiper speed interval increases so the wipers wipe less frequently and this helps to prevent wiper 'chatter' across a dry windscreen. Ingenious idea!

The suspension is a mix of the old and new. The front suspension is independent, using double wishbones with torsion bars, gas shock absorbers and an anti-roll bar. The rear suspension supports a rigid axle using a single 'S'-shaped single-stage leaf spring, gas shocks and a rear stabiliser bar.

The tendency of the American-built SUVs to retain rigid rear axles and leaf springs comes from the frequency of SUVs being used for towing trailers and caravans in the United States. It is easier and safer to make vehicles for towing with this set-up.

The steering is by a speed-sensitive power-assisted rack and pinion system that offers just the right amount of feel at different road speeds. The braking system uses power-assisted discs on the front with drum brakes on the rear axle. ABS is standard and operates on all four wheels.

The Durango has, what is called in modern automotive marketing parlance a 'muscular' appearance that is both pleasing to the eye and creates a frisson of excitement as you approach it for the first time.

The roofline has a step-up starting just behind the 'B' pillar, and this provides that extra headroom for the passengers in the third row of seats. In fact, they are sitting theatre-style as the height of the seat squab is raised slightly to offer them a better forward view, thanks to the raised roofline.

The front windscreen pillars are angled back a little more than normal on a large SUV, but the rake of the windscreen does not interfere with the headroom for the front passenger and the driver.

Access to the rear luggage compartment is by the lift-up tailgate that offers 1.83 metres of clearance so even six-footers can stand upright when it is fully lifted. Support for operating this tailgate comes from two gas-pressurised struts and this makes it a one-handed job to open and close it.

Inside, there is lots of space with eight people being able to sit comfortably.

All the seats are very comfortable and our test vehicle had leather on the areas in contact with one's body. The seating is very flexible and can be quickly changed from one mode to another depending on whether the vehicle is to be used as a load carrier or a people carrier.

There are all the nice touches one would expect from a modern SUV including lots of storage bins, even a large one under the rear floor, beverage can and bottle holders, 12V power socket outlets, front and rear, a multi-use centre console unit between the front seats, tie-down hooks in the rear compartment, adjustable seat belt top mounts for all outside passengers, limited slip rear differential, fuel tank and transfer case skid plates, towing loops front and rear, an eight-speaker audio system with AM/FM radio and CD system, 31-inch by 10.5-inch wheels fitted with all-terrain tyres.