Set into the mountains of Colorado is the picturesque town of Durango. The town touts a belief of open spaces and familiar faces, and has even adopted this phrase as their town motto. The town isn’t what you’d expect as it resembles small town America, but is bustling with over 17,000 people, a historic rail system, and is within driving distance of several skiing hotspots. Much like the town of Durango, Colorado, the Dodge Durango isn’t exactly what you’d expect from a full-sized SUV.
Initially released in 1997, The Durango was based off of the Dodge Dakota with the traditional SUV construction of body on frame design. For the first two releases of this vehicle, design remained the same, but quickly fell out of favor as crossovers began to take over the automotive market. Dodge toyed with the idea of ending the line after the second generation, but quickly made a different decision and released the new Durango in the beginning of 2011, with a brand new unibody design. With no major plans in the works for a remodel, as of right now, the Durango will still be holding steady with a 2015 model year.
There is some speculation that the Durango will be discontinued as Dodge has been hinting at their desire to get out of the SUV game and focus mostly on their car lineup, but no further information has been released. There was talk back in 2012, that they would be handing over the SUV business to manufacturing partner, Jeep, but this story seems to hold little water as no hard and fast moves have been made. While it seems as though the Durango’s future is up in the air, Dodge seems to have no immediate plans to discontinue it, so the SUV will continue to stun its audiences, and exceed expectations.
Dodge calls its Durango the triple threat SUV because it offers best in its class towing, power, and gas mileage. Equipped with either a 3.6L Pentastar V6 engine or a 5.7L HEMI V8, this powerhouse SUV offers between 290-360 horsepower, and can haul between 6200 and 7400 pounds. The Durango comes standard with Dodge’s own eight speed automatic and wheel mounted shifters that can assist in providing drivers with the control of a manual transmission if they so desire. When equipped with the V6 engine, the Durango makes claims that it can average nearly 600 highway miles on a single fill-up at the gas tank!
Available in 10 bold and exciting colors, the Durango’s exterior is designed to make a scene. For those not satisfied with the simple status quo that other manufacturers are offering, Dodge offers a revolutionary new taillight design and an outside image chosen to mimic the sporty exterior of their muscle car lineup. Dodge focused on fine-tuning the details, rather than a general interest in the whole exterior package, and added an all-new grilled design, and other small touches. With all five trim levels boasting a plethora of standard features like heated mirrors and fog lamps, the Durango isn’t set up to disappoint, but to enthrall its drivers.
With standard seven-passenger seating, the interior of the Durango certainly isn’t cutting corners. Packed with technology features and nearly dripping in luxury, the top of the line in the Durango family will have drivers reveling in heated front row and second row seats, opulent leather interior, and nearly ninety cubic feet of cargo space. Optional rear DVD system, upgraded stereo, and navigation will put drivers on the right track for that family vacation, while keeping the kids as entertained as possible for the long haul to the beach, the mountains, or even just to Grandma’s house.
It’s unusual in this day and age that we are able to feel both overwhelming safety and security on the road. With the number of people making terrible decisions like texting while driving, and just generally not paying attention, the highway is a dangerous place to be, but with the Durango’s lineup of safety features and seven top of the line airbags. With revolutionary technology, gone are the days of starting and stopping with Cruise Control, as one of the features is Adaptive Cruise Control, an available system that uses radar to detect cars close-by and adjusts accordingly. Keyless Go, Hill Start Assist, and Keyless Entry are only a small portion of what is offered as standard features, and doesn’t begin to include all the optional features.
Whether you’re considering a trek to this SUVs namesake or you’re driving to work on a daily basis, the Durango will get you there. With a fun and sporty exterior, luxurious and spacious interior, and a massive amount of tech and safety features, drivers won’t just get there, they’ll have a blast on the way.
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