The SRT Badge Finally Graces the Durango, Sans Hellcat

We’ve been waiting for some time now for the SRT badge to finally find its way to the Dodge Durango. In more recent history, it looked as if this would some along with the supercharged Hellcat engine. Today, Dodge surprised us with a new Durango SRT sans Hellcat.

This new version of the Durango will be a part of the 2018 lineup and will make use of the brand’s 6.4-liter V-8 engine. With this powerplant in place, the Durango SRT will have a mighty 475 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, making it the most powerful three-row SUV (until the Hellcat comes). This engine will pair with an eight-speed auto transmission specially calibrated for the Durango SRT. Power will head to all four corner by way of a performance-tuned all-wheel-drive system

The powertrain not only sounds tasty, but it delivers, too. The 2018 Durango SRT will hit 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds and clear the quarter-mile in an NHRA-certified 12.9 seconds.

2018 Dodge Durango SRT (Credit: © Dodge)

While the engine takes care of the straight-line work, the chassis also gets a huge makeover. This wild SUV gains a new brake system with Brembo six-piston calipers gripping 15-inch slotted rotors up front and four-piston rear calipers grabbing 13.8 inch rotors. This system can drag this big SUV to a halt from 60 mph in just 115 feet. At the corners are specially tuned Bilstein adaptive dampers, 3% stiffer front springs, 16% stiffer rear springs, 18% stiffer rear sway bar, and 295/45ZR20 Scorpion Verde tires.

So drivers can pick how wild they plan to drive, the Durango SRT also has seven drive modes. Auto is the base setting. Sport tightens the suspension, increases steering gradient, improves shift speeds by 23%, and the stability control allows the back end to get a little loose. Track mode fully tightens the suspension and steering, increases shift speeds by 50%, and the stability control lets the rear get even looser. The Snow, Eco and Tow modes are obvious, and Valet mode remaps the powertrain to mimic the Durango’s V-6 engines, so parking attendants don’t go Ferris Bueller on your Durango.

In addition to its power update, the SRT badge also comes with some visual goodies to align the Durango with the rest of the SRT stable. These changes include a wide-body look, an SRT hood with a cold-air duct and heat extractors, an SRT rear body-color fascia with gloss-black exhaust surrounds, and “performance AWD” badging on the rear.

2018 Dodge Durango SRT (Credit: © Dodge)

The cabin also gets a healthy update. The changes inside include an electronic T-shifter, Laguna leather and carbon-fiber trim, a hand-wrapped instrument panel with silver accent stitching, an SRT flat-bottom steering wheel, SRT paddle shifters, heated and ventilated front seats, heated second-row seats, SRT logos on the seatbacks, available true carbon-fiber instrument panel and door bezels, velour-bound floor mats with SRT logos, and suede-wrapped headliner and A-pillars.

Dodge expects to have the 2018 Durango SRT in showrooms in the fourth quarter of 2017. Stay tuned for pricing and other details.