|
Dodge Durango wagon bred from Dakota truck with big V8 power
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
|
DRIFTWOOD, Tex. -- With more than 35 nameplates crowding the field of sport-utility vehicles, the Dodge Division of Chrysler Corporation has finally entered this market with a new 4-door wagon which measures larger than best-selling compact-class competitors, packs more powerful engines, seats more people and tows heavier trailer loads.
The new Dodge wagon looks tough, with a face that resembles the Dodge Ram pickup. It flexes muscles whether on pavement or dirt, yet also carries the comfortable and convenient features of a Caravan, Dodge's popular minivan.
Even the name sounds tough: Durango.
To create Durango, which measures between the extremes of current compact and humongous sport-utes, Dodge's designers borrowed underpinnings and critical parts from Dakota, the Dodge truck which also stacks up somewhere between extremes of full-size and compact pickups.
The result combines benefits of both sizes.
When edging along in city traffic or weaving through crowded shopping center parking lots in tasks typically faced by SUV drivers, Durango behaves itself and reveals a nimble attitude which makes it as easy to maneuver as one of the smaller wagons.
When packing a carpool or hauling a lot of gear, Durango's impressive interior arrangement includes seats for up to eight people in three rows or a cargo volume as high as 88 cubic feet, which exceeds capacity of smaller wagons and approaches the space in monster utes.
When pulling a trailer, Durango offers a choice of three engines including two V8s capped by a 5.9-liter bull plant which harness 245 horses with tremendous torque to extract the highest work level. With the big V8 aboard, Durango's tow rating rises to 7,200 pounds and the gross combined weight for vehicle and trailer exceeds six tons.
Durango is, in a word, macho.
That's the attitude expressed by Durango which begins with aggressive exterior styling and extends to powertrain performance and its prowess when surging on pavement or scaling some off-road obstacle in 4-wheel-drive.
All editions contain a 4-wheel-drive system, by the way, whether part-time or full-time. And operation of the 4x4 mechanism includes a floor-mounted switch lever in the obvious absence of one of those dashboard push-button devices available on some deluxe wagons. Designers deliberately eschewed such a convenience to focus on Durango's heritage as a truck.
That starts with Dakota's truck frame and the same front-end exterior treatment which extends in-your-face sheetmetal shapes reflecting styling of the full-size Ram pickup. Design cues from its bold prow and stepped-up hood trace back to streamlined Dodge workhorse trucks of the 1940s and huge semi- rigs.
Behind the A pillar, all shapes for Durango are new. The roofline rises toward the rear to bring more headroom for riders on second and third tiers of seats, and at the back the tail sweeps around in curvy corners with forward-tilting tailgate effecting a sporty and progressive look.
Because a wagon contains far more mass than a pickup, Dakota's chassis had to be stronger and stiffer for it to perform agile maneuvers, so the side rails were boxed to maximize torsional rigidity and new light-weight cross beams were attached to form a firm new platform.
Then the floor for Durango was dropped by an inch to carve out more cabin space.
Drawing from Dakota's suspension components, Durango gets upper and lower control arms in front with a live rear axle, plus gas-charged shocks at all points and stabilizer bar for both front and back. Yet modifications were made to components like springs and shocks and torsion bars in order to tame a truckish ride quality and minimize lateral roll to create a more maneuverable vehicle.
Also, suspensional ride height was dropped an inch for better handling and so riders could step aboard more easily.
Steering feels tight but reacts quickly to movement due to quicker ratios for the variable effect.
Recent road tests over rugged ground in Texas Hill Country revealed that Durango will romp with an easy-driving attitude on pavement, but it gets serious on dirt.
As rain turned Texas dust to slippery mud, a Durango rigged with part-time 4x4 traction tackled a rugged off-road path which rose up a stone-cluttered slope that was rough and lumped and jagged in stair-step sequence. It was a daunting incline, far too steep for a conventional vehicle, but not too steep for Durango.
Shifting the floor lever to bottom gear in low range of 4-wheel-drive, driver put foot to pedal as hands gripped the sporty steering wheel. Then that torque-monster engine took over as nubbly off-road tires clawed for traction. Durango plowed that slope, smothering mud and stone with deep-tread rubber while mustering the force of so many horses to move two tons of metal to the top of Texas.
Inside, driver and passengers felt cozy in the spacious cabin in an arrangement which brings more than adequate space for an adult in any seat position.
Standard layout installs twin front bucket seats with center console followed by a second-row bench divided in sections of 40/20/40 proportions to permit custom seat adjustments. An optional front bench with similar divisions may be substituted for the individual buckets.
Second row seats fold and tumble easily from either side to access rear quarters, where the 2-person third row seat lists for $550. Due to the flat floor and simple-to-fold second seats, reaching that third tier is not as difficult as in big wagons and the accommodations actually feel more comfortable and roomy.
Two trim designations define Durango -- SLT and SLT+.
Both versions contain an array of comfortable interior features -- and nine cupholders -- but the top trim has foglamps and body-color moldings, plus more power options.
Base Durango SLT stocks a 3.9-liter V6 rated at 175 hp, automatic 4-speed transmission and part-time 4-wheel-drive system for an entry figure of $27,440. Pick the optional 5.2-liter V8 with 230 hp, which appears at mid-year, and this one comes to $28,025.
Add leather upholstery to Durango SLT+ and the price climbs to $29,135, where the 5.9-liter V8 with 245 hp applies only $300 more to the bottom line.
For model-year 1999, a price-leader SL edition will emerge with V6 engine aboard for $26,335.
1998 DODGE DURANGO WAGON
|
| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 1998 DODGE DURANGO Specs |
| Description: |
Mid-size 4-door SUV wagon |
| Model Options: |
Mid-size 4-door SUV wagon |
| Wheelbase: |
115.9 inches |
| Overall Length: |
193.3 inches
|
| Engine Size: |
OHV 3.9-L V6
OHV 5.2-L V8
OHV 5.9-L V8
|
| Transmission: |
Auto/4 |
| Drive: |
Part-time 4x4 (Rear)
Full-time 4x4 |
| Braking: |
Power disc/drum/ABS |
| Airbags: |
2 |
| Gas Mileage: |
3.9: 15/18 mpg
5.2: 13/17 mpg
5.9: 12/16 mpg |
| Price: |
$ 27,400 to $ 30,000 |
|
|
