Some things never change very much, and that can be a good thing. With a luxurious interior that rivals German SUVs, and good old ‘Merican muscle under the hood, the Durango SRT® 392 continues to impress us. Its never-ending HEMI® engine grunt that pushes us back in its leather-clad seats is still a thrill ride. It’s also very interactive. Tap your right foot on the accelerator pedal and you become an orchestra conductor commanding the thundering and intoxicating exhaust tones that boom out of the four-inch tips. Its cavernous cabin, when the second- and third-row seats are folded, gives you over 85 cubic feet of room to swallow your luggage and provisions for those long road trips. Despite being built on a platform that’s been around for many years, the Durango SRT is not “dated”, but instead refined. It’s aging very well and still has plenty of moxy and in-your-face attitude. It still looks mean when you see it, and when we were rolling in the left lane going down the road, many motorists moved over and let us by.
The Durango SRT comes with all the comfort and technology we could ask for. Why mess with a good thing? In the sport utility vehicle horsepower battles, both Durango SRT 392 and Durango SRT Hellcat can crush many would-be opponents in price and quarter-mile performance. They might be 5,500-pound behemoths, but Durango SRT models can turn, brake and outrun many vehicles in the hotly contested SUV segment. Hell, these family haulers can even take down many unsuspecting vintage and modern muscle cars at the stoplight drags. But for many, the Durango SRT is like a support animal. It’s comforting and reassuring. It’ll basically do anything you ask of it. Like your friend who was the starting linebacker on the high school football team, he’s the one you call when you need something big, bulky and heavy moved. His big biceps and broad shoulders have no problem picking up and moving your “stuff”. He’s always there when you need some muscle and that’s how the Durango SRT 392 is. Eager, ready and willing. Just make sure it gets fed a steady diet of premium unleaded and all will be well.
On a recent three-day, 1,000-mile round trip from the Motor City to south of the Mason-Dixon line, our Durango SRT 392 never missed a beat. It did everything we asked of it and kept asking for more when we climbed the stunning and scenic Appalachian Mountains on our way to visit kin folk down yonder in the holler within the rolling hills of Weber City, Virginia. It’s a place steeped in endless beauty, country music history, and where coal trains trundle along towering steel trestle bridges carrying their long, endless loads of fossil fuel to various powerplants that light the big cities and small towns. The powerplant in our Durango SRT came in the form of the 392 HEMI V8 engine and was at home showing off its massive amounts of torque and horsepower whenever we commanded it. If you’re into numbers, the 392 HEMI V8 engine in the Durango SRT pumps out 475 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm and 470 lb.-ft. @ 4,300 rpm. It’s just shy of the 485 horsepower and 475 torque numbers found in its Challenger and Charger Scat Pack brothers. This minor reduction is due to the Durango SRT’s unique exhaust manifolds, but you’d never know or feel it. When you bury your foot, the torque of the Durango SRT’s modern 392 HEMI engine has an uncanny resemblance to a high-compression 440 Magnum V8 in a 1969 Charger R/T. Those of you who’ve experienced the raw power of old-school Mopar® muscle will understand this feeling. But that’s where the similarity ends, as the 392 HEMI engine with its Multi-Displacement System (MDS) Fuel Saver Technology will allow this big and brawny V8 to sip gas going down the road, provided you control your urge for that “need for speed.” And with the 8HP70 eight-speed TorqueFlite® auto trans, each gear change under wide open throttle can practically snap your neck. If you’re brave enough to select Track mode within the SRT pages found on the infotainment center, the Durango SRT becomes and feels like a totally different animal, set on laying waste to whatever gets in its way.
From steep grades to winding switchbacks, our Durango SRT 392 was firmly planted to the various road surfaces we encountered during our trip. From the boring and mundane I-75 interstate to the two-lane US-23 that snaked its way through the Cumberland Gap with stunning elevation changes and sharp curves, the Pirelli Scorpion Verde Zero tires that measured 295/45ZR20 offered decent grip without obnoxious road noises emanating throughout the cabin. There was a time we had to haul down this mammoth machine in a hurry due to errant objects on the road: apparently, a pickup truck ahead of us decided to jettison his load due to a loose tiedown strap. Lucky for us, our Durango SRT had the optional two-piece aluminum performance front rotors that measure an astounding 15.7 inches X 1.42 inches with Brembo six-piston calipers. These things probably have enough stopping power to bring a Boeing 747 that’s coming in for a hot landing on a short runway to a safe halt with tarmac to spare.
Since it was mid-January when we made this road trip, and we were travelling through Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, all the drag strips were closed for the season. We were tempted to continue heading down the road to South Georgia Motorsport Park to make some laps, but we ran out of time and had to point the Durango SRT north back to Detroit. But that’s okay, we’ve had plenty of seat time in these hot rod SUVs and know what they run down the quarter-mile. It was during the 2018 One Lap of America when we competed in a similarly equipped Durango SRT 392. In the stifling heat and even being “hot lapped,” it ran consistent 12.90-second ETs.
We don’t know what the future holds for Durango SRT 392 or Durango SRT Hellcat. What we do know is there are very few vehicles that can pamper you and your passengers, haul the goods, tow your racecar, tackle bad weather, bend corners and even blaze the drag strip. With that being said, the perfect vehicle for all your needs might be a click away on Dodge.com, but don’t wait too long!
Here are more pics of our Durango SRT 392 and its Appalachian adventures.
