 2014 Dodge Durango Citadel. Click image to enlarge |
Ditto if you’re a fan of high-tech since Durango’s numerous interfaces are among the segment’s most modern and functional. The central control screen, for instance, is huge, bright, animated and offers high-resolution access to hundreds of vehicle functions. It’s among the most intuitive and easily learned systems of its kind, mainly because it’s not overcomplicated to all heck. The navigation interface is extremely polished, too.
The speedometer, which is actually its own high-resolution screen, can be reconfigured to call up dozens of informative readouts ranging from transmission temperature to tire pressure to radio station data. That’s handled with big, easily manipulated and chunky buttons mounted to the steering wheel, some of which also activate the Adaptive Cruise Control system. Unlike many competitors, you can run the Durango’s cruise control the good old-fashioned way, without radar assistance, if you like.
Other high-tech touches employed for the driver’s benefit include automatic wipers, automatic high-beams, and the latest in camera- and radar-based hazard detection to help keep you in your lane, keep you apprised of goings-on in your blind spot, and to keep you from rear-ending another car. Your writer lives at the top of a hill that crests in a blind corner, so I loved the Cross-Path Traffic Alert system that can ‘see’ cars coming before you can, as you back into a laneway, perhaps past seven-foot snowbanks. An alarm and flashing light advise you of that approaching car and direction so you can chill out until it passes.
The tester’s rear-seat occupants benefit from two flip-up TV screens to take in a Blu-ray movie, or perhaps some media stored on an SD card. Those rear-seat passengers also get second-row captain’s chairs, their own automatic climate control system, and surprisingly generous headroom despite the presence of a sunroof. As it tends to go with three-row crossovers, your writer mostly appreciated the rear seats in their folded-down position, where they create a generous amount of cargo space.
Hauling around any combination of people and gear your writer tossed the Durango’s way was the Hemi – none other than Chrysler’s award-winning 5.7L V8 unit with cylinder deactivation. That’s teamed to a new eight-speed automatic and an always-on four-wheel-drive system with low range for hauling the boat out of the lake.
The big Hemi is a docile brute when driven gently – fully capitalizing on its low-end torque when the ‘Eco’ mode is engaged to keep things spinning away at under 1,500 revs while the transmission changes up, seamlessly, seven times before highway velocities are achieved. Driven as such, you’ll barely hear a peep from the engine room.
   2014 Dodge Durango Citadel. Click image to enlarge |
Hammer on it, and the 360 horsepower charge into action, flooding the cabin thickly with a meaty, authoritative roar that’s distinctively V8, distinctively Detroit, and complete with a quick but delightful pause in sound effects as the engine cuts power for a moment when the transmission shifts. With eight ratios on tap, there’s always a perfect gear to get the Durango hustling along, and it feels responsive and eager to move.
So, a versatile powertrain: on one hand, very comfortable being driven gently with a sense of effortlessness and quiet enabled by the big-time low-end grunt. And, on the other hand, entertaining in terms of acceleration and noise when called upon for full steam ahead. Plus, the all-American sounding engine transmits just a hint of manly vibration into the cabin for added effect. It’s a beautiful power plant that should hit the mark with shoppers after fantastic noise, response and effortless performance.
Mileage? With excessive use of the remote start, extreme cold temperatures and plenty of heavy-footed backroads driving, the low-mileage tester averaged 18 L/100 km in city driving. You’ll do better. Highway-only driving, keeping up with traffic, saw that figure drop to around 10.5 L/100 km. Interestingly, that’s about the same figure I logged in a low-mileage Subaru Outback 2.5i a week prior on the same road. Take these results as you will, as yours will vary.
