Hooked up to an eight-speed automatic transmission, the Durango’s 3.6L V6 delivers good urge with impressive refinement. The Hemi V8 is quick and generally smooth, but equal numbers of people like or loathe the prominent V8 burble at low speeds. Precise steering and a well-judged ride-handling balance. The all-wheel drive system is remarkably well sorted. The cabin is quite well done, with tastefully conservative design and decent materials. Comfortable seats and plenty of room up front and good room in the third row, but the second row seat,, which can’t be moved fore and aft, has just adequate legroom. Abundant cargo space with the third-row seat folded but storage space is tight with the third row seat arrayed to take passengers.

Based on the platform of the previous-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Durango is built on a longer wheelbase and has a third-row seat. Styling, with a hint of the first Durango in its flanks, is very clean and shares no panels with the Grand Cherokee. Chrysler’s Pentastar V6 produces 290 horsepower in this application, with 5.7L and 6.4L V8s optional. Power reaches all wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission regardless of the engine. Properly equipped, the Durango V6 can tow up to 2812 kg (6200 lbs), with the V8 rated for up to 3266 kg (7200 lbs).

The base SXT trim is well equipped. The GT adds navigation, a power tailgate, fog lights, an auto-dim driver’s door mirror, remote start, sunroof ventilated front seats, heated second-row seat, Nappa leather, a heated second-row seat and a plethora of additional features, and is a bargain. When you account for additional equipment that accompanies the V8 in the R/T trim, the engine accounts for about $6000 of the $7800 price bump over the V6 GT. Equipped with the V8 to make it comparable with the R/T, the Citadel lacks the Active On Demand all-wheel drive system of the R/T, but adds some luxury features, including a hand-stitched dash overlay, power steering wheel and a lane departure warning, at a reasonable price. The 6.4L-V8 SRT 392, costs over $12,000 more than a Citadel V8, with the engine accounting for about $10,000 of the price supplement. The supercharged Hellcat model is priced $37,000 higher than the SRT 392 but order books are full. Blind spot and rear cross traffic monitors are standard on all trims for 2023. Forward collision warning with autonomous emergency braking is standard on the GT, R/T and Citadel trims and optional on the others. Lane departure warning is not offered on the SXT, standard on the Citadel and optional on other trims.

Not rated, insufficient data. The related Jeep Grand Cherokee is rated average for reliabilty. Powertrain warranty on the SRT model is only three years/60,000 km. rn