2018 Dodge Durango Hellcat high-performance

2018 Dodge Durango Hellcat – SPIED!  It’s confirmed! The newest spy photos are available. The future model is coming, 2018 Dodge Durango Hellcat is the newest refreshed 7-seat SUV edition. The Durango is basically the three-rows version of the Grand Cherokee with a slightly more utilitarian interior. This is good because it means that more people can afford a good example of the Durango but unfortunately the car was left without a high performance engine some time ago and it is currently sold mostly in its V6 trim level which is fine but not that exciting.

There aren’t an official and confirmed information, but the newest SRT Hellcat edition will be based on Durango Shaker concept, that debuted at 2016 SEMA Show.

New Aggressive design!

This might seem uninteresting but that car was a bit more different than the regular Durango. It featured a new front grille with a plastic honeycomb mesh similar to that of the Charger Hellcat and on top of that it also features a more aggressive front bumper with a large splitter on it. Many thought that the car was just a prank but later it was announced that the car was a Dodge development vehicle for what it might become the 2018 Dodge Durango Hellcat, the car everyone was waiting for.

Putting this much power in a production car is never easy because a production car has to be reliable and safe as well as somewhat fuel efficient. In order to achieve that, the upcoming 2018 Dodge Durango Hellcat is very likely going to have its entire running gear revamped, so expect from it an entirely new suspension system which will have to be different from that of the sedan because it uses a completely different platform.

Our best guess would be that Dodge will install harder shocks and springs, much larger brakes than on the current model as well as larger 19 or 20 inch rims wrapped in high performance rubber that will be able to withstand all that extra power.

Specs & Performance

At this point we still don’t know for sure if the car will be all wheel drive because Dodge doesn’t really have a system to support all that power. Some rumors suggested that they would go for a similar system to the one in the ML63 AMG but this would be highly unlikely at this point. Instead we think that the car will either feature all wheel drive and a less powerful engine than the regular Hellcat or only rear wheel drive and it will get the entire output of the engine.

This will be a 6.2 liter supercharged V8 with 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque which will give the Durango the title of the most powerful production SUV ever made. Performance wise the car will likely be close to the other Hellcat models but with a lower top speed due to its massive extra weight.

Just like with its SRT version or with all the other sporty cars that were released by Dodge, the upcoming 2018 Dodge Durango Hellcat is going to look a lot more aggressive than the standard version and this aggressiveness will likely be carried over inside the cabin. Here the car is likely going to still feature up to seven seats but these will be upgraded in order to offer more side support. Also, the instrument cluster will be different and the general equipment level should be on par with the most expensive crossover out there.

2018 Dodge Durango Hellcat Price

There aren’t any official details so far but it seems that the car will likely be priced at the same level with the current Hellcat models which means around $70,000. We are still quite far from the release date of the car but let’s just hope that by the end of 2017 Dodge will manage to at least show us the production version.

Dodge Durango Rivals?

Because crossovers these days are mostly minivans wrapped in a tougher shell, the Durango has to compete not only with actual crossovers but also with minivans. This means that it has to do a lot more things right in order to be successful. Some of its most recent rivals include the CX-9, the Pilot, and even the Ford Flex which bridges the gap between a crossover and a minivan.

Honda Pilot

(Read about 2017 Honda Pilot)

Even though some publications said that the Durango is much better than the Pilot, this is not entirely true. Both cars offer a very similar layout with up to eight seats, and both of them offer a similar type of design. However, while the Dodge Durango is rear wheel drive and it can be had with a V8, the Pilot is front or all-wheel drive, and it comes with a V6. On top of that, the Pilot is considerably more efficient, more refined and it manages to offer more room inside the cabin without being larger on the outside. There are also a lot more people that do prefer how the new Pilot looks.

Mazda’s CX-9

Released quite recently, Mazda’s large crossover is one of the most impressive out there. Like the Pilot, the CX-9 is offering a front wheel drive chassis which can also be had with all-wheel drive. Unlike the other two, the CX-9 gets the smallest engine; a 2.5 liter turbocharged inline 4. The interesting part is that it offers 250 horsepower, 310 lb-ft of torque and a silky smooth operation. It is also the most efficient of the three offering as much as 27 MPG on the highway for the all-wheel drive model.

If we had to pick a winner, that would be the Pilot. While the Durango is great, it is using rather old technology. The Mazda is great too, but its engine is not really up to the task of towing all that much so the fuel efficient, and powerful, Pilot is the clear winner here.

Dodge Durango short history:

The Durango has been around since 1997 as a successor for the Ramcharger. Up until 2009, the Durango used a body on frame construction which gave it superior off-road capabilities, but it made it rather poor on the road. It evolved tremendously back in 2010 when it its third generation was launched. This model used the same platform as the Grand Cherokee but modified in order to accommodate the larger body. The result has been one of the best-selling three-row crossovers out there. Unfortunately, though, because people started to like minivans more, the Durango started to lose some of its customers.