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 Sport-utility
vehicles and minivans clustered behind the badge
of Dodge include the mid-size Durango wagon and
best-selling Caravan minivan. The SUV Durango,
wearing a face that resembles the big Ram pickup,
offers Chrysler's big Hemi engine, while the Caravan
line carries an inventive Stow 'n Go seat plan.
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| As a big-rig
treatment for the sport-utility vehicle from Dodge, Durango was recast last year
on a new chassis and the resultant SUV measures considerably larger than its predecessor.
That size-wise expansion made Durango almost as large as some full-size SUVs,
as it's big enough to seat seven passengers comfortably on three banks of seats.
Durango's standard seat layout installs twin front buckets separated by a center
console and followed by a sculpted second-row bench divided 40/20/40 in sections,
and a third-row bench split 50/50. The second bench folds and tumbles easily from
either side to access rear quarters. Seatbacks on the third row also fold flat,
either individually or together, to enlarge the cargo compartment.
Trims
for 2005 are designated as ST, SXT, SLT and Limited, plus a new Adventurer package
with tubular side steps, slush mats, a rubberized washable cargo liner and special
aluminum wheels. Powertrains range from a 3.7-liter V6 to a 4.7-liter Magnum V8
and the powerful 5.7-liter Hemi V8 prompting best-in-class towing capability.
That Hemi V8 goes in a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Durango or the optional four-wheel-drive
(4WD) version with electronic shifting into 4WD high and low range plus all-wheel-drive
(AWD) mode. |
