Dodge Durango SRT revealed

Dodge has unveiled what it claims is the Charger coupe of the seven-seat SUV segment, the Durango SRT complete with a 354kW/637Nm 6.2-litre Hemi V8 engine.

While the Dodge brand dies a slow death in Australia – its last gasp being the unpopular Journey four-cylinder seven seater – it’s a case of all guns blazing and shot-down emissions standards in Trump’s America. Let’s just say, to celebrate the Durango SRT launch, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) released a video of its hulk performing a four-wheel burnout.

Closely related to the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT we receive locally, the sadly left-hook-only Durango SRT is also claimed to be the fastest three-row SUV in the States; the eight-speed auto-equipped model delivers a 4.4-second 0-60mph (97km/h) and 12.9sec quarter mile.

Still, it would have a Mercedes-AMG GLS63 nipping at its heels with its 4.5sec 0-100km/h.

Owners will definitely need a bigger boat given the monstrous 3.9-tonne towing capacity, but Dodge claims this isn’t just a blunder-bus that can rival a BMW M2 on the dragstrip.

With Brembo brakes and a Bilstein multi-mode chassis that in Track mode can prioritise 70 per cent of drive to the rear wheels “for the most pronounced rear-wheel-drive experience” in the segment, it has the gear to haul beyond in only a straight line.

“This is what you get, when you take everything great about the Durango and combine it with the performance of the Charger SRT,” announced FCA North America head of passenger cars brands Tim Kuniskis in a statement.

“A 12-second quarter mile, toy-hauling, three-row muscle car.”

Just call it a Durango unchained – even if FCA Australia are still bound by the shackles of the Charger, Challenger and Durango being left-hook only, at least for their current generations.