While the ongoing coronavirus health crisis has cast pretty much all automotive timelines into doubt, reports floating around the better-trusted parts of the car internet suggest that Dodge will be unveiling an updated version of the Durango for the 2021 model year. As it turns out, the full-size SUV could be adding an engine that puts the current bonkers (and notably fuel-inefficient) SRT trim version to shame: Mopar Insiders reports the next Durango will be scoring an SRT Hellcat version.
The Hellcat, in case you’ve forgotten, is Dodge’s ferocious supercharged 6.2-liter V8, which delivers a minimum of 707 hp and 645 lb-ft of torque. It’s the same engine that propels the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and to a top speed of 180 mph. Mopar Insiders claims that the SRT Hellcat Durango will launch with a limited run edition, packing a serialized badge number and a projected starting MSRP of around $80,000, before likely segueing into a build-as-many-as-we-can-sell version.
The Durango will also reportedly be available with hybrid versions of its existing 3.6-liter V6 and 5.7-liter V8, much like the Ram 1500, as well as the existing naturally-aspirated 6.4-liter V8 found in the “regular” Durango SRT.
Does anyone need a Durango that can run neck-and-neck with a Corvette? Short answer: no. But not everyone is in a position to have both a fun weekend sports car and an SUV that can haul the family around. If you only have space for one car, crave some extreme muscle car performance in your life, but still need a comfortable cruiser, a super-powered Durango could make a bit more sense.
Adding the Durango means three of the five Dodge models on sale would offer a Hellcat, and that’s where we’re guessing the Hellcat-all-the-things trend will end. We suspect an SRT Hellcat edition of the Journey may be some ways off, as Dodge used the concept as an April Fools Day joke last year. And any (even more-un;ikely) minivan application for the Hellcat would doubtless be reserved for the higher-end Chrysler Pacifica, instead of the base model Dodge Caravan.
