Dodge Roars on with Hemi-Powered Durango
If there’s anyone on whom to be counted for a brash, V8-powered SUV in the 2026 model year, it’s Dodge.
Fans of burly exhaust notes will be pleased to learn the venerable 5.7-liter Hemi V8 remains part and parcel of the R/T trim, buttressed this year with a new Blacktop Redline package. As with most option groups of that sort, it includes black wheels, dark badges, and a smattering of spoilers cribbed from the SRT model. It is a $3,495 option on R/T variants.
Speaking of which, Dodge is promising the SRT Hellcat will show up in all its anti-social glory for 2026, apparently forgetting all those Last Call commercials it made over the last few years. Remember, Dodge found itself on the pointy end of legal action by angry boomers who were irked after buying a Durango SRT Hellcat under the impression it would be a one-year only model. Hosses across the nation were incensed. GOBBLESS.
Elsewhere in the line, Dodge is again offering the Tow N Go package, this time as a standalone option which will pad the bill on an R/T by $5,990. That’s the gear which permits a Durango R/T to haul up to 8,700 pounds, adding black 20-inch wheels and stout Brembo-branded brake calipers. In this market, the Tow N Go also adds SRT performance tuned steering, widebody flares, high-performance exhaust, electronic limited slip rear axle, and adaptive damping.
Stellantis continues to have a hard time on the sales floor, with the entire company across all its brands down about 12 percent through the first quarter of this year. That accounts for 293,225 sales, if you’re curious. The Dodge brand itself was down by half to 21,731 units, with the Durango itself responsible for 13,701 of those sales.
The 295hp V6-powered 2026 Durango GT starts at $38,495 while the 360hp R/T starts a fin under 50 grand. Those prices don’t include a destination cost of $1,995 of sundry taxes and fees.
[Image: Dodge]
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Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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props to them for keeping a traditional styled V8 SUV in the lineup.
Aside from the Stinger anomaly I don't know that I've ever owned something that isn't either 1)at least 10 years old from when it was built 2)on a platform that is at least 10 years old from its introduction.
Right now I own a MY2011 car with a platform from 1995 and an engine from 1993 and a MY2022 car with a platform from 2004 and an engine from 2011. If they kept making it I well could have just kept buying LX sedans.