There’s an old hot-rod car culture adage, “there’s no replacement for displacement.” The Dodge Durango is one of the most mundane, boring, average and unremarkable SUV’s on the market and it’s one of our least favorite in the segment. So what happens when you replace the boring V6 with a snarling 5.7-liter V8? Well, it goes from zero to hero, that’s what happens!
Rated at a modest 360hp, the telling 390ft-lb of torque means that it actually feels quicker than advertised. Torque is what you really feel leaving a stoplight and this R/T leaves stoplights with authority and the accompanying V8 rumble is music to our ears.

Even with such a glorious engine, this Durango is not without its faults. We’ve never been a fan of the design, but the R/T treatment makes things a bit more appealing to look at. Inside, there are some nice materials and touches, but thin plastics give it an overall cheap feel. With a starting price of over $46,000 for the AWD version, there’s room for interior improvement. We dig the available red leather seats, but the embroidered ‘R/T’ on the seatback is a bit much. The plastic “aluminum” trim on the dash not only feels low-end, it just looks cheap. There’s also a mashup of too many different textures and finishes.

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