About a week ago, I headed over to our local Dodge dealer to take a spin in a 2013 Dodge Durango Crew V6 AWD. I've been a fan of the Durango in both of its previous iterations, and have found the current model attractive since it's debut. This is actually the second time that I have driven the new Durango in the last 12 months. The first time that I drove one, it was an SXT V6 AWD that I had as a service loaner while having some work done on Family Car 1; our Town & Country LX. This time around the first thing that I noticed was how much nicer the interior of the Crew model was in comparison to the SXT I had driven previously. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the SXT, but walked away feeling that although it was a nice vehicle, it wasn't the car for me. Not so with the Crew, it was a vehicle that not only did I respect, but that I could see myself signing on the dotted line. Will it be our first long term test vehicle? I don't know yet.
One thing that I do know is that I really enjoyed my drive. The Durango is a grower, the more time that I spend with them, the more I appreciate them. It drove well, handled admirably, and averaged 20mpg on our rather short loop, per the trip computer contained within the gauge cluster. The middle row had plenty of room for our stage 2 and stage 3 car seats, and the kids were far enough away from each other that there was no complaining about either "touching" the other. On a side note, to access the third row, the booster seat would need to be moved to slide the second row forward. Not an issue in a few years time, but at the moment both of my kids are under 4'9" so its something I notice. The third row was easy to raise and lower from power operated hatch. There was plenty of power on tap, though if you clamor for more, the Hemi V8 is available as well. Both the previous SXT and the Crew had backup cameras. One thing that I am almost evangelical about is the need for a rear-view camera if you have small children, and they make parallel parking enjoyable! That's it for my notes from our brief drive.
Let the test drives continue, see you on the road!
