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2021 Dodge Durango gets upgraded interior and new R/T Tow N Go package

The addition of a 710-horsepower Hellcat edition is surely the biggest headline-grabbing announcement for the 2021 Dodge Durango lineup. But the truth is that’s an extremely limited model. Dodge will sell many times more non-Hellcat Durangos for the 2021 model year, and there are some interesting improvements and additions worth talking about for those lesser models. The 2021 Durango gets some fairly mild exterior updates, including a new front end that features a grille thatÂ’s canted forward in a way that mimics the Charger Widebody sedan. The updated fascia is flanked by slim LED headlamps and topped by a newly sculpted hood with scoops and extractors on some models and sharp-edged bulges on others. SRT models get a new chin spoiler, and all models gain a rear spoiler atop the back hatch. More important than the exterior changes are the sweeping upgrades to the DurangoÂ’s interior. The heavily redesigned cockpit gains a redesigned instrument panel, center console and front door panels. Everything is canted slightly toward the driver, including the 10.1-inch touchscreen (an 8.4-inch is standard on SXT and GT) in the console, which runs DodgeÂ’s latest Uconnect 5 software. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard across the range, and wireless charging comes on any Durango equipped with the larger infotainment screen. In addition to the styling updates, Dodge has added a new Tow N Go package for the Durango R/T. This model gets some of the upgrades of the SRT models, including exterior fender flares, SRT-edition 20-inch wheels shod in Pirelli Scorpion Zero all-season tires, an SRT-tuned exhaust, active noise cancelation, electronic limited slip differential, active damping suspension and Brembo brakes. The 5.7-liter Hemi maintains the same 360-horsepower and 390-pound-foot of torque as the regular R/T, but the suspension upgrades allow it to boost its tow rating from 7,400 pounds to an SRT-matching 8,700 pounds. It also has a top-speed boost to 145 miles per hour, not that anyone will want to push it that far. We have a feeling the R/T with the Tow N Go package may prove to be a sweet spot in the Durango lineup, offering the looks of an SRT with legitimate performance and utility upgrades baked in for good measure. Check it out in our image gallery up above in red, and be sure to scroll through the more luxurious white Durango in Citadel trim, which includes shots of the new interior, below. Related Video:    

Dodge Durango Shaker concept: A 392 V8 in front of six Viper seats

When done right, a parts-bin special can be a beautiful thing. This Dodge Durango Shaker concept for the 2016 SEMA show is one such vehicle, and it's easily our favorite Mopar debuting in Vegas. The key, of course, is pulling from the right bins. Take a tour and you'll see Charger, Challenger, and Viper pieces grafted onto this slick crossover. The featured special part is the big, 6.4-liter 392 Hemi V8 that's been dropped under the hood; it's sourced from the SRT Challenger and Charger where it makes 485 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. With that in place, the fabricators cut a big hole in that hood for the Challenger's awesome optional shaker scoop. It wasn't an easy installation; it required a custom spacer for the intake to make sure everything lined up with the hole properly. View 17 Photos Apparently there were some Viper seats lying around, so six of them were stuck into this Durango. Makes sense. It does lose a bit of people-carrying capability as a result, since only two seats fit in each row, and the seats don't fold for extra cargo room. A Dodge spokesperson attested to the fact that all three rows are usable, if not totally comfortable. But then stock third-row seats aren't always that comfortable anyway. Seriously, though, Viper seats. We don't care how comfortable or usable the result is. Although you might not give it a second thought, even the fuel filler needed some special attention. This piece was also lifted from a Dodge Challenger, and it was taken along with the surrounding sheet metal. Because of the different orientation of the filler cover on the Challenger, the builders decided the easiest way to get it to fit was to chop the fuel filler section out and weld it onto the Durango. The designers also put a little blue Stig on the cover. And those are just the cool parts that were hard to install. This Durango features plenty of other slick details, like the custom bumpers, fender flares, and side skirts. Everything is painted B5 Blue with matte black and carbon accents all around. Up front, the bumper hides a pair of fog lights stolen from a Challenger Hellcat – and yes, they're the ones with intakes in the middle. The grille is also a custom piece, losing the standard crosshair design for better airflow. The fender flares cover up some seriously wide, 305-section tires at all four corners, which are hauled down by Hellcat brakes. The rear bumper bumper contains a stylish center-exit exhaust with dual tips.

1968 Dodge Super Charger is a super Charger with a supercharger

Mopar's latest custom creation is sure to be in the running for coolest car at this year's SEMA show. It's a 1968 Dodge Charger, a car selected in part because this year marks the car's 50th anniversary, but taken to the extreme and renamed Super Charger. The headliner of the car's radical upgrades is the new "Hellephant" engine. It's a take on the original car's 426-cubic-inch Hemi V8. But this new engine, with the same displacement, is based on the current Hemi V8, and adds a supercharger. All told, it makes a whopping 1,000 horsepower and 950 pound-feet of torque on 93 octane pump gas. It will be available as a crate engine, too. The engine is far from the only impressive change to the car. All over the body are mild to wild tweaks. The wide, uninterrupted grille from the original is still here, but it's a one-piece example now. And instead of hiding the headlights behind doors that have to open for illumination, the lights simply shine through the grille, retaining a clean look even at night. The whole car sits 2.5 inches lower than stock, and it's now four inches wider thanks to the huge fender flares. They house 305-mm-wide tires up front, and 315-mm tires in the rear. Likely the most complicated change to the car is the lengthened wheelbase. There are two more inches between the wheels now, something Mopar did to reduce the front overhang. A close second in complexity are the taillights. They're the same shape as the originals, but now the round elements are actually exhaust outlets. The tips also happen to be the same as those on the Alfa Romeo Stelvio. There are other details that help bring together the exterior. The rain rails have been smoothed out on the roof, the vent windows removed, special 426 stickers have been added, and the fuel door now has a Hellephant badge with a blue background with lots of little Mopar Ms. The interior gets some attention, too. The rear seat has been removed, Dodge Demon style. It gets a custom roll bar designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, even getting the hoop around the seats to roughly line up with where the windows meet. Gauges come from the Mopar catalog, and the steering wheel and seats are from the dearly departed Dodge Viper. They're particularly relevant, as the six-speed manual transmission comes from the Viper, too. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.