A few years ago, I wrote a review of the Dodge Durango SRT, a 6.4-liter monster of an SUV that I said would cause parents at the school drop-off to question their life choices. Well, SRT drivers can now question their life choices as the 700+ hp (515+ kW) Hellcat model outsqueals them exiting the school zone.
At a Glance
- Preposterously fast for a seven-seat family SUV
- The only Hellcat model currently available
- Did I mention it’s extremely fast?
In automotive circles, the term “performance” gets thrown around a lot. It’s one of those words that means different things to different people. Some think of cornering and handling, or maybe spirited driving dynamics. Others immediately just want to know the horsepower numbers. Those latter types definitely include Dodge employees. For them, whether or not a vehicle turns corners is entirely secondary to how much rubber per second it can peel off its tires.
Dodge doesn’t officially announce that stat for the Durango Hellcat, but it does claim a 3.6-second 0–60 mph (0–96 km/h) sprint for the SUV.
Getting a sub-four-second time in a vehicle capable of carrying seven people plus cargo is pretty nuts. And it is, by far, one of the most ludicrously fun things imaginable. At least it is to someone like me, who has three kids and does a lot of daily driving for boring reasons. Go to school and back with musical instruments and children in the vehicle? OK, fine. Do it with ridiculous amounts of horsepower, tailpipe grunt, and rumbling seats? Hell yeah, that’s WAY better.
The Durango SRT Hellcat is all-wheel drive by default, which is a good thing when you have 710 horses spinning those wheels. They do a solid job of distributing that 645 lb-ft (875 Nm) of torque to the rubber meeting the road. It also helps with handling – enough to make the Durango Hellcat a tamable beast.
Aaron Turpen / New Atlas
Inside, the Hellcat model is like any other Durango: cushy seating, a good layout for comfort and ergonomics, and a lot of Dodge. Everything feels substantial and solid. The only real nods to this being the Hellcat are the SRT markings on the floor mats and the stitching on the seats.
What the Durango SRT Hellcat is depends on your worldview. Commentary on this one ranges from pure visceral hatred to gleeful joy. My personal take is that it’s so over-the-top insane that I love the heck out of it. You can take that with a grain of salt if you want, as that’s my reaction to a lot of oddball things. My favorite car is the Citroën 2CV, after all.
Fuel economy in the Durango Hellcat is such that, if you have to ask, you’ve missed the point. And the price tag is high because, well … where else are you going to get a Hellcat now?
That exclusivity is amplified by the Jailbreak model, which allows extreme customization of the Durango, with a claimed six million-plus combinations of colors, wheels, and more. I didn’t have time to verify that claim, but I can say that on the builder website, the number of options becomes overwhelming very quickly. If I were spending close to six figures on a vehicle like this, though, I’d definitely go through them all.
Product Page: 2026 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat