2026 Dodge Durango Reviews, Pricing & Specs

While all the Durango's competitors have been redesigned twice or thrice since this third generation went on sale for the 2011 model year, Dodge squeezes every dollar out of its vehicles. The last Charger and Challenger, the Grand Caravan, the Sebring/200—they were all past their sell-by dates, but were kept alive with touches of color, a special edition, and in the case of the Durango, three incredible V8 engines. With a blend of chunky fenders and smooth body panels, the Durango still looks good. A refresh for 2021 updated the grille, lighting, and bumpers while overhauling the dashboard inside. Along the way, some new wheels and colors joined the party. Everything else remained unchanged.

The wraparound LED taillight, which mimics a racetrack, is a signature lighting piece that looked cool in 2015 when LEDs were rare and is very distinguishable today, even though every SUV uses this technology. The stance and the front end give a tough, no-nonsense attitude, which makes the Durango a natural fit as a police cruiser (messing with a dark, tinted-out Durango is not recommended). For something so old, the Durango has an almost timeless style.

A special package, the America250, was launched at the 2026 New York International Auto Show and is available on the GT Plus AWD, GT Plus Hemi AWD, and GT Premium Hemi AWD trims. It includes black leather seats with blue perforations, a U.S. flag on those seats, red and white stitching, red seat belts, carbon-fiber trim, and red, white, and blue stitching on the steering wheel. There are flag graphics on the outside as well, in black, with contrasting White Knuckle paint.

The interior shows its age, mostly in the style of the switches, the buttons, the chunky 2000s Mercedes seats, and the cheaper grains of plastic that adorn the doors, the lower dash, and the console. But the Durango is refreshingly analog. Headlights are controlled by a knob. The climate controls are just that. Everything is logical, and just works. The touchscreen is plenty large by modern standards, but not the size of a living room TV. And it’s flush with the dash, not hastily tacked on like a living room TV above a fireplace. Upper trims have leather, carbon fiber, and microsuede, but they're the low-quality kind found in an aftermarket build. Is that bad? Not when the Durango drives as well as it does.

The Durango is sold almost exclusively with V8 engines. In 2025, the V8 was the only choice until customer demand for a cheaper (and more fuel-efficient) alternative made Dodge bring back the V6, which is older than the Durango itself.

That 3.6-liter V6 is still standard on the base GT and GT Plus trims for 2026, but buyers should skip it. Its 295 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque strain to move 5,000 pounds of Durango. The GT comes standard with rear-wheel drive (RWD), but all other trim levels are all-wheel drive (AWD). To be fair, V6-engined versions of the Honda Pilot, the Nissan Pathfinder, the Hyundai Palisade, and the older Toyota Highlander are similarly poor performers. All are lazy and laggardly at city speeds and noisy and breathless at full throttle, but unlike those midsize competitors, the Durango offers a more powerful option.

The 5.7-liter Hemi V8, available as an option on GT and GT Plus models, produces 360 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque, and boosts towing capacity from the V6’s 6,200 pounds to 8,700 pounds. Fuel efficiency isn't much worse, at 14 mpg city and 21 mpg highway, versus 17 mpg city and 24 mpg highway for AWD V6 models. We're not giving the Hemi a pass on gas mileage because it sounds great—14 mpg is horrendous—but it comes with a big increase in power compared to the still-inefficient V6.

The SRT Hellcat drops to 12 mpg city/17 mpg highway with a 6.2-liter supercharged V8. A 6.4-liter V8 (the famous "392") is also available on the Durango R/T, producing 475 hp and 470 lb-ft. This cavalier attitude is the Durango's core market—families and aspiring fathers who want big power, sound, towing capability, and swift acceleration without jumping to a luxury brand. It helps that the eight-speed automatic transmission and multiple AWD modes that vary the torque split are so smooth and unobtrusive, while visibility is also sufficient in all directions.

We tested the 710-hp SRT Hellcat, and it is appropriately insane with its racing stripes, huge Brembo brakes, and sport suspension. Any Durango has good handling, with minimal body roll. Steering accuracy is poor—the off-center feel is slushy at best—and the ride is stiff on all trims, with the Hellcat on the insufferable end of the comfort spectrum. Six suspension tunes are available across the lineup, with adaptive dampers standard on Hellcats. The grip, the fast shifts, the nasty barks from the exhaust, and the sensation from the supercharged Hemi are all Durango hallmarks. If a V8 family hauler sounds too showy, there are plenty of ordinary SUVs that offer none of these thrills.

The Durango offers seating for five, six or seven passengers. All trims except the Hellcat have a standard second-row bench seat, providing seven seats. Captain's chairs are optional on GT Plus and GT Premium trims. Their "tumble and fold" mechanism allows easy access to the third row with one swift motion of the seat handle. Hellcat models come with a bench without the third row (which can return for $995). The Hellcat Jailbreak can also be ordered with captain's chairs and the third row.

The third row, which can only seat two people, is very tight by modern standards. Given that the Durango shared its chassis with the last-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee and the much older Mercedes-Benz ML-Class, that is not surprising. Those vehicles were never designed to accommodate a roomy third row like today’s Pilot, Pathfinder, or Kia Telluride. Headroom and legroom in the first and second rows are good, but not palatial. Seat padding in the second row is noticeably firm with the bench seating. A separate climate zone and optional heated outboard seats relieve some of the discomfort.

Cargo space is good, with 17.2 cubic feet behind the third row, 43.3 cubic feet behind the second row, and 85.1 cubic feet with both rows folded. This puts the Durango on a par with the Telluride, the Pilot, and the Ford Explorer, but below larger three-rows such as the Toyota Grand Highlander and the GMC Acadia.

Every Durango comes with a 10.1-inch touchscreen running Uconnect 5, which features navigation, HD Radio, SiriusXM 360L satellite radio, over-the-air (OTA) updates for the infotainment, and wireless Apple CarPlay (Android Auto is wired). A five-year subscription to SiriusXM live traffic and travel info is included. Four USB ports are up front, but in the second row, only the Hellcat Jailbreak has a 12-volt power outlet and USB-C port, while the third row gets nothing regardless of trim level.

A nine-speaker Alpine stereo is standard on most trims except the base GT, which has a no-name six-speaker stereo, and the GT Premium, which has a 19-speaker Harman Kardon stereo (optional on the Hellcat Jailbreak).

The Durango lacks many of the features we’ve come to expect in its segment. There is no semi-automated driving function and convenience features such as rear-seat entertainment or massaging seats are also absent. But there are various performance functions in the Hellcat's infotainment system, such as launch control and the ability to set a custom driving mode.

The 2026 Durango received a four-star (out of five) overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but recent ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) were not available at the time of writing.

A driver's knee airbag and central side airbag between the front seats are good features, but the Durango's dated body structure means it will not perform as well in a crash as competitors designed around the most recent IIHS crash tests.

Blind-spot monitors and front/rear parking sensors are standard. Forward automatic emergency braking and lane-departure warning are standard only on the GT Premium and optional on the Hellcat Jailbreak (automatic emergency braking is unavailable on the regular Hellcat). Many other modern driver-assist features, such as evasive steering assist or a semi-automated highway feature, are unavailable. For these reasons, we rate the Durango low in the safety category.

The 2026 Dodge Durango starts at $40,990 for the GT with RWD and $42,990 for AWD. The Hemi V8 is a cheap upgrade at $45,670 and comes standard with AWD. The GT Plus with the V6 starts at $47,590 and adds leather, heated first- and second-row seats, ventilated front seats, adaptive cruise control, and a wireless charging pad. The GT Plus AWD Hemi V8 adds high-beam assist, a sunroof, and Nappa leather to the GT Plus trim for $49,270. Opting for the GT Premium AWD Hemi V8 brings a leather-wrapped instrument panel, a suede headliner, more driver assistance features, and a 19-speaker stereo for $52,270. The SRT Hellcat is its own animal, starting at $81,990, and can approach $100,000 when it's fully loaded and customized.

As the only V8 midsize SUV from a non-luxury brand, the Durango offers a lot of value, because its performance and towing capacity outgun every vehicle in the segment. The Hellcat competes with high-performance SUVs from the likes of Mercedes-AMG and BMW M that typically start at more than $100,000, so again, it screams value.

Dodge has also lowered prices on the Durango, which helps to compensate for the vehicle's age and maintain the value equation. The old body structure, powertrains, and style may be off-putting to some buyers, but the Durango's analog design and outstanding performance are very welcome. For driving pleasure, nothing in the segment can top a Durango, but we’re still hoping a redesign comes sooner rather than later.