Motor Trend Plays Cops & Robbers in Dodge Durango Pursuit

Lightly-marked Durango is powered by a 5.7-liter Hemi, delivering 360 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque.

The folks at Motor Trend recently got to spend a week testing the new Dodge Durango Pursuit, complete with some police-light graphics and a full spread of police lighting. It doesn’t actually say “police” anywhere on it, but it has the roof lights, the bull bar with red and blue lights, more lights in the top of the windshield and, most importantly, graphics on the side that make it look like a police vehicle, including the “911” logo and a “thin blue line” American flag.

The purpose of having the Durango Pursuit was to drive it and evaluate its performance, but the writers involved also had a chance to see how other motorists reacted to driving around what appeared to be a police car. While you might drive more carefully around police vehicles, that seems to be surprisingly rare.

Basic Review

Like all reviews, this piece from Motor Trend talks about all of the key details that you would want from a new vehicle review, such as power numbers, performance figures, driving dynamics and interior comfort. This Durango is powered by the 5.7-liter Hemi, delivering 360 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque, just like the non-police models. Motor Trend got a 14.9-second quarter mile out of this hefty cop car, tipping the scales at nearly 5,400-pounds, thanks in part to the all-wheel-drive system.

The Durango Pursuit also has heavier-duty brakes which allowed it to stop from 60 miles per hour in just 122 feet, while the load-leveling Nivomat shocks afforded the police version the same high-speed cornering capabilities as the civilian models. Really, in terms of performance, this is the best quote in the entire piece:

“At the end of the day, it’s still a 5,000-plus-pound SUV—”performance-tuned” suspension be damned—but it’ll also drive circles around the Chevy Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle your department bought.”

The only bad thing that the reviewers from Motor Trend had to say about the Durango Pursuit is that the cup holders don’t adequately hold their reusable water bottles.

Motorists’ Reaction

If you spend any time driving hard, there is a good chance that you have been blasting along when you spied a police car ahead in traffic or sitting alongside the highway, prompting you to slam on the brakes. You might think that all motorists are that keen to watch out for potential speeding tickets, or that they would generally attempt to be better drivers in general, but you would be wrong.

The reviewers explain that motorists ran stop signs, drove dangerously through traffic and grossly exceeded the speed limit well within eyeshot of the Durango Pursuit. In some cases, speeders would slam on their brakes when they saw the partially-marked police SUV, but the appearance of this vehicle didn’t stop one woman from reading something on her iPad while creeping along in slow-moving traffic.

So, for those of you who drive extra-carefully when you are in the presence of what appears to be a police vehicle, you should give yourselves a pat on the back, as you are among an elite group of people who pay attention while driving.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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