my parents are still paying my insurance and helping with gas until I get through college. As soon as I start having money to pay for things it's gonna be go big or go home, but that's a good ways off yet.

 

Same here, just my freshmen year still.

 

I bought a Durango in 2000. I test drove a 4.7, 5.2, and 5.9. In each test I did a 0-60 comparison. The 4.7 and 5.2 were basically the same. The 5.9 was slightly faster. I decided to get the 4.7 and never regretted the decision. After 11 years it has had no problems. At times it was used to pull a 5000lb trailer over mountains, only in extreme conditions did it have to downshift to high rpms. When not pulling the trailer I never thought it was under-powered.

Is a 4.7 the "best"? I don't know, but it has served us well.

 

same here

 

My last Duranog had 31s on it and it did OK with gas mileage, my new one, with the same engine gearing and all gets a few less mpgs than my other one, but it also has 32s on it. Glad I'm not the only one getting parental assistance too! LOL I don't think dad is jealous of mine (its MUCH nicer than their 99 base model) but mom is!

 

Same Here! But I would like to point out that I pay for both my insurance and my gas... Gotta love having the 2000 r/t with the premium only requirement @ $4.40 a gallon!

 

i have a 01 R/T lucky for me it was the first year that it could run on 87 octane. but i still put plus in it as it is highway only and i have cooper tires on it not off road tires like it did when i picked it up. mpg went up by 6

 

the best one is the one with the fewest miles on it, runs great and is super clean!
i honestly cant say what year and model would be the best one to go with.

 

The 4.7 and 5.2 are very similar in power don't let the .5 of a liter make you think its a lot more powerfull 4.7 puts out 5 more horses with only 5 less ft/lb torque the 5.2 was dropped because the 4.7 could get better mpg and still easily keep up with or pass the 5.2

 

this is true, but also keep in mind that the 5.2 gets on the power and torque at a much lower rpm than the 4.7 does. That's where the extra 1/2 liter comes in. Of course the new 4.7s make over 290 hp and over 320 lb/ft of torque. The 5.2 also has many more performance add ons for it as well and was built for over 35 years so it is very durable. Don't think im saying the 4.7 is a bad engine or anything, it just depends on what you want.