anyone find any literature about the system Chrysler is using for these?? i am curious as to how my D3 will handle the sand and dunes in the outerbanks (seeing how i have no "low" selector)??

 

Remember, the JGC is the off road version of the platform.

Not to say you can't ever with the Durango, just that it wasn't the design intent.

For any real work, if you already settled in on the V6... well... that is the entry level and not to be the standard bearer on what the Durango can and can't do as a general rule of thumb.

 

For your answer check out the article by Popular Mechanics where they had all the competitors go to Silver Lake sand dunes for a torture test. The said the V6 Durango was the last truck standing and that it was bacically roaming the dunes with a tow strap to pull out all of the other SUV's. Bottom line is RWD / AWD make a big difference!

 

That is great to know macatowa. I will have to go find that article link.

 

Here you go:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...-road#fbIndex1

 

lol. I just traded in a 2011 Sedan with 385 HP for this. i know what i did and why i did it. the hemi with this transmission did nothing for me by way of "WOW this is worth the 12.5mpg around town i'm getting."

before the sedan i mentioned i owned a 2010 Yukon Denali. if you're not aware of what that vehicle is capable of, believe me, they're fast. imo, entry level vs top of the line in this SUV is as close as it gets with the "lesser" being the fiscally responsible move when you need a 7 passenger "CUV". btw the dealer where i purchased mine at has 18 D3's in stock 2 with the 5.7 in them, they just don't move here..

 

Thanks for this.

 

Tony, so is the MPG meeting your expectations? Also, are you happy with the power level coming down from where you were?

PowerDD, thanks for the link. Nice read. Great outcome (I'm bias )

IndyDurango

 

I don't know about anybody else but I have 6,500 miles on my D3 Express AWD and I'm consistently getting 21-22.5 mpg with a 50 /50 driving loop. I have been as high as 23.5 mpg on a 385 mile highway trip. Towing has been great, I towed about 2500 lb trailer 350 miles and averaged 16.5 mpg! The DIC tell you Oil, Coolant and Tranny temp, the temps were 95 degress outside with 5 passengers and I towed in D and temp never got over 171 degrees. Very Impressive!

 

wow Macatowa has me beat by a mile. we have maybe 600 miles on ours but so far we are averaging 18.8mpg 60/40 (city/hwy) mix with some extended idling. on the hwy i have seen 24.4 @81mph with the cruise on and in the mountains of PA it droped to about 22.7 at the same speed. power is adequate when loaded with 7 passengers. only place you get hurt is from a dead stop. other than (under 10mph) it accelerates fine. on the move say you need to pass at maybe 50mph, it flies. picks up that mysterious 3rd gear and just boogies. Sure there are plenty of faster SUV's out there (including the Hemi D3) but after owning so many high powered V8 vehicles and watching as their sister V6 engines got 20% or better fuel economy the new more fiscally responsible "Tony" did the right thing for once lol..

lest you think i am not used to high power, here's my TBSS which was an 11.7 truck. with my smaller drag radial it used to pull the front left tire a couple inches off the ground and that was also a daily driven by the wife (mommy mobile) lol




my friend owns a hi performance shop that i work part time in sort of a "Big Dane" like West Coast Customs role. he has an AWD Mustang Dyno there which i have piloted 1000+ hp machines on and also driven at the track (private magazine shoots and track rentals), just to give you guys a little background if i comment on something in the future and you're wondering where i am coming from.