Originally Posted by etdavenport

MY wife and i have been looking at the New Durango for our next vehicle. We want one for sure, and we are getting the HEMI. The reason is... When we test drove the V6 models; even though they have more horsepower than most V8's on the road today [290], the truck would only accelerate with any power at the top of the RPMS like a four cylinder. I had to hit 4500 RPM's jsut to get the thing to get up and go. Im not a race car driver, nor do I expect the thing to be a race car but my 1998 Ford Explorer has 10x more get up and go and its only got 215 HP on a V6. Is there any way to get these rigs to perform better? has anyone here owned one and put a cold air intake and a decent exhaust on it, and if so, did that help?

The HEMI was beautiful. It was nice and powerful. I hardly had to touch the accelerator with the tip of my toe and it would take off smoothly and quickly. It was almost like driving one of the larger diesel trucks with 1100f/lbs of torque.

I wouldnt mind saving few $$ and buying the v6. It has plenty of horsepower but it just seems like it is not using it. Even on the highway passing, I practically had to put the truck into second and hit 5000 rpm to get it to pick up and go. I was severely disappointed.

Originally Posted by bwdakrt

The facts are the V6 engine and tranny can not handle the weight of the Durango. Here are the facts:

Curb Weight (lbs) 4756
City (MPG) 16
Hwy (MPG) 23
Horsepower 290@6400
Torque (lb-ft) 260@4800

Sure, the hp and tq numbers look impressive but look where they peak in the rpm range. There's not enough hp or tq being generated in the lower rpms to get that curb weight of 4756 lbs moving off the line. You add a full tank of gas and 4 passengers and the weight will be closer to 5500 lbs.

The mpg numbers prove it. When you see a 7 mpg difference between city/hwy this tells you it has no bottom end torque and will struggle to get all the weight moving. All the hp/tq is in the upper 2/3 of the rpm range.

Originally Posted by etdavenport

This is what I was looking for. I could care less about the weight of the oil. The oil would hardly make the noticeable performance loss that I was experiencing. THe weight ratio makes more sense. And this expresses exactly what I noticed. All your power gain was in the wrong end... Think they make a shift kit to fix it?

Originally Posted by bwdakrt

The facts are the V6 engine and tranny can not handle the weight of the Durango. Here are the facts:

Curb Weight (lbs) 4756
City (MPG) 16
Hwy (MPG) 23
Horsepower 290@6400
Torque (lb-ft) 260@4800

Sure, the hp and tq numbers look impressive but look where they peak in the rpm range. There's not enough hp or tq being generated in the lower rpms to get that curb weight of 4756 lbs moving off the line. You add a full tank of gas and 4 passengers and the weight will be closer to 5500 lbs.

The mpg numbers prove it. When you see a 7 mpg difference between city/hwy this tells you it has no bottom end torque and will struggle to get all the weight moving. All the hp/tq is in the upper 2/3 of the rpm range.

Originally Posted by fuzzyb

I disagree, let's look at the Ford Mustang (it has a lot more power then the Druango and weighs less too @ 3750lbs)
ford.com/cars/mustang/specifications/
The 5.0 makes 412 HP and 390 Torgues, it gets 17 city / 26 highway
The GT500 makes 550 HP and 510 Torques, it gets 15 city / 26 highway
the above cars do have power curves similar to the V6 Durango so lets look at something that makes a lot of power down low:
The Taurus SHO makes 350 Torques at 1500 to 5250rpm, it gets 17 city / 25 highway

So are these engines under powered too?
(not trying to start a fight but I believe gearing is what makes the Durango a pig in the name of fuel economy. Who needs to be able to go 50mph in first gear)

Originally Posted by bwdakrt

A shift kit would be of no help whatsoever. There would have to be some serious re-gearing done in the tranny and diffs in order to make any difference at all. The 3.06 rear diff gearing is killing it on bottom end power.

http://www.autoguide.com/new-cars/20...4dr/specs.html

Originally Posted by macatowa

I have the V6 AWD (5,100#)and i'm satisfied with the power and the torque of it. i towed 3,000 lbs with 5 adults on board this summer and it gotter done just fine with an average 16.5 mpg to boot. In my book thats pretty impressive! I have 19,000 miles on it since last July and my average mpg is over 20, again impressive for 2.5 tons of rolling comfort and smoothness.

Originally Posted by JRRF

I've read anicdotal evidence as well of "special" factory oil that needs to come out quickly. But the logic doesn't add up. If this were the case, the manufacturers wouldn't have any incentive to hide it. In fact, they would prominently display this in their owners manuals, and education about it would be part of the delivery process so that owners don't damage the engine by leaving it in too long, and creating unnecessary warranty work -- that would cost the factory even more money.