New member here, but not new to Dodge...had a '98 Dakota (kept it till 2009 when it got totalled) had a '10 Ram 1500 (sold a few months ago) and am looking at a Durango next....

Joined specifically because I just chatted with Dodge and suggested they get on with developing an auto start/stop like BMW has. Basically, when your vehicle is fully stopped and your foot is on the brake pedal, it shuts off your engine. Then when you release your foot from the brake, it starts it back up again. I've driven my brother's car with this feature and it's awesome - you hardly notice the delay unless you're trying to race someone off the light (think about the usual start stop traffic - your foot comes off the brake but then there's 1-2 seconds before traffic actually starts moving and you can use the gas). It vastly increases fuel efficiency when driving around the city, and there's a slight delay on shutting the engine off so it's not happening instantly when you're first in line at a stop sign or anything. Anyway, the rep said basically "hey, that's a good idea, I recognize the importance of this and I will pass it on to our development team for review and feedback".

The partial cylinder deactivation when cruising with the Hemi is a great first step - but I think we could see numbers like 20-25 mpg reliably with the auto start/stop. At the very least I think it would bring city mileage up from 14-15 to 18 or so. And obviously it would have a greater effect on Chargers, Challengers, etc.

One other thing - why does nobody lift their Durangos?!! All I see are Jeeps...I love the look of the Durangos way more and would love to see more of them lifted!

Incidentally, I also have a few ideas for modding the interior...removing the 3rd row seats and installing a sliding gear tray kinda deal sort of like the new 4Runners have. Buuuuuut. That's a whole other story I have a machinist friend and I'm a former mechanic / welder (work in IT now and studying to become a software engineer).

I'll keep you guys posted on my end if I hear anything back from Dodge, but let me know if you guys hear of anything too!

 

Start/Stop tech has been around for ages. Heck, Golf Carts have been doing it since the 80's.... Why it hasn't made it into cars yet is a very good question.

Welcome to DF!

 

Welcome!

 

Well it HAS made it into SOME cars...just not the one I want :P

 

Very interesting. So I was at a dealership today and they had just one Durango on the lot (amidst a sea of Jeeps - literally dozens compared to one Durango. I wonder which one is selling better when they can't keep them on the lot heh). I was checking it out but didn't have the opportunity to take it for a test drive. However...I noticed this on the window!

Am I missing something here? Is it only available for the V6? I don't recall seeing this anywhere on the feature list for the new ones...

 

No idea. I think that would be something to chat with the saleman about.

 

I don't trust most of them, they don't know wtf they're talking about. Last time I was at the dealership looking at the new Ram 1500s and he was trying to tell me about all these "new" features...with my 2010 Laramie sitting in the parking lot...and my truck had everything he was trying to sell me on. Asked him how long he's been selling Dodges and he said "7 years". I'm like "ooooook...so then you should be familiar with my 5 year old truck and realize that nothing you're telling me is actually new." He was touting up stuff like seat heaters, heated steering wheel, ventilated seats, backup camera, auto-tilt for reverse mirrors...all stuff that my 2010 already had. I was like "what's ACTUALLY new dammit!"