End of the Road in the 2006 Dodge Durango
I really should get out more. Out of the city that is and into Dodge country. The foothills and prairie outside the oil capital of Canada – Calgary, Alberta – are the kind of places a big vehicle like the Durango really shines. Calgary has a legitimate urban core – walkable and quite attractive. It's known for its above street, enclosed pedestrian way linking many of the key downtown office and hotel buildings together. But Calgary is really truck country and Dodge has a big slice of the that market.The HEMI-engine Durango gets OK fuel economy on the open expressway when you can engage the cruise control and kick back. In real life, though, the MDS (multi displacement system) doesn't operate on 4 cylinders as often as it was perhaps designed for. The problem is not with the engine but rather with the Durango itself. Not only is this thing heavy, but it has the aerodynamic characteristics of a piano. To keep up with the 80mph traffic streaming in and out of Calgary, the HEMI has to keep cooking on all 8 cylinders. In aggressive stop-and-go traffic, you can almost see the gas needle dropping. What the Durango really needs is a clean, quiet, fuel-sipping yet quick commonrail diesel like the one in the Sprinter delivery van.
