Dodge Durango Hellcat Will Be Fast and Furious
The latest Fast and Furious movie is, as expected, shaping up to feature a smorgasbord of sweet rides. Of course, Dom’s Dodge Charger will make an appearance, joined by its latest descendant, the Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody. It’s just one of the Hellcat-engined vehicles FCA makes; soon, even the Ram Rebel will get it. However, there’s one vehicle that doesn’t: the Durango SUV. But, based on a recent teaser video, that may change soon. There may, in fact, be a Dodge Durango Hellcat about to break cover.
The Dodge Durango Hellcat teaser
It’s unknown if Dodge is planning on showing its teaser during the Super Bowl like Porsche and Kia are planning on doing. However, the video dropped on the same day as the Fast and Furious 9 trailer.
The video features several high-performance Dodge vehicles, all badged with the Hellcat logo, doing burnouts, drifting, and generally showing off the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 under their hoods. Interspersed are a few clips of Vin Diesel (Dom) behind the wheel of his classic Charger, as well as the new Charger Hellcat Widebody his character will drive in FF9.
However, a few seconds into the video, as Allpar.com reported, something unknown shows up.
These shots take place at night, and of course, the vehicle’s headlights create lens flare. But the general outline is that of the Dodge Durango. A red one is even clearly shown later in the video: the shadow SUV and the red Durango are very similar-looking.
And just before the dark SUV shows up, there’s a close-up of a fender bearing the Hellcat badge. But this isn’t a flared fender, like on the Challenger or Charger Widebody cars. It does, however, resemble the front fender of a Durango.
Add all this up, and it’s looking like there’s going to be a Dodge Durango Hellcat.
How likely is a Dodge Durango Hellcat?
At the moment, the most powerful Dodge Durango is the SRT model, which has a 6.4-liter V8 making 475 hp and 470 lb-ft. Even if the Hellcat V8 was detuned to the 575-hp level rumored for some versions of the Rebel TRX, that’d be a significant power increase.
We do know that Dodge is thinking about giving the Durango a mild-hybrid powertrain. Although that’s a V6-based system, it does show that Dodge is updating its SUV’s drivetrain. Perhaps as part of that design effort, engineers figured out how to fit the supercharged V8 under the hood. FCA has already done it for the Jeep Grand Cherokee, after all.
There is some business incentive for creating a Dodge Durango Hellcat. Ford recently introduced a high-performance version of its Explorer SUV, the Explorer ST. With a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 making 450 hp and 455 lb-ft, it’s not quite as powerful as the SRT Durango. But it’s cheaper: the Explorer ST starts at just over $55k, whereas the SRT Durango starts at $62,995. A Hellcat version, though, would possibly have enough extra power to justify a higher price.
There’s also the Range Rover Sport SVR, a sporty luxury SUV that comes with 575 hp and 516 lb-ft from a 5.0-liter supercharged V8. But it has an MSRP of $114,500 and a questionable reputation for reliability. A Dodge Durango Hellcat would potentially offer the same, or higher, level of performance at a significantly lower price.
When could we learn more?
As of this writing, Dodge has not officially confirmed if there will be a Durango Hellcat. And no Fast and Furious 9 teaser images have featured such an SUV. Road and Track reports there’s been a Jeep Gladiator, an Acura NSX, and a modded Ford Mustang, but no Dodge SUVs.
Fast and Furious 9’s official release is May 22, 2020. Perhaps Dodge will show an extended version of its teaser during the Super Bowl. Or maybe more model-specific videos or info will be released in the coming months.
But a Dodge Durango Hellcat would bring FCA one step closer to Hellcat-ing all the things.
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