If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that new cars are expensive. The growing affordability crisis means it’s a lot harder for your average shopper to own more than one vehicle, forcing people to consolidate their fun car and their practical car into one vehicle.
Dodge is making that easier than ever with a new Durango R/T 392, resurrecting the company’s amazing 6.4-liter Hemi V8 to create an even rowdier three-row SUV. It delivers all the practicality you’d expect of such a large vehicle, but it can also sprint to 60 mph in under five seconds, and make all the right muscle car noises.
What’s even crazier is that the new R/T 392 is actually … affordable? Sure, $51,990 isn’t objectively affordable for the vast majority of Americans, but you have to admit, for the amount of car you’re getting here, it’s a damn good value.
Think of the new R/T 392 as a middle child between the base 5.7-liter V8-powered Durango, which makes 360 horsepower, and the full-fat, 710-horsepower, supercharged V8-powered Durango Hellcat. While it doesn’t carry the SRT badge, this is effectively a spiritual successor to the Durango SRT 392, which went out of production after the 2024 model year.
And by successor, I really mean just a reincarnation. The R/T 392 makes the same 475 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque as the SRT, sending thrust to all four wheels via the same eight-speed automatic transmission, using the same active distribution system that varies torque front to rear based on “performance driving demands.” Six-piston front brake calipers and four-piston rears also make a return, as do the adaptive dampers.
If the new R/T is anything as heavy as the 5,457-pound SRT it replaces, then it certainly won’t be an agile, lightweight track star. But at least it’ll be quick. Dodge quotes a 0-60 estimate of 4.4 seconds, and because it’s Dodge, also quotes an NHRA-certified quarter-mile time of 12.9 seconds—because those are the numbers most important to Durango buyers. Personally, I’m not too worried about actual speed, so long as it sounds like a 392 cubic-inch Hemi should.
The great thing about the Durango is that it’s a great tow vehicle, and that doesn’t change for the new R/T. Dodge says the SUV can pull 8,700 pounds, which is more than the Nissan Armada and GM’s full-size SUV triplets (the Tahoe, the Yukon, and the Escalade).
Inside, the R/T 392 is pretty well-equipped as standard, with stuff like Nappa leather and suede seats with extra bolstering—you know, for all the corner-carving you’ll be doing in this thing. Those front seats are heated and ventilated, while the second-row captain’s chairs get heating elements. On the outside, there are specific “392” badges and a specific spoiler to let everyone know you have the big-boy engine, and not the puny 5.7-liter Hemi.
If you want even more stuff, there’s a Premium trim for $59,590 that adds stuff like a sunroof, a sueded headliner, carbon-fiber interior accents, more leather trim, an 18-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, a trailer tow package, driver assistance tech, and two-piece brake rotors that provide better stopping power and cooling performance.
Before you dive into the comments saying $51,990 is nowhere near affordable, I agree! Combined, my cars might be worth $7,000 on a good day. I cannot afford to purchase a new sofa, much less a new car. But it’s important to put that price into perspective. Back in 2024, the SRT 392, which got the same engine and many of the same chassis upgrades as this new R/T, cost $75,590. So effectively, Dodge is bringing that car back for 2026, except with a near-$24,000 discount.
It’s also worth noting that the average transaction price for a new car is just over $49,000 as of last month, according to Cox Automotive. That means for the price of an average car in 2026, you can get a three-row SUV that makes 475 horsepower and sounds like your favorite V8 muscle car. That’s not bad, all things considered. Sure, fuel economy won’t be the best, and with gas prices set to go nowhere but up, the timing isn’t great. But if you don’t mind that, the R/T 392 feels like an excellent all-rounder.
Now all Dodge has to do is put this engine into a Charger, and price it similarly (or cheaper!). Then I’ll be truly happy.
Top graphic image: Dodge
I expect to see these from time to time on Youtube in a few years, in police dashcam chase videos.
Given how inflated Stellantis MSRP’s had gotten, this is probably just correcting for all the incentives they had to throw on the hood to move them before.
so you could’ve done it at 52k, but been selling them at 70k+…we just getting fleeced till nothing is left
So, theoretically, in 2-3 years when these start to come off of a lease, I could get a tow rig for $30k or less with a 6.4L. This is something I’d mess with all day long.
A newer, gentler FUCK YOU (to gas prices)
I never thought I would see the day that 500 ponies would only barely break into the 12’s.
This is the textbook example as to why using the average new car transaction price is a terrible metric for measuring new car affordability. By any reasonable measure this is a massive, heavily loaded vehicle (literally and figuratively), with a high performance engine that will cost a fortune to feed with gas and insure over time. This is a luxury car/SUV, just like most other vehicles in the price bracket.
I know someone always has to say this whenever the “average new car transaction price of $XXXX” gets tossed around, but the average transaction price is NOT the same thing as the price of an average car. It’s like saying I see everything I eat is the same thing as I eat everything I see! Not the same! A handful of super pricey cars/large trucks more like make up for many $30,000 cars.
I don’t really care how old the platform is. It works, and does a pretty good job at what it’s made for. It feels just as modern as any other SUV with this much capacity and towing ability. And it still looks great.
I’m genuinely surprised that they got this back on the market so quickly and at this price.
While I’m outside the target market, I think it’s a great job by the new management team to get something desirable on the market quickly. They desperately need the cash.
….I mean, if the fuel economy standards are out the window, why not print more cash with fully paid for lines? And those standards are in fact out the window, at least for now, so….
Let’s keep those out that window, ok?!
Let the market decide the optimum fuel economy for machines produced?
OK, but but the issue with that is that the full costs of low-efficiency combustion engines can be pushed out onto lots of non-consenting people in the form of CO2 and particulate, so there’s a pretty sound argument for setting increasingly high fuel economy standards.
The 8700# towing limit should come with a BIG asterisk. With the Durango, you’ll find you are much more limited by the rear axle weight rating than the trailer weight. Sure, you can tow 8700#, but only if you don’t have anything or anyone else in the vehicle and have your tongue weight dialed in at exactly 10%. It doesn’t take many passengers and some crap behind the 2nd row to lower your max trailer weight dramatically.
My 2018 Durango R/T with my family of 4 in it and a 4000# (loaded) travel trailer connected would put my rear axle over its limit as verified at a CAT scale, even with a properly set up weight distributing hitch.
On one hand for the person who actually understands what they’re signing up for (a position I’d recommend being in) this is a screamin’ deal. Will you get a salesman with slicked back hair (not PUSHED back) who’s out eating sloppy steaks at Truffoni’s every Friday night? Yeah. But if you can make it past the 8k of add-ons the CJDR dealer is going to attempt to nail you with, this is a lot of car for the money.
For those that are stretching to make this sort of purchase, God help you afford the gas and the insurance. The gas, any idiot should be able to understand that this thing will be expensive to fuel. The insurance? I have noooooooo fucking clue what it must cost, but there’s no way it’s cheap.
For those claiming that anyone who can afford a 50k+ vehicle can afford the gas and insurance, I invite you to spend a Saturday afternoon walking around a CJDR lot and, if anyone is actually there, you’ll know that this isn’t the case.