After nearly a decade of hearing the Hellcat V8’s twin-screw supercharger screaming through the streets, its twilight years are nigh. The Challenger Hellcat, Charger Hellcat, and now the Ram TRX are headed off to meet the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk at the great motorsports park in the sky. However, one unlikely candidate is set to carry the supercharged Hemi torch — the originally one-year-only Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is entering its third model year.
Flash back to 2021, and Stellantis was going Hellcat-mad. Everyone knew the 700-horsepower supercharged lump would fit in the Durango since it shared a platform with the WK2 Grand Cherokee (the Grand Cherokee has since gone to the WL platform) Trackhawk, and Dodge obliged fans’ fantasies with a one-year-only run of Durango SRT Hellcat SUVs. With 710 horsepower and all-wheel-drive, it was the ultimate family hauler because it was way comfier than something like a BMW X5 M Competition yet still blisteringly fast. However, once 2022 rolled around, the Durango Hellcat disappeared — or so we thought.
For 2023, the Durango Hellcat returned as part of Dodge’s “Never Lift” rush towards the end of V8 production, angering existing owners in the process. In March, Automotive News reported that a group of 2021 Durango Hellcat drivers filed a lawsuit against Dodge parent company Stellantis, claiming “they paid more for their vehicle “than they otherwise would have” and, had they known Dodge would build the Durango Hellcat beyond the 2021 model, possibly “would not have purchased the vehicle at all.” Dodge had pulled a similarly-cheeky stunt before with the 807-horsepower Demon-aping Challenger Super Stock, but that was a distinct model rather than a continuation. Still, is the production of additional Hellcat-powered vehicles a bad thing?
As we roll into model year 2024, it feels surprising to see that the Durango Hellcat is still here with no announced end-of-production date. It still makes 710 horsepower, it still rips from zero-to-60 mph in a claimed 3.5 seconds, and it still has three full rows of seats. It’s the all-singing, all-dancing, all-American daddy of performance SUVs that can tow stuff and pick fights with muscle cars while hauling the entire family. Okay, maybe not all-American considering the third-generation Durango and W166 Mercedes-Benz ML are related, but NASA used German brains to put a man on the moon, so let’s forgive that minor detail.
It’s a bit weird how the last Hellcat engine might come in an SUV, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Granted, it’s odd that the current-generation Durango as a whole is sticking around for a thirteenth model year. You usually don’t see this sort of longevity in the highly-competitive three-row SUV segment. However, the engine fits the Durango perfectly — both are holdovers from a time that’s slipping away, echoes from the old normal. Supercharged V8 family vehicles may be a nearly extinct breed, but the Durango Hellcat is kicking and screaming all the way into the afterlife. If you want a ludicrously quick, undeniably capable, and utterly charismatic performance SUV, buy one while you still can.
(Photo credits: Dodge)
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So, I normally own cars until they are about 12 years old. And, at that time I’m usually like “man I like this car, if only I could buy another new one I would.”
If I owned a Durango (or a Model S for that matter) I COULD actually buy another new one. So they’ve got that going for them.
This is Stellantis we’re talking about. They’re just now breaking this platform in.
I honestly didn’t realize these were still being made. My close friends bought there’s 8 years ago. And at that point the model was already out for 4 years.
wow
A buddy of mine just paid straight up BMW/Merc money for one last year, and he had to order it and wait months for delivery. Not even an SRT, just a regular Durango.
I still think Dodge abandoning the ONE thing that makes them super unique is the height of stupidity.
Long live the Hellcat!
Not really an SUV guy but the this gen durango has always looked really fresh. They should make a mid size truck based off from it, and maybe call it something like…oh… idk… the Dakota?
Agree. I always thought it did a particularly good job of incorporating the Charger’s handsome styling cues, appropriate for an SUV that didn’t pretend to be an offroader.
Yeah well, it’s infantile to fantasize about what you’d do with huge tits too. But that never stopped people from such demonstrably impractical daydreams.
This is ‘Murica. There’s reason we have Las Vegas.
It’s stupid as all hell but I’ve always found it to be weirdly charming. There comes a point when something is so unapologetically ridiculous that I have no choice but to respect it. Honestly I’m happy they’re making more of them because it means there’s a better chance they’ll depreciate and as everyone is saying it’s a big fuck you to flippers.
I’ve always liked performance SUVs since they sit at the intersection of ludicrous absurdity and “sellable to the wife”. She’d never allow a Charger or Challenger Hellcat into our driveway because she loathes muscle cars, but a Hellcat powered SUV? Look, dear. It’s practical!
I mean…it helped me sneak an N past her so something like this would be a logical next step, but like I said….I’m going to need some depreciation yesterday. Even the 392 (sweet spot, change my mind) Durangos are $60,000+ so I’m not optimistic that this lunacy will ever be within my budget. Although if it is I’ll vaguely consider it and I’d budget some extra money to do everything I could to make it look like a normal Durango because anything Hellcat will get stolen in DC within a matter of seconds…
Also how do I get my avatar back? I switched the email address for my profile and it went away.
You must learn to bend all four elements.
Gotta say that “sneaking one past the wife” is about the only reasonable explanation I can think of for one of these. Problem is, my wife would figure out pretty quickly that the family hauler gets something under 15 mpg around town, and then I’d have some ‘splainin’ to do.
Too bad there’s no WL Trackhawk and no Wagoneer Trackhawk, either.
And since the Wrangler finally got a V8 option, why not Wrangler Trackhawk? 😛
Fuck the limited edition shit. Make as many as they can 😀
I’m sure the Dodge Durango Owners Club is stoked.
It’s fascinating to see the moar power craze with the last ICE engines, even in oddballs like this, as it seems paradoxically that it’s not exactly the raw power they’re selling (as in, electrics have way more potential there), but rather the experience.
Which is something we autopians prize and endlessly discuss, but often assume many others don’t. Perhaps they actually do, they just don’t know how to express it?
Official car of: “If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anyone, but there would be signs.”
Although I’m sure there are legitimate arguments to be made, I still cannot help but laugh at “they paid more for their vehicle than they otherwise would have.”
Nobody forced you to drop $100k+ for something you clearly don’t actually want. Obvious flippers got hosed and I find it hard to care.
This. I generally hate intentionally limited-production vehicles specifically for this reason. They appeal specifically to the “I know what I have!” crowd and greedy flippers “buying for the investment,” and people who would actually appreciate and enjoy that niche vehicle end up missing out.
If anyone whines that Dodge ruined their investment by making more… good, you bought something for bad reasons and you should feel bad. Don’t blame Dodge for your bad ideas.
Great point.
The Ford GT paperwork came with a contract prohibiting the buyer from selling it for IIRC 2 years…it’s terrible how it’s come to something like this to keep people from turning cars into mere monetary objects.
Build an expensive useless car it is what you get. Even manufacturers are creating for profit.
This x1000
Seriously, you bought a freaking DODGE that doesn’t have a snake on the hood as an investment? You really thought they wouldn’t pump out a few more batches while it was printing money for them?
A fool and his money are soon parted.
“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!” Tremble before me in the school pick-up line all RAV4’s and CR-V’s.
the CR-V has VTEC which adds like 1000 hp 😉
sorry, I had to!
VTEC just kicked in yo!
I don’t know…I’ve seen some shenanigans from CR-V drivers and as a cyclist have learned to fear it. Figure it’s an abbreviation for “Crazy Roadrage Vehicle.”
It’s like the fat middle aged wildebeest is still standing after all his faster, fitter brethren were eaten by the lions.
Shenzi:
[Banzai’s stomach growls]
Shut up.
Banzai:
I can’t help it. I’m so hungry… I gotta have a wildebeest.
Shenzi:
Stay *put*.
Banzai:
Well… can’t I just pick off one of the little sick ones?