Test drive: 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat
The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is the world's most powerful SUV, but Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu says it's much more than that ... for better or worse.
It's baaaaack.
Dodge is putting the most powerful gasoline-fueled SUV ever made back into production after a year's hiatus.
The Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat shares its 710 hp 6.2-liter supercharged V8 with the brand's Challenger and Charger muscle cars.
It was initially available during the 2021 model year when Dodge planned to sell just 2,000 at a starting price of $82,490, but it was so popular that the company increased production by 50% and sold out the entire run.
TEST DRIVE: THE 2021 DODGE DURANGO SRT HELLCAT IS THE MOST POWERFUL SUV EVER
The Durango SRT Hellcat has a 710 hp 6.2-liter supercharged V8. (Dodge)
Dodge said it would not be able to build it beyond the year due to increasingly strict emissions rules and discontinued it in 2022, but things have changed for 2023.
The Durango SRT Hellcat is returning with the same specifications as the previous edition, but Dodge is keeping mum on exactly how it managed to pull it off.
The Durango SRT Hellcat features sport bucket seats. (Dodge)
"They got real good, and they figured it out," Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis told Fox News Digital, regarding the Durango team's ability update it in the face of the emissions rules.
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"Muscle enthusiasts also have families, and the 2023 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat can get those families where they want to go and has the ability to tow 8,700 pounds," Kuniskis said.
The Durango SRT Hellcat is equipped with upgraded brakes and suspension to go with its increased power. (Dodge)
The Durango SRT Hellcat can accelerate to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, cover a quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 180 mph, according to Dodge. Its combined fuel economy rating was just 13 mpg in 2021.
Pricing for the 2023 model has not been released, but the order books will open in September and there will be no set limit on availability this time around.
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Dodge has not announced an official end date for production of the aging Durango lineup, but it is discontinuing the Challenger and Charger at the end of 2023 and sending them off with a series of special edition cars that will culminate in a Challenger that Kuniskis said will make history as part of a "Last Call" for the muscle cars.