2011 Dodge Durango Citadel Black and Tan

2011 Dodge Durango Citadel Black and Tan

2011 Dodge Durango Citadel Black and Tan

2011 Dodge Durango Citadel Black and Tan

2011 Dodge Durango Citadel Black and Tan

 Like its "sister car," the Grand Cherokee, the Durango is all new for 2011 and leaps and bounds ahead of the old model. The design inside and out is greatly improved, as is the materials quality. This particular vehicle is the top-shelf Citadel trim level and it's been dressed up a bit for SEMA. Called the "Black and Tan" edition, it features some small cosmetic upgrades including special exhaust tips, wheels and grille inserts and a lowered stance. The "Black and Tan" name derives from the interior, which the Mopar Underground team refinished in black and tan Nappa leather.
Aside from these upgrades, you're looking at an essentially stock 2011 Durango. The new styling is similar in shape to the Grand Cherokee but distinctly Dodge and wears its crosshair grille well. It's a similar story with the new interior, but it is again suitably differentiated, and does offer third-row seating that folds flat easily to give quite a bit of cargo space. Overall, it feels well thought out and well put together, and should be more formidable against the competition.
Mechanically, the Durango's very similar to the Grand Cherokee, and like the Jeep, it gets a carryover 5.7-liter V-8 with 360 horsepower. Like virtually every other Chrysler product, it also gets the new Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 rated at 290 horsepower. That feeds a five-speed automatic soon to be replaced by a new eight-speed that should be a considerable improvement. A Dodge engineer also told Motor Trend that the new Durango will have "class-leading" towing capacity at 6200 pounds, even with the V-6 thanks to chassis improvements.