Vehicle Type: SUV

Retail Price Range: $27,435 to $32,000

Invoice Price Range: $ 23,872

Transmission: automatic transmission

Safety Features: Driver and passenger side airbags; ABS anti-lock brakes

Engine: 3.9-liter, 175-horsepower V6 or 5.2 liter, 230-horsepower V8 or 5.9 liter, 245-horsepower V8 Front Engine/Rear or 4-Wheel Drive

Fuel Economy: 15 mpg city/18 mpg highway

Features: By choosing a Îtweenerâ size, Dodge comes up with more room and larger engines and still fits in garages. The only problem for Chrysler is the competition it poses for Jeeps.

Dripping Springs, Texas--Texas in September is fraught with changeable weather, and while it may be hard on visitors, it proved a benefit in testing go-anywhere sport utes. Ninety-degree days were followed by gray drizzles, so both chassis and climate controls got a checkout.

We toured central Texas hill country, which consists of winding roads, which were liberally sprinkled with El Nino showers. Many of these family trucks can be a handful on slick surfaces, but the wide stance and good tires of Durango kept this a Îno sweatâ venture.

There were at least three people in the Durango at all times, and even on the roughest roads, no one complained of any discomfort. And complaints would have been easy to hear, since there is plenty of soundproofing to insure communication even from the rearmost seat. Dodgeâs Durango will be compared to everything from Explorers to Range Rovers, but defies a precise comparison with anything currently available on the market. It is built on the mid-size Dakota chassis, and since only Toyotaâs T-100 has a similar size truck, Durangoâs unique size comes as no surprise.