Dodge Durango R/T (2021–2024) review: a three-row muscle-SUV for the highway, not the dunes
3.6/5motorssouq Editorial Team
The R/T is worth seeking out if you want a seven-seat SUV that drives like a big sedan and pulls like a muscle car, and you are honest with yourself that it will rarely, if ever, leave paved roads. Skip it if sand or gravel tracks are a regular part of your life — a Patrol or a Land Cruiser Prado will do that job better, and Dodge's parts and service network in Bahrain is thinner than either Nissan's or Toyota's.
Pros
- 5.7L HEMI V8 R/T gives genuine muscle-car pace in a three-row SUV
- Corners and brakes noticeably better than body-on-frame rivals
- Cabin and cargo space competitive with the Patrol and Land Cruiser
- 8-speed automatic and AWD are smooth and unobtrusive on-road
- Priced below the Patrol and Land Cruiser for comparable V8 performance
Cons
- No low-range transfer case or locking differentials — a genuine off-road limitation on sand
- Dodge's Bahrain service network is far smaller than Nissan's or Toyota's
- V8 AWD fuel consumption is close to 14 L/100 km in real mixed driving
- Cooling-system components need close attention after several Bahraini summers
Dodge kept the Durango's basic architecture — a shortened, reinforced version of the same platform underneath the Charger and Challenger — through three generations, and the 2021 update leaned into that rather than away from it. The R/T's 5.7-litre HEMI V8 makes 360 hp and 528 Nm, paired with an 8-speed automatic and all-wheel drive, and the top-spec Hellcat model puts a supercharged 6.2-litre V8 into the same body for genuinely absurd, 710 hp performance.
What that buys you is a three-row SUV that actually wants to be driven quickly. The steering has real weight, body control on a fast sweeper is tighter than a Patrol's, and the V8 soundtrack is part of the appeal rather than an apology for it. None of that comes with the low-range transfer case or locking differentials that make a Land Cruiser genuinely useful off tarmac — the Durango's all-wheel-drive system is built for traction on a wet road, not for a soft dune.
In Bahrain
For a buyer whose seven-seat SUV spends its life on the causeway, the school run and the airport road, the Durango's road manners are a real advantage over the Patrol and Land Cruiser it gets cross-shopped against — it corners flatter, brakes better, and does not feel like it is fighting its own mass the way a body-on-frame SUV can. What it gives up is the reassurance those two nameplates carry here: every workshop in Bahrain has seen a Patrol; far fewer have seen a Durango R/T's cooling system and electronics in any depth.
Fuel consumption on the V8 AWD is honest rather than flattering — expect close to 14 L/100 km in real mixed driving, worse than a Patrol in town and closer to it on the highway, where the Durango's smaller frontal area helps.
What to check before you buy
Confirm the full-size spare and check the air suspension option, where fitted, for correct ride height on all four corners — it is not standard on every trim, and repairs on the ones that have it are a specialist job in Bahrain. Ask for cooling-system service records specifically; the V8's radiator and related hoses are the parts most likely to show heat fatigue after several Bahraini summers.