Hi Everyone. My company car lease ends in June and I am trying to decide between the Durango SRT and the Jeep Trackhawk. My current company car is an Audi RS5, which I really like. However, my wife and I bought a weekend vacation home with lots of open space, so we are constantly hauling kids and stuff back and forth, and no one wants to ride in the back of a sport coupe for the 80 minute drive. Gas, insurance, repairs, etc. for the company car are on the house, so there is good reason to want to use the work vehicle for our weekend excursions. Although I want something more practical, I don't want to give up too much excitement in the name of practicality, so a high powered SUV seems to fit the bill. I have considered a pickup truck, but the full size ones are too big for daily use in suburbia, and they are generally not much fun to drive. I have considered the German high HP SUV's, but they are too expensive (the car lease allowance is $1,050/month and after that I pay out of pocket for the excess). At the end of the day, the two vehicles that fit my needs and desired price points are the SRT and Trackhawk. I rented a Durango GT for a couple of weeks last month while traveling on business, and found the vehicle to be very livable, but thought it would probably be much more fun with a couple hundred extra horsepower. After scouring this forum and the Durango SRT forum for information as well as reviewing the multitude of tests online, I have boiled the general strengths of each vehicle as following:
SRT:
Three row seating with reclining captain chairs in the second row, so the kids will be happier.
Cheaper - it will definitely fit within the budget while the Trackhawk will probably go over.
Can be purchased with integrated roof rails which I need for my Thule top box.
Trackhawk:
700+ hp - who doesn't want that?
Seems like the Trackhawk might get better gas mileage. While I am not so concerned about the gas mileage, I am concerned about range. The one thing I hate about my Audi is having to fill the tank so often (every 230 miles, give or take).
I still have a few months to decide, but would like to hear from those who are in the know. Is there anything I am missing in my search? Are there any other vehicles that might fit the bill? Thanks in advance. Phil.
SRT:
Three row seating with reclining captain chairs in the second row, so the kids will be happier.
Cheaper - it will definitely fit within the budget while the Trackhawk will probably go over.
Can be purchased with integrated roof rails which I need for my Thule top box.
Trackhawk:
700+ hp - who doesn't want that?
Seems like the Trackhawk might get better gas mileage. While I am not so concerned about the gas mileage, I am concerned about range. The one thing I hate about my Audi is having to fill the tank so often (every 230 miles, give or take).
I still have a few months to decide, but would like to hear from those who are in the know. Is there anything I am missing in my search? Are there any other vehicles that might fit the bill? Thanks in advance. Phil.