A Full Step Up from a Truck; Dodge turns engineers, designers and Hemi loose on SUV.(News)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: JOE KOVACH

Driving on curvy, hilly roads, the all-new Durango feels big but smooth, proving that automakers continue to advance in making large trucks feel more like tall cars. The ride and the firm seats are comfortable. The handling, the on-center steering feel, and the overall refinement of the '04 Durango far exceed the first-generation. That Durango, a '98 on which we did a yearlong test, was based on the Dakota truck platform. One of our notes back then said its ride was "stiffer, bouncier, and altogether less sophisticated than many competitive vehicles.''

The '04 Durango has "its own completely new, unique platform, built for a sport/utility, not for a pickup,'' as one Dodge engineer put it.

We drove a Hemi version, and yes, it had plenty of power, though the acceleration of the 5079-pound SUV doesn't wow like the new 500-hp Hemi Ram SRT-10 does. The Durango's 5.7-liter Hemi Magnum V8 makes 330 hp at 5400 rpm and 370 lb-ft of torque at 4200 rpm. You can also order a 4.7-liter Magnum V8 (230 hp at 4600 rpm and 290 lb-ft at 3600 rpm). And, for the first time, Durango offers a V6, a 3.7-liter making 210 hp at 5200 rpm and 235 lb-ft at 4000 rpm. That's 25 less hp and 60 less lb-ft than the '03's 4.7-liter V8.

The new Durango looks similar to the old one, yet it's completely redone. Says Dennis Myles, design chief for the Durango, "I heard the ultimate compliment the other day: `This looks like a Durango.' There isn't one square inch of this vehicle that's the same as the previous version, and yet it captures the essence and spirit of the vehicle.''

The Dodge Power Wagon from the 1940s and '50s was the design inspiration, and it shows in this Durango's drop shoulders and bulging fenders.

Like the first-generation, the new Durango is a "tweener'': bigger than the full-size SUVs it competes with, such as the GMC Envoy and Land Rover Discovery, but smaller than large SUVs, including the Ford Expedition, Chevrolet Tahoe and Toyota Sequoia. To keep its place between those two ever-ballooning classes, the new Durango grows about seven inches longer; and wider, taller and longer in wheelbase all by three inches. This translates into about 15 percent more interior volume. Occupants in the new Durango sit an inch higher than in ...