What is up with Motor Trend?

[njafish]

I consider myself a user authority on the 5.7 HEMI with 545rfe transmission……..why you ask? Good question…..because I own that set up in my 2010 RAM 1500. I was avoiding sharing that little tid bit in my earlier rant as to avoid loosing credibility the blue oval die hards.

So let me now try to break down the Ex vs. D question that has been bantered about. My personal comparison is with my Ex Limited with 302a, moon roof, and second row capt. chairs For $46k VS. a Durango Citadel with HEMI fully optioned out for $45k that I test drove and inspected for roughly 1 hour. A buddy of mine also owns a D Citadel and have come to know his ride a bit since he got it.

First the 545rfe has long been considered a suspect tranny. In my RAM I myself find it to be harsh and tends to be inconsistent with shift points especially under hard driving. I found it to me a little more civilized in the D though. I suspect that is due to set up. My ram comes 390 hp and very torqy from the factory. I believe the D comes with 360 hp. The pentistar 3.6L v6 comes in at 290 hp. The 6 speed in the Ex is smooth as silk. Then again why wouldn’t it be. Edge to the EX.

5.7 L V8 HEMI vs. 3.5L V6……the focus here shouldn’t be horsepower but fuel economy in two equally priced similarly optioned vehicles. There is no excuse for the Ex’s v6 to have equally ****ty fuel economy to the gas sucking HEMI monster. I have yet to hit 17 mpg in my Ex in mixed use driving. A buddy’s v8 D is getting roughly 17 mpg mixed use as well. My HEMI in the RAM gets roughly 16 mpg mixed use. it is simply not acceptable and not what is stated on the window sticker when we got the Ex. Who wouldn’t rather have the HEMI for the same price and fuel economy? If you’re not sure then go drive one and then answer the question. Edge to the D.

Interior styling and materials…..this is certainly subjective to a certain point. 3rd row leg room goes to the Ex, 2nd row leg room to the D. my right knee is getting tortured by the hard edge on the center console in the Ex. I experienced no such discomfort in the D. the moon roof in the Ex is very cool. The D has a traditional sun roof. The Ex has allot more hard plastics then the D. the leather seems a tad softer in the Ex. Ergonomics is a wash to me as well. Everything is in the right place in both vehicles. However the D takes a more minimalistic approach. The Ex feels like there is more going on, but in a good way. The rain noise in the Ex is ridiculous and should have been resolved from 2011 to the 2012 model years. I am not aware of that condition in the D or at least I have not heard of it yet. Edge to the D.

Safety….both have adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring, cross path and frontal collision warning. I don’t think the D has seat belt air bags. I happen to really love the safety features on our Ex. But at the end of the day both cars have pretty much the same stuff. Edge goes to neither….its a wash.

Driving….not even close. The Ex is like driving a spongy battleship dragging an anchor. Sure its pleasant enough and my 89 y.o. Nana just loves that it feels like her 76 coupe deville. The D on the other hand feels like your driving a substantial vehicle. It has both a luxury feel and you can also choose to get on it make her run with the big dogs. Even my wife who insisted on the Ex had a **** eating grin on her face after driving the D. hell, she almost changed her mind there for a while. Edge to the D.

Exterior styling and materials…..again subjective. I happen to think the Ex looks better. What I don’t care for is the black plastic trim on the bottom 1/3rd of the entire vehicle. I also take great exception to the black plastic pillar cover. Rattling issues and scratched plastic is not cool. A poorly fitting rear lift gate is also a common problem and exists on my brand new 2012. Regardless I have to give the edge to the EX

Technology…..oh my little MFT buddy, how you seduced me with all your amazing bells and whistles. But alas you have turned out to be just like my red headed busty ex wife……great to look at and play with but completely unstable and aggravating in the long run. The D has a pretty nice set up that actually works great, it’s a MyGIG multimedia system with navi and a 30-gigabyte hard drive. Not only does it work but you can download all your tunes and album covers, photos, video’s etc etc. ya I know it doesn’t have voice commands but whose cares if it doesn’t work. The information clusters in the Ex are very cool, however it lacks some vary basic important info like TPMS readings for your tires. The D has a single cluster called EVIC and it has oodles of info also, but more importantly info that really matters like TPMS readings, tranny temps, etc etc etc. the Bluetooth sounds pretty normal on the D. the Ex sounds like a friggin wind tunnel. I hate to say it but I have to give the edge on this to the D. sorry but what good is an unstable technology package, and one that’s falls short in providing critical system info.

And the tally is:

The Ex wins in 2 categories. The D wins in 4 categories. And it’s a wash in 1 category.

Hey but that’s just me :mattmoon:

 

[batman89]

Speaking for myself, I preferred the Explorer's 6 speed transmission, and the fact that it was a manu-matic (although I'm not thrilled with how the implemented this) and downshift if I needed fast acceleration.

I liked the exterior look more (subjective) and I recognized that 80+% of my driving was highway/road and light towing, so I didn't need a truck based SUV. I liked the electronic safety features and dash display, my wife will ADORE the auto parking feature.

The Ex is more a dressed up mini-van, for my purposes. If I were doing a lot more off-road, or heavy towing, I might well have chosen Durango instead.

If I want a tow vehicle with lots of power I would buy the 2012 f150 Eco-boost truck with 4 doors. See it in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw1zdFZwlLU

 

[fe298]

The Hemi engine is more powerful than anything the Explorer has. That's a given. If you want power, speed, and towing, there's no question the Durango has an advantage over the Explorer. My question was (perhaps poorly worded), for those of us who are not interested in power, speed, or towing (or off-road for that matter, a claim that is debatable but I don't care about), what does the Durango have over the Explorer?

Out of your list, that leaves "higher grade interior materials", which is pretty subjective.

I think you need to consider that we are talking about SUV's here. So to me the things you would look at to compare would be things like power and towing and off road capability. It's on a Taurus platform so I don't think off road is really debatable. I also agree that interior materials is also subjective, but I think most oblective people would have to agree that the Durango has the edge. With all that said I like the Explorer might even buy one.

 

[calb]

I consider myself a user authority on the 5.7 HEMI with 545rfe transmission……..

I liked your analysis generally.

I'm not so sure about the gas mileage and engine though. I'll go with the independent analysis as I presume EPA tests both vehicles in exactly the same manner. While the miles per gallon might be wrong, it should then be equally wrong for all vehicles. EPA shows combined 19mpg for Ex and 15mpg for Durango. I don't understand why you aren't seeing that difference, particularly if we are comparing a V8 to a V6. Doesn't seem to make sense?

The engine in the Durango should give you one hell of a better ride as a 5.7 hemi provides a lot more power. No argument there. All things being equal though, I'd expect a V6 Durango to be as sluggish or perhaps a bit more than the Explorer as it weighs more and only has a 5 speed?

The last point I'd make is with regard to your "red headed busty ex wife" - shoulda leased her, my friend

 

[njafish]

The last point I'd make is with regard to your "red headed busty ex wife" - shoulda leased her, my friend

funny you say that........my pops asked me "sure you wanna bring a ham sandwich to a banquet" as he and my mother were walking me down the isle. guess i shoulda taken that subtle hint gee thanks dad, next time warn me before the wedding day. but alas i fell for her womanly ways, and my god she was amazing in..... .....but i digress, you guys don't want to hear about my buxom sultry ex wife. I’ll just keep all that tucked away in my JOML :smoke:

 

[JDraper]

5.7 L V8 HEMI vs. 3.5L V6……the focus here shouldn’t be horsepower but fuel economy in two equally priced similarly optioned vehicles. There is no excuse for the Ex’s v6 to have equally ****ty fuel economy to the gas sucking HEMI monster. I have yet to hit 17 mpg in my Ex in mixed use driving. A buddy’s v8 D is getting roughly 17 mpg mixed use as well. My HEMI in the RAM gets roughly 16 mpg mixed use. it is simply not acceptable and not what is stated on the window sticker when we got the Ex. Who wouldn’t rather have the HEMI for the same price and fuel economy? If you’re not sure then go drive one and then answer the question. Edge to the D.

Wonder what's up with your X. My XLT AWD is getting 20 mpg in mixed driving and upwards of 22 on the highway in the mountains. I can still tow 5k lbs with my X and have done so more than once, so for me it's a big edge to the Ex. Better fuel economy and the ability to still easily tow what I want.

 

[njafish]

Wonder what's up with your X. My XLT AWD is getting 20 mpg in mixed driving and upwards of 22 on the highway in the mountains. I can still tow 5k lbs with my X and have done so more than once, so for me it's a big edge to the Ex. Better fuel economy and the ability to still easily tow what I want.

i'd love to know too. i'm going to drive her a full month before i pull the alarms and take her in. i may also have to start doing hand calculations to confirm the onboard read outs.

 

[janskim]

22 avg so far since Feb. 95% highway 5% city with AWD sure beats my old 98 Ex