2011 Dodge Durango Crew AWD vs. 2011 Ford Explorer XLT 4WD

Not long ago the Ford Explorer and Dodge Durango were engineering throwbacks, midsize SUVs with full ladder frames under their blunt steel bodies, powered by drivetrains swiped from pickups. "They can tow!" their defenders would shout as if that justified their position in the marketplace. "And they can go off-road!" they'd add, as if that mattered.

Both the Explorer and Durango are back for 2011 and now, like virtually every other mainstream crossover SUV against which they compete, they're built around unibody structures covered by sleek sheet metal. Throw your eyes out of focus and there's still some tough truck in their styling, but the engineering now is all car — from multivalve V6s to all-independent suspensions.

And these days such modernity starts just shy of $40,000. Our Durango Crew tester, fitted with the entry navigation/commuter group and the optional Pearl paint cost $37,035. The Explorer XLT including its Driver Connect package, voice-activated navigation, blind spot information system and Trailer Tow package totaled $38,750.

But let's not be coy; these are minivans disguised for 21st-century consumption. They both carry most of the functionality of a minivan — three rows of fold-flat seats and an arcade's worth of available onboard entertainment options — while avoiding the Mom Mobile stigma. These are state-of-the-art breeder buggies optimized for the cut, thrust and commuting of suburban kid toting. But they're coated with just enough ego-soothing plausible deniability.

Still, in suburbia, no one tows anything and all the roads are paved. And one of these crossovers is better than the other.

Different Directions
Both the Durango and Explorer have turned their backs on their truckish engineering heritage, but they aren't exactly alike now.

The Explorer is built atop Ford's "D4" platform, which is itself an evolved version of the "D3" structure that underpins Ford's Taurus sedan, Flex wagon and assorted Lincolns. Considering that this architecture was originally developed by Volvo for the front-drive 1999 S80 sedan — before Ford bought the Swedish company — it's fair to call it well-proven by now.

So, like all the other Ford crossovers and most of the competition, the Explorer positions its engine transversely in the nose with the six-speed transaxle alongside it. Order a two-wheel-drive Explorer and it's a front-driver.

In contrast, the new Durango rides on a stretched version of the same Mercedes-derived SUV platform that makes up the substance of the new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Like its American and German brothers, the Durango has its power plant mounted longitudinally in the engine bay with the Mercedes five-speed automatic bolted behind. Order a two-wheel-drive Durango and it's a rear-driver.

But once past that, the two have a lot in common. Both are powered by all-aluminum DOHC 24-valve V6 engines. The Durango's "Pentastar" V6 displaces 3.6 liters, has a 10.2:1 compression ratio and delivers 290 horsepower and a peak 260 pound-feet of torque at 4,800 rpm.

The Explorer's V6, on the other hand, displaces 3.5 liters, has 10.8:1 compression ratio and includes independent variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust cams. Ford also rates its V6 at 290 hp, with the peak 255 lb-ft of torque at just 4,000 rpm.

It's like picking between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. It's Mantle vs. Mays, Magic vs. Bird or Gurney vs. Foyt.

Although neither SUV is equipped with a low-range transfer case, the Explorer's all-wheel-drive system offers more adjustability. Ford's Terrain Management System changes the throttle map, stability control and transmission calibrations to accommodate four kinds of terrain (Normal, Mud/Ruts, Sand or Snow), plus there's hill descent control. The Durango's system simply provides a full-time 50/50 front/rear torque split with no adjustable electronics.

Beasts of Burden
In everyday driving neither V6 feels strained and both remain relatively quiet, even when accelerating to join freeway traffic. But the Explorer enjoys the significant advantage of the six-speed automatic transmission. Compared to the Durango's five-speed, the Explorer's shifts are crisper and the gears do a better job of keeping the V6 in the thickest part of its power band. The Durango's drivetrain is fine, but the Explorer's is sweeter and more flexible.

Throw in the fact that the Durango weighs in at a thunder thigh-high 5,022 pounds, while the Explorer comes in at a still corpulent 4,707 pounds, and it's no shock that the Ford is the quicker machine. The Explorer will get to 60 mph in 8.1 seconds (7.7 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip) and slip through the quarter-mile in 15.9 seconds at 89.4 mph. It takes the Durango 9.0 seconds (8.7 seconds with rollout) to hit 60 and 16.6 seconds to complete the quarter-mile at 85.8 mph.

On the other side of the ledger, the Explorer is also slightly better on fuel. Its EPA mileage ratings are 17 mpg in the city and 23 on the highway. The Durango is a nip behind at 16 mpg city and 22 mpg highway. In combined driving we averaged 16.2 mpg in the Durango and 18.1 mpg in the Explorer.

The Smother Brothers
Both the new Durango and Explorer ride fantastically well on-road using double-wishbone front suspensions and multilink independent systems in back. With their luxury car-spec tires, they both quietly smother road imperfections and transmit very little motion into their bodies. Compared to previous Explorers and Durangos, it's astonishing.

Still, it's not as if these big wagons are nimble road rockets. After all, the Durango stretches out 199.8 inches long overall and rides on a 119.8-inch wheelbase. The original 1998 Durango was just 193.3 inches long and had a 116.2-inch wheelbase. At 197.1 inches long, the 2011 Ford Explorer is fully 12.8 inches longer than the first Explorer five-door that appeared 20 years ago and longer than any Explorer that's come before it. These two may not have full frames, but they're hardly downsized in either physical breadth or weight.

Fortunately, both have steering that belies their size. The Durango's hydraulic power rack-and-pinion steering has better on-center feel than the electrically assisted rack-and-pinion system in the Ford. And the Explorer's steering is a little bit quicker than the Dodge's. Both have surprisingly good initial turn-in when cornering and remain relatively neutral within their modest limits. Beyond those limits, the story is all about understeer.

Slalom speeds and skid pad adhesion don't matter much for vehicles like these, but we generated those numbers anyhow. The Durango charged through the slalom at an average 59.5 mph with stability control on and 59.6 mph with it off. It can feel top-heavy, but it actually stays well planted while pushing its nose through the cones. On the skid pad it orbited at 0.75g with stability control on and 0.76g with it off.

We averaged 16.2 mpg in the Durango and 18.1 mpg in the Explorer.

The Explorer generated similar numbers. There's no way to turn off the stability control system in the Ford, but turning the traction control off improved the slalom performance from 59.6 mph to 60.1 mph. On the skid pad it stuck to 0.77g regardless of how we set the electronic measures.

Braking always matters, however, and both these jumbo-size haulers acquitted themselves well. The Durango needed 119 feet to stop from 60 mph, while the Explorer beat that number by a foot, achieving the same task in 118 feet.

Creature Features
Considering how dynamically similar these two are and how closely priced they are to each other, many — if not most — purchase decisions will boil down to aesthetics. Do you want to drive around in something that looks muscular like the Dodge? Or would you prefer a Ford that looks like a scaled-up Remington F5790 electric shaver? They're both handsome in their own way and destined to become anonymous, taken-for-granted presences on America's roads for decades.

It's inside where the two differ most. The Durango has traditional instrumentation and real buttons to operate its various technologies. The Explorer, on the other hand, has progressed beyond that, with a single conventional speedometer flanked on either side by reconfigurable LED displays. And many of the Explorer's switches are soft-touch buttons — a touch-sensitive membrane over a printed circuit board.

The Durango interior is, by far, the highest quality yet seen in a Chrysler product. It's a huge step forward for a company that's known for hard surfaces and haphazard interior fit. But overall, the Ford feels slightly higher quality and has better-shaped front seats.

That aside, the Durango has slightly more room for cargo, there's something delightful in its unpretentious interior design and its third-row rear seat was easier for our 9-year-old child to access.

Finally, the Explorer wins the electronic gizmo award hands down. There's simply more to Ford's Sync system than there is to the Dodge's UConnect. The learning curve for both — including navigation and entertainment elements — is fairly steep. But learning the Sync system seems to pay off better.

The Winner
It's early in their product lives, but already it's obvious that the new Durango and new Explorer are all-timers — vastly better than the trucklets they replace, and among the very best crossovers available at any price. So picking a winner here is like picking between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, Magic and Bird, Gurney and Foyt. Pick whichever one fits the peculiarities of your life best and you can feel confident you did well.

But the numbers crunch down to a slight victory for the Explorer over the Durango. Some of us prefer the Durango over the Explorer as new vehicles, but feel more confident recommending a Ford over a Dodge based solely on their respective reputations for long-term quality — and that counts in the scoring.

So the Explorer racked up 82.7 points to the Durango's 80.3. That's eyelash close. And maybe the Hemi V8-powered Durango R/T would yank our hearts out with its 360 hp and deep well of torque. Then again, maybe it will prove so thirsty that we'd hurry back to the Explorer.

The Explorer is a well-executed consumer product: the Starbucks vanilla latte of crossover SUVs. It does virtually everything well, does nothing badly, has enough room for most people most of the time, is pretty quick for its size, and smooth and creamy in every aspect of its operation. After all, even if everyone is drinking vanilla lattes, vanilla lattes are still really good.

The manufacturers provided Edmunds these vehicles for the purposes of evaluation.