The Dodge Durango SRT has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Tahoe doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Durango SRT has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Tahoe doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Durango SRT. But it costs extra on the Tahoe.
The Durango SRT has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Tahoe’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Durango SRT has standard Rear Cross Path Detection, helping the driver avoid collisions. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Tahoe.
For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Durango SRT uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Tahoe uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.
Both the Durango SRT and the Tahoe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available crash mitigating brakes and lane departure warning systems.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Dodge Durango SRT is safer than the Chevrolet Tahoe:
|
Durango SRT |
Tahoe |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
26% |
47% |
Neck Stress |
156 lbs. |
272 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
303/32 lbs. |
333/811 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Dodge Durango SRT is safer than the Chevrolet Tahoe:
|
Durango SRT |
Tahoe |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Abdominal Force |
111 lbs. |
111 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
50 |
88 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
194 |
239 |
Hip Force |
714 lbs. |
764 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.