Minivans and sport-utility vehicles wearing the badge of Dodge include the best-selling Caravan minivan series and a mid-size SUV, Durango. Dodge's SUV, projecting a prow which resembles the Ram truck, offers Chrysler's HEMI V8 now with a multi-displacement system (MDS), while the Caravan line carries clever Stow 'n Go seats.

Dodge's SUV measures almost as large as some full-size wagons so there's room in the expansive cabin for seven passengers on three banks of seats. New for 2006 editions of Durango is a 60/40 split-and-fold third-row seat for three, power to motivate the liftgate at the tail, a remote starter device, standard 17-inch aluminum wheels and for enhanced safety roll-sensing curtain-style side air bags plus electronic stability program (ESP) equipment. Powertrains range from a 3.7-liter V6 to a 4.7-liter Magnum V8 and the powerful 5.7-liter HEMI V8 with MDS to boost fuel economy by 20 percent.

This year the 3.7-liter six or 4.7-liter eight will burn ethanol or gasoline, or a mixture of the two fuels. And that HEMI MDS V8 applies to a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Durango or the optional four-wheel-drive (4WD) version with electronic shifting into 4WD high and low range plus all-wheel-drive (AWD) mode.

Dodge built the first minivan back in '84 and carries the series forward into 2006 with innovations like standard BeltAlert warning for driver and front passenger seats, and Stow 'n Go, a seat system for second and third rows that folds into the floor. The series continues with Caravan on a regular-length wheelbase and the long-wheelbase Grand Caravan with front-wheel-drive (FWD) format. Optional gear on 2006 models extends from power sliding side doors and a power-operated rear liftgate to curtain-style side air bags for all three rows of seats and a rear DVD-based video entertainment system. The entry edition Caravan uses a 2.4-liter in-line four-pack engine rated at 150 hp, but there are two V6 plants available for the minivans at 3.3 liters or 3.8 liters. Fresh paint colors also apply with shades like Butane Blue Pearl Coat and Linen Gold Metallic.