The Wheels YouTube Channel has put out a video of a Ford Explorer ST taking on a Dodge Durango Hellcat SRT, in a couple of ¼ Mile Drag races at the Mission Raceway Park in BC, Canada.

Overview

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again; performance family SUVs on paper make no sense, however, they still remain fairly popular, maybe not in terms of sales but I’m sure no one would argue with their appeal. Automakers continue to churn out these top-tier brutes based on practical family haulers because there clearly is a demand for them.

Both these mid-size SUVs, have seating for seven people and pack AWD traction. The YouTuber did not put out the specs of both SUV’s so we don’t really know if they’re bone stock or have some performance upgrades done to them. Regardless, I’m sure that most people still want to know which one among these two is the fastest.

Ford Explorer ST

The Explorer range is amongst the most popular selling SUVs in America and consistently features in the top 10 best-selling SUVs in the country. The blue Explorer ST seen here, at least in stock form features a 3.0 liter Ecoboost twin-turbo V-6 engine that produces 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque. The ST is coupled to a 10-speed automatic transmission and weighs 4701 pounds. As I mentioned earlier, we don’t have the exact specs of the SUV, but we can see that this ST is using some performance rubber.

Dodge Durango Hellcat SRT

In the grey corner, we have Dodge’s only SUV offering in its high-performance Durango Hellcat SRT trim. The Dodge features a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 engine that produces a colossal 710 horsepower and 645 pound-feet of torque. It is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. The Durango tips the scales at 5,334 pounds. It has considerably more power and torque when compared to the Explorer, however, it does weigh a little more as well. So which one of these SUVs will come out on top? Well, let’s find out.

Round 1

Both SUVs line up at the Christmas tree for the launch. The lights turn green and surprisingly it's not the Durango, but the Explorer that gets off the line well. The SRT still runs all the way to the ¼ mile line, but it was the ST that came out on top with a time of 11.49 seconds as opposed to the 11.74 seconds that the Dodge managed.

Round 2

On the second pass, both SUVs switch lanes. Also, this time around, the Explorer has a passenger on board, will that make a difference? The lights go green and once again, it’s the Explorer that's in the lead. The Durango got a bad start due to the driver's poor reaction time. As a consequence, it was no contest really this time around for the ST. It was an easy win for the Explorer ST on this second pass as well, with a time of 11.63 seconds, with the Durango managing 12.20 seconds.

Conclusion

So a definitive win then for the Ford. From these results, it is unlikely that this Explorer ST is anything but stock because it managed to beat the mighty Durango Hellcat SRT with a smaller displacement V-6 engine.