The Hemi V8 Is Back In The Ram 1500

For those of us of a certain age, one of the all-time dumbest plots on a TV show came way back in the ’80s on the prime time soap opera Dallas. After years of trying to reclaim that “Who Shot JR?” magic, the show was getting stale, and the actor who played Bobby Ewing, Patrick Duffy, decided he wanted to do something else. Soap operas have an easy solution for this, so the writers had him murdered in a convoluted way.

It turns out that without Duffy, the show was a lot less popular. Rather than try to revive the show creatively, the producers went the easy route and claimed it was all the dream of another character, and it never happened. This summer, Ram Trucks is having its Dallas moment by announcing that it was all a big mistake and the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 has returned to the Ram 1500 pickup.

It’s not entirely clear yet if Patrick Duffy will be involved in this miraculous resurrection.

Who Shot The Hemi V8?

During the tenure of now former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, he decreed that going forward the automaker would be in compliance with all fuel economy and emissions regulations, and he had no intention of continuing to buy credits from Tesla and other EV producers. Stellantis (and FCA before it) has long been at the bottom of the table when looking at corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) data, and not by a small margin.

As pleasing as the Hemis were to drive, they were quite thirsty, and Hellcats only contributed to the problem. Thus, with ever-tighter emissions and efficiency standards planned through the early 2030s, it was time for Stellantis to say goodbye to the beloved Hemi and embrace smaller turbocharged engines, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles.

A refreshed version of the Ram 1500 was launched in early 2024, powered for now exclusively by a choice of three six-cylinder engines, the classic Pentastar V6 or the new 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six with either 410-hp or 540-hp. Both Hurricanes produced significantly more power and torque than the 20-year-old Hemi while also using a little less fuel.

But they lacked that V8 rumble, and fans were, to say the least, unimpressed. Sales declined, and Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis opted to retire.

Awakening From the Dream

Just as that ninth season of Dallas had been revealed to have been nothing more than a dream, the same thing happened to America, sort of. Donald Trump was reelected to the presidency, and one of his biggest priorities was rolling back environmental regulations. That included emissions and fuel economy standards. A few weeks later, after much back and forth with the Stellantis board, Tavares was pushed aside. 

Within days, Kuniskis unretired and retook the helm at Ram. Almost immediately, he asked his engineers to determine what it would take to bring back the Hemi. The initial estimate was that it would take 18 months. Kuniskis wasn’t pleased with this answer and called upon Darryl Smith, the former chief engineer of the SRT team. Smith determined that it could be done in about 6 months.

The biggest challenge was making the engine compatible with the new electrical architecture that had been launched on the 2025 Ram 1500. In order to keep things as simple as possible, they retained the exact same engine configuration that had been on the 2024 model, complete with eTorque. This way, Stellantis didn’t have to recertify it. The structure of the 2025 Ram was essentially unchanged from 2024, so the install turned out to be pretty straightforward.

Since the biggest complaint about losing the Hemi in favor of the Hurricane was the loss of the V8 sound, every Hemi Ram will come standard with a sport exhaust system so everyone will know what you bought.

Contrary to some recent reports online that the Hemi production line would be relocated from Stellantis’ Saltillo, Mexico engine plant to the Dundee plant in Michigan, the line is remaining right where it was. While the current administration may be happy to see another V8 come back, it won’t be thrilled about where it’s coming from, and this could pose some financial challenges for Stellantis when it comes to tariffs. At the announcement this week, Kuniskis declined to answer any questions related to tariffs, and given the fluctuating situation, that’s probably wise.

When And Where?

The 2026 Ram 1500 is available to order as of today, and trucks with the 5.7-liter will start shipping later this summer. For now, it will be available as an option on every trim except the RHO and Tungsten. Those remain exclusive with the High-output version of the 3.0-liter Hurricane. On the Tradesman, Express, Warlock, Big Horn and Rebel it will be an additional $1,200 on top of the standard-output Hurricane – that’s right, you’re paying more for less power and torque, but you get the V8 sound! On the Limited/Longhorn, which comes standard with the HO Hurricane, the V8 will be a no-cost option.

One thing you won’t get with the revived Hemi is an actual Hemi badge on the truck. Instead, the designers have crafted a new badge just for this truck. It’s a stylized V8 with straight header pipes sticking out and a big ram’s head on the front. You’ll find the new badge that Kuniskis calls the “V8 symbol of protest” on both front fenders.

What Else and Where Else?

So the next obvious question, especially now that Dodge has announced that the Hellcat will continue to be available in the 2026 Durango: When is Ram bringing back the TRX? Or even a Hemi-powered RHO? Kuniskis declined to answer either of those questions, but given his enthusiasm for high-performance muscle machines after all his years running Dodge, you have to believe that it’s only a matter of time before both of those become available. The RHO would probably need some additional suspension tuning work for the V8, and he’ll want the Hellcat-powered TRX to take on the Ford F-150 Raptor R.

While Kuniskis didn’t discuss Dodge plans (after all, he no longer runs that brand), with Hemi V8 production ramping back up, it also seems increasingly likely that the engineers will find a way to stuff that engine into the new Charger. But since that car wasn’t designed to carry the V8, that’s probably going to take significantly more work.

During a Q&A, Kuniskis was asked what the return of the Hemi means for electrified Ram Trucks. He was adamant that they were still coming, but he did acknowledge that the reason for delaying the extended range RamCharger to the first half of 2026 was specifically because of the Hemi. Stellantis has been beleaguered by quality issues for years, and this has been one of the big focus areas for new CEO Antonio Filosa.

As they reintroduce the Hemi to the build schedule along with the Pentastar and two Hurricanes, they decided not to throw the EREV Ramcharger into the mix right away until they ensure they have everything sorted. Once Hemi production is ramped up, they will start pre-production of the RamCharger, and then next year after the RamCharger they will start feeding in the battery electric REV.

What’s so special about the Hemi?

The origins of the Chrysler Hemi V8 go back nearly 75 years to the introduction of the original FirePower V8s of 1951-1958. The name comes from the fact that the engine had hemispherically shaped combustion chambers that yielded more even combustion and power.

Chrysler was by no means the first to use this combustion chamber shape. The origins of the concept first appeared at least 50 years earlier on engines from multiple manufacturers, including Fiat in the first decade of the 20th century.

Today, hemispherical combustion chambers are commonplace and fairly easy to implement since most engines have overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The extra valves allow for much improved flow of fuel and air into the cylinder and exhaust out across the chamber. More typical overhead valve V8s have a wedge-shaped combustion chamber where both the intake and exhaust valves are on the same side. The cross-flow layout enables better breathing and a higher redline.  

But the FirePower V8 was an overhead valve design with a camshaft in the block and pushrods, like most American V8s. That makes it a bit more complicated to implement the valvetrain when one of the valves is pointed out away from the side where the camshaft is.

While the FirePower engine family had hemispherical combustion chambers, Chrysler didn’t actually start using the Hemi brand until the second generation engine in the 1960s. In 1964, the company introduced a new big-block 426 cubic inch V8 that carried the Hemi designation. It was the success of the 426 Hemi in the hands of racers like Richard Petty that made the brand an icon. At first, the Hemi was only used in race cars and was actually banned for the 1965 season because consumers couldn’t buy it in an actual “stock” car.

In 1965, Chrysler produced some Dodge Darts, Coronets, and Plymouth Furys with Hemis to sell to the public for drag racing. A year later, the “Street Hemi” finally arrived to homologate the engine for use in NASCAR. With 425-hp gross and 350-hp net, it was one of the more powerful engines that could be purchased for a street car in that era.

At the time, Chrysler also produced a more conventional wedge combustion chamber version of the 426 V8, but the Hemi had a lot of other enhancements to help it survive the additional power output. The Hemi had a different head bolt pattern to make sure everything stayed sealed up during high-performance use, and the steel main bearing caps were cross-bolted to keep the bottom end of the engine in place. The 426 Hemi was only produced until 1971, when modern emissions standards were starting to be implemented, and relatively few were put into production cars. Today, cars with that engine are highly sought after by collectors.

In the late 1990s, Chrysler launched a new single-overhead cam 4.7-liter V8 (and a related 3.7-liter V6) based on designs it inherited from its acquisition of American Motors a decade earlier. Despite being an overhead cam design, the 4.7 had wedge-shaped combustion chambers, and it wasn’t especially powerful and only remained in production until 2013 when it was completely supplanted by the third-generation Hemi V8 that returns this summer.

The third-generation Hemi debuted in 2003, just five years after the 4.7, and while it retains the name, it’s not truly a Hemi anymore. Modern design tools have allowed engineers to better understand the combustion process going on in engines and optimize the shape for improved flow, more complete combustion and better performance with lower emissions and fuel consumption.  The combustion chamber is now flatter than the classic Hemis, and there are now two spark plugs per chamber with a direct coil-on-plug layout.

The initial incarnation of the modern Hemi had a 5.7-liter displacement, and that’s the same size that’s coming back to the Ram 1500 for 2026. In the intervening years, there have also been 6.1-liter, 6.2-liter and 6.4-liter variants. The 6.4-liter has remained in production for the Ram heavy duty pickups, and the 6.2-liter was the basis for the supercharged Hellcats. Like the 5.7 Hemi, the Hellcat’s demise has also been greatly exaggerated as Dodge just announced last week that it would again be available in the Durango for 2026, five years after it was introduced as a 1-year only option for the SUV.

The first Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.7-liter Hemi in 2003 produced 345-hp and 375 lb-ft of torque. Over the next two decades, it received numerous updates, including a cylinder deactivation system in 2008 and variable camshaft timing. In 2008, it was even briefly available in the Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUVs with a GM-developed two-mode hybrid system. Only a few hundred of those are believed to have been produced before Chrysler cancelled the program and those two models in the wake of the financial meltdown in the fall of that year.

By 2013, the 5.7 was producing 395-hp and 410 lb-ft of torque. The last major update to the 5.7-liter Hemi came in 2019 when what was then known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced the addition of the eTorque mild hybrid system on 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and the Hemi. This was a belt-driven starter generator system coupled with a 48V lithium-ion battery to enable some brake energy recuperation, longer auto stop-start capability and up to 130 lb-ft of additional torque on the V8. The eTorque system provided a modest 2 mpg improvement in EPA combined fuel economy.

You can read a bit more about what the Hemi meant in Thomas’ story Why America Loved The Hemi V8.

It’s All About Loyalty

Truck buyers tend to be among the most brand loyal of any segment in the business with 70 to 85% repeatedly buying the same brand. According to Kuniskis, there are 3.6 million Hemi-powered Ram trucks on the road today, and even if a small percentage of those refuse to buy another Ram without a V8, that’s still a lot of lost customers. Just because Ram took away their choice.

In a market that tends to be that brand loyal, it’s a lot easier to retain existing customers than it is to win them over from the competition. Thus, if Ram is going to keep the customers they have when it’s time for a new truck, they probably need to have a V8 option.

Kuniskis thinks Hemi take rates may eventually settle in at between 25% and 40% of buyers, probably closer to the higher end of that range. In the past, Ford has said only about 10% of F-150 buyers opt for the 5.0-liter Coyote V8, with the rest going for one of the V6 options. It will be interesting to see how many Ram buyers will be willing to pay more for less power but more noise.

Stellantis is a company that has been struggling for the last couple of years with falling sales, especially for its two traditionally most profitable brands, Ram and Jeep. Jeep’s problems are probably going to be significantly tougher to fix since its core model, the Wrangler, now has so much more direct competition. The current political reality in America means that bringing the Hemi back to the Ram 1500 is an easy, quick fix for that nameplate that should help boost short-term sales. Kunisikis acknowledged that they also need a midsize truck, but he wouldn’t say when that’s coming, and no mention at all was made of a compact. That’s all for another day.

[Ed Note: Ram told me they held onto all the tooling for the Hemi engine (it’s not clear where they stored it all), and Ram answered my question about whether current politics played into this decision with “Almost all consumer directive.” -DT].