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].
I’m surprised they don’t have a system that shunts a little oil into the exhaust system to roll coal on demand to go along with the “V8 symbol of protest” badges.
Can also drip out the bottom too to mark their spot.
Factory truck nuts to complete the package. Can’t let anyone forget how manly you are at any time.
As much as I like turbocharged engines (2.7/3.5 Ecoboosts are in fact, very good overall.) and the new Hurricane engine could be good, but time will tell.
The Hemi always seemed like it had at least another revision in its life cycle.
If it were up to me:
Thank you for changing the title on the article. I don’t typically think I’m overly sensitive… but the previous title was… bad.
> You’ll find the new badge that Kuniskis calls the “V8 symbol of protest” on both front fenders.
Leaving aside my personal feelings about the demographic, I genuinely appreciate how clear Dodge/Ram has been on who it’s advertising to and what it’s selling. Between these and the Charger/Challenger/etc, there are very few brands which have so clearly staked a segment of the market.
People protested the lack of a V8. Its not really political as V8 lovers can be found on both sides.
I kind of feel like the 5.7 was a clean sheet design from the old LA motors using Mercedes money and it worked pretty well for them in the end.
I am kind of surprised the 3.0 without turbo’s has not replaced the 3.6, though I assume the 3.6 somewhat reliable reputation is part of it. but I could definitely see some jeepers accepting a reliable, torquey 300HP straight six over the 3.6 or the 2.0 Turbo 4. Maybe it is rod ratio or something else about the design that is stopping them, but certainly it seems doable to use the flow through head designs figured out by the Hemi and LS motors to make this a viable option.
Probably packaging… V6s pack into vehicles that want a short front end much better than an I6. I know when they went away from the 4L it was much easier to package into engine bays and improves crash performance. I actually think it would have made more sense to design a turbo V6 range instead of the I6 so you could use it in anything and everything.
possibly, but generally if a Hemi v8 fits then the Hurricane fits, it is only 33 inches long. When mounted Transversely I actually think that as long as the trans and motor fits between the suspension components, it would be much better for repairs and what not to have 6 in a row versus 3 buried under a cowl, at least for everything except water pumps maybe.
“Ram told me they held onto all the tooling for the Hemi engine (it’s not clear where they stored it all”
I’m pretty sure they kept is all where it was at, since they never shut the line down, as they were still producing some versions for the HD trucks and the Durango.
The BGE and Apache motors used some different tooling, but it would not be a surprise to me if the “new” 5.7 did not consolidate some of that to reduce tooling differences. heck a 5.7 with the thicker BGE block might actually be a benefit.
I’m going to break my rule here and comment on something of no interest to me personally.
I DON’T CARE ABOUT THIS AT ALL.
I have no interest in a V8 truck or even a V8 sedan. Zero interest. I see no point when the hurricane 6 is already excessively powerful.
Sure, the V8 will be more efficient when towing your 15,000 lb load to and from the mall. (Lets be real, that is what most of these vehicles do.) But on those rare days you are not towing your 15,000 lbs trailer to, uh church on Sundays, driving the Hurricane 6 reasonably will burn less fuel and emit less emissions.
The “no V8 not gonna buy cohort” is stupid arrogant whining from folks that were not going to buy the 2026 DODGE 1500 new ever with either the 6 or the V8. I expect the lackluster DODGE 1500 sales to continue.
I now am going to put on my flame retardant suit for the (justified??), responses to said rant. I will see myself out. 🙂
I agree. Maybe this makes me “not a real enthusiast”, but I can’t see why I’d pay more for less power and more noise, especially when it’s also less efficient. And just to get a “traditional” engine configuration? I mean, you could argue that an I6 is more traditional than a V8, since I6’s were invented first anyway. I would only buy an engine with less power and more noise if it were going to be a fun weekend toy. And my fun weekend toy isn’t going to be a new truck, it’s going to be something classic where the looks are more important than the function anyway.
> I can’t see why I’d pay more for less power and more noise, especially when it’s also less efficient. And just to get a “traditional” engine configuration?
Crack that one, and a whole lot more of the current era starts to make sense.
Its not less efficient. Real world test show the hurricane getting way worse gas mileage.
Imagine if any of them knew how many big boy trucks actually use a turbo I6 and not a v8
Bye Felicia.
I’ll join you.
One would argue that by posting, a rather decent sized post, you do in fact care. Add to that choosing to insult a cohort of buyers, it becomes obvious that yes, you care. And clearly you are offended that people will spend extra money on cars irrationally. But since you don’t share that irrationality, you get to insult them? Preferring a v8, even if ONLY because of noise, is no worse or better than any of the other irrational reasons any of us choose a particular vehicle.
You aren’t a v8 enthusiast. Why shit on the people who are?
Meh. I’m sorry you could not figure out I was clearly being sarcastic/cheeky about this.
I find the seemingly broken record repeating articles saying the Dodge 1500 is not selling because it does not have a Hemi is ridiculous. The Hemi will not suddenly make the new Dodge 1500 a big seller – a large portion of F150 sales are for smaller engines so the Dodge 1500 with the Hurricane 6 should be selling. The Dodge 1500 has a lot of problems including pricing vs the competition – and the more expensive Hemi will not change that.
And where did I say I was not a V8 enthusiast? The Corvette C8 is a really really cool car for the price that I would happily. I also recently got to extensively drive an Audi SQ8 that can do 0-60 in 4 seconds with a nice fun V8. It was ridiculous in all the right ways.
The assertion that the Hemi will suddenly solve all of Dodges/Chryslers woes is just ridiculous.
I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but on paper the Hurricane was supposed to do it all, and do it all well. OTOH, the last Hemi I drove was right after eTorque came out…and I have to say I was impressed. They took a thirsty, outdated, but mechanically sound engine and used EV boosting to eliminate its main issue (economy) while also adding short-term power for passing or towing or whatever.
Was there just too much investment in Hurricane that they felt they had to proceed? We don’t tax on displacement or CO2 here. Whatever powerplant (eTorque or not) gets the job done best, and reliably, is the one to go with.
I’m not a fan of making the V8 even louder. Let the aftermarket handle that (or make some cash by selling MOPAR exhausts as optional). Make the OE models smooth and quiet. RAM has long been one of the more “refined” trucks and that would keep things in character. But that’s why I’m not running Stellantis. Among other reasons.
“We don’t tax on displacement or CO2 here.”
Oh but we do tax CO2 here just in a roundabout way. That was what Carlos was trying to avoid, paying Tesla for those Carbon Credits to avoid paying the gov’t higher fines than they would w/o some purchased credits. Yes, buying Teslas allowed the Hemi to survive and the crazy Hellcat versions to exist at all.
he could have done that by doing what they are doing now. provide a lower cost, supposedly cleaner running alternative and let the old V8 Die on the vine as it were.
Certainly they could have built a better alternative and let the consumer decide which is right for them from the start but the old CEO just didn’t have a clue about the US truck market. One look at Ford would have showed the way. They produced an alternative that was so compelling to the public that is quickly exceeded their own expectations and pushed the V8 down to only ~20% of F-150 sales once the were able to meet the EcoBoost demand.
Amazing how the free market works when it’s not molested by the government.
Ford didn’t develop the EcoBoost in a vacuum, it was created because of gov’t regulations.
I was lurking on F150 forums last fall while doing research on them, and I was seeing a lot of comments from previously die-hard V8 guys saying the EcoBoost motors were superior. The V8 sounds great, but a truck isn’t the best application for that particular engine. Apparently, they’re weak down low and need some revs to make power.
The article says eTorque adds “a modest 2MPG” but I think that’s a good 10% or more improvement. Tack on a 120V/240V inverter and you have a really nice backup power system that doesn’t run the engine all the time.
And with say a 25gallon tank, that’s another 50 miles of range.
Yes. “Only 2 mpg” turns into $5,000 in fuel saving of the live of a truck when you are starting at 17-18 mpg.
We should just actually ban The Hemi, exclusively for the line “V8 badge of Protest”. Jimney friendship Christmas, that’s the most Losercity line in the history of copy editing. This whole marketing trend, acting like conspicuous consumption of the status quo is somehow the second coming of Rage Against the Machine’s “Battle for Los Angeles. I can’t think of anything more Big Dweeb Energy then thinking your truck purchase is some form of radical partizan position, like Nascar meets the October Revolution. It’s like Rage always said “I won’t change from status quo, because the future freaks me out!”
“Virtue signaling”, meet “vice signaling”. (And yeah, any time someone uses the term “virtue signaling” I know I can disregard anything they say after that.)
Vice signaling, I like that. I’m already picturing truck nuts covered in diesel soot and a No Fear sticker. Or like the truck in my kids’ carpool “Dad at home. Daddy between the sheets.”
Stay classy, middle school parents.
The demographic likes what the demographic likes, and this sort of “protest” is what the demo likes. I won’t kink shame.
I will. It’s sooo ultra-lame. Don’t be out here Mahatma Gandi cause the billion-dollar Dutch cooperation both taketh and giveth two cylinders on yah truck. If you want to be a rebel, buy a skateboard and pick up graffiti. This whole, you’re an ungovernable independent man, who only needs his wits, strength, and an 80k truck deserves ridicule. This continuous framing of maintaining the status quo as radical. Like the guy upcomment said, it’s Vice Signaling. But the vice is “live like it’s 2007!”. Like, stop trying to make being an average suburban guy who hates change into some fake “public enemy number 1” scenario. It’s so unbearably lame.
It’s working class cosplay. A lot of the demographic that eats this shit up is profoundly insecure. They’re not actually the alphas that they see themselves as, and that’s actually okay. It doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition.
But they disagree. They’re uncomfortable with the fact that they usually live relatively mundane, boring suburban lifestyles and have desk jobs. Their ideal version of a man is white, heterosexual, Christian, a bully, and someone who works exclusively with their hands in a “traditional” job…and they’re convinced that someone is going to take that from them, which isn’t true but we live in a post-facts society.
So to cope with the fact that they’re largely unassuming beta males they cosplay as what they want to see themselves as…rough, brash, mean, salt of the earth people that do THE RIGHT kind of work….and a loud, wasteful, massive truck with capability they’ll never use that’s an inconvenience to everyone around them is the perfect tool for the job.
And all of these companies are more than happy to sell them $80,000, 6,000 pound monsters on 10 year loans at 18% APR so they can pretend to be Davey Crockett on their 5 mile round trip commute to an office job that pays them $70,000 a year because they’re suckers.
Geez, who pooped in your Cheerios?!?
Give the people what they want, irrational or not.
I’m sure Stellantis crunched the numbers thoroughly and found a good business case for bringing back the Hemi.
Personally, I’d rather have the Hurricane for its better MPG, HP/torque, but I’m not really a truck guy, so who am I to judge what someone else wants.
If it got better mpg it wouldnt be protested. But in the real world it doesnt.
It makes sense they kept the same engine. I just hope they are putting some time in updating the hemi in the future.
This is why trucks are so insanely profitable. Loyalty is just another way of saying that a person doesn’t care about selecting the best product.
IMHO this is like 80% of American consumers across the board. All they want to do is conspicuously consume and they operate solely on vibes.
It is a massive chunk for sure, but there is a lot of variation within the population, and truck buyers are in a special class.
And they will die violently on that hill.
I’m sure most people are terrified of the long term reliability of the Hurricane and it’s integrated turbo manifolds.
The vehicles that are available with with the Hurricane, are so unreliable in other ways, that I actually haven’t heard many issues with the engine itself. It’s all electronics elsewhere in the car and other typical Chrysler/Stellantis bologna.
Melting Catalytic converters, thermostat failures and Misfires are the common issues I hear about.
How does that compare to the Hemi tick and broken exhaust manifold studs?
Well, the Hemi Ticks…. generally happen later in life. The hurricane has not really been around that long yet. So, it kind of is a sore spot for people already concerned about longevity and 1st year design worries.
1st year? It’s been available for three in the Grand Wagoneer.
I second this concern. From a technical writeup on the Hurricane I saw, it seems Stellantis made the rounds of engine component design/manufacturers and grabbed what looked like it might work. I hope they did some due diligence on integration and reliability since there is some seriously complex and likely expensive parts to replace if they fail.
So far I haven’t heard of any serious or fatal flaws with the engines, but I’m not expecting Toyota 4.7L engine reliability either. I’ve a soft spot for I6 designs and would like the Hurricane to be a hit.
in theory, that is one less gasket to fail, but I would be worried about cracking due to heat soak and in the long run the bearing surfaces. I will bet that most turbo failures will require a new head, and of course tuners will forever hate them.
Honestly, I have no issue with an I6 instead of a V8, but the reliability of a new Stellantis engine would be a concern for me, and for that reason I’d go with the V8 if given the choice.
OTOH, If I were buying a Ford, 2.7EB all day.
“V8 badge of protest”
Thermonuclear cringe
This is speaking, directly, to his customer base.
I’m sure commercials will follow with even more cringe.
You. Yeah, YOU! The manliest man in the room! Do you have absolutely no regard for anyone around you or our planet? Are you, in your glistening whiteness, feeling the unbearable weight of oppression because the big, mean government doesn’t want you to own a huge, dangerous, wasteful product you don’t need?
DON’T YOU WORRY! This rolling codpiece will grow your wiener by 4 inches and tell everyone around you to fuck right off. Hurry in for the Big Huge PeePee limited edition now that includes a “punching cyclists in the nuts” package and bump stocked AR15.
(For the record I don’t mind V8s and have questions about whether or not downsizing engines is actually that much better for the environment, but I’m never going to pass up an opportunity to clown on Stellantis)
How soon before Punisher decals are a factory option?
Or Calvin pissing on something political?
From the look of the press photos, they’re already taking Henry Ford’s line on color choices.
Or the flag whole back window section decal. Not that I’m against them – but I always wonder the thought process of owners while buying that. Like they’re worried that someone might not think they’re American enough before but that matte black flag on a tinted window will.
I heard they’re mandatory with your second DUI
Again, perception is more important than reality. They could probably but some small V-8 will less power and torque and still sell more because “V8”
Why did they not just engineer the exhaust to sound more V-8 like?
That sound is remarkably difficult, if not impossible, to replicate with a different engine configuration.
Or just re-use the vroom-vroom sound system from the EV Charger. They already sunk all that money in R&D for a relatively unpopular product, so might as well put it to better use.
I can’t believe how badly they screwed that noisemaker up. Yeah it kinda sounds like a V8, but a V8 with a shiftless CVT transmission?!?
I have no loyalty to the Hemi or even to V8s in general. But I gotta admit… that badge looks cool as hell.
It much reminds me of the classic Super Bee emblem, which I also like.
My coworker did a lease buyout of his current Ram with the V8 since they were gone from the market and he is all about the V8 and nothing else. He has a 3 miles commute to work, I wonder how bad is for the engine.
Gotta have your 6,000 pound vehicle that can tow a house and gets low teens fuel economy to travel 6 miles round trip to your desk job!
That commute would probably be harder on a turbocharged engine.
Normalcy takes another small step toward returning.
Not really sure I’d argue it’s normal to complain a V8 is disappearing when the replacement I6 is better in almost every single way.
I have nothing against the Hemi, but the most common version offered in the Ram (the 5.7) is absolutely nothing special, and is easily bested by the 6.2 from GM, and is about on par with the 5.0 from Ford.
Crying over the loss of a meh engine, is crazy.
If I were buying a Ram today, I’d way rather than have the Hurricane.
I think if it were so clearly better, there would be a rush of people to buy them.
I think in real life people have found questionable reliability, questionable fuel economy benefits, and a questionable removal of fair choice.
The Hurricane isn’t going away, another choice is just being offered. If you find it to be nothing special, you don’t need to buy one, but let those of us who would have today to celebrate.
Comparing vehicles like the Wagoneer on Fuelly that offered both the 5.7 and the Hurricane doesn’t really prove out the statement that the Hemi gets just as good of fuel economy. Sure, I’ll admit there are scenarios it gets better, but largely, on a whole, it clearly doesn’t.
And the masses are dumb shits. Look at who they elected. I certainly don’t use the tendencies of the car buying public as proof they know best.
I’m down to hear objective, evidence based statements on how the Hemi is better though. Let’s hear them. Objectively, it makes less power and torque. Objectively is scores worse in fuel economy testing, and from what I can tell, general real-world use too.
You won’t find any.
If you buy cars entirely rationally, that’s again your prerogative, but you’ll find that automakers aren’t likely to cater to you. Because whatever you personally think of the buying public, that’s who they have to answer to.
A perfectly rational auto market would have a lot of Priuses, a lot of Civics, and not a lot of Porsches, Corvettes, or Hemis. Maybe that appeals to you, but it sounds pretty bad to me.
But even on a subjective level, the 5.7 is worse than the 6.2 offered in GM trucks, and the 5.0 from Ford.
This love for the 5.7 makes zero sense to me. It was great when it first came to market, but it’s been surpassed by other offerings, the Hurricane included.
I’m not saying buy boring rational vehicles. I drive a fricken’ Outback that I hate. I’ve got fun vehicles (a ’65 Suburban and a ’13 Street Triple), so I’m well aware things like character, soul, and fun.
That may be, (even though the 5.3 is the better comparison from GM) but for someone who might be inclined to buy a Ram for other reasons, like their interiors, offering the V8 as a choice gives those buyers more of a reason to choose you.
I also don’t love this particular 5.7 as much for itself (I’ve never owned a Ram truck and have never really seriously considered buying one) as much as for what bringing V8s back and slowing the downsizing trend represents in the larger scheme of things.
I’m comparing the top-tier V8s offered across the brands. I guess I’m technically excluding the TRX, but that’s such a highly specific vehicle I don’t think it’s fair to use in this case.
While yes, the 6.2 is a bit more locked down trim wise than the 5.7, and the 5.3 fits better in that way, it’s not like there still isn’t a huge overlap in pricing for the 6.2 and 5.7 from each respective brand.
Personally, between the two, I’m takin’ the V8. I love a good I6, and I like efficiency, but I also just want the V8.
But you’re buying this vehicle 20 years and 8 owners later…
Hollywood David Tracy buying cars that can’t drink yet now smdh
When I drove the Hurricane, it seemed better suited to Grand Wagoneers and the like than trucks.
Its virtues of quiet operation and smoothness seemed like they’d be valued by those buyers more than Ram 1500 owners to me.
Hasn’t Ram been leading the way in quiet smooth operation, as far as trucks go? It’s why they’ve got coil springs in the back, among other things.
Their ride is the best, yeah. I don’t know about quietness or smooth power delivery prior to the Hurricane.
They want that smooth ride, the nice leather, the heated and cooled seats, the good stereo, the massaging seats, the fancy infotainment, the quiet isolated cabin… but don’t take away the V8 rumble!
So much of these trucks are built around outward projection…
Dodge/RAM had better marketing. 20 years ago, the HEMI was THE engine to buy. Massive ad campaign.
The HEMI has “soul.” V8 engines say, “America!”
Not sure that’s objective, but that’s about it.
Objectively, V8 go brrrrrrrr
A significant portion of consumer spending is unrelated to selecting the best available product. If selecting the best product mattered, Stellantis wouldn’t sell a single unit.
Better in every way on paper. The heart wants what the heart wants. Just the same as people would turn away from an uglier design even though it’s 2% slipperier. Or how almost all of us will choose a stickshift even though there is no way we could ever compete with a dual clutch for speed or a CVT for economy.
I thought normalcy was full Chrysler and Dodge line-ups, and not just some random V8 in a pick-up?
Then again, who needs product when you a V8 motor to choose from in a full-size truck again! No company survives on a full product range, only a select few products (that everyone says is junk with or without that V8!) matter for every company!
Please re-read the comment, paying special emphasis to the words “small step”
I paid attention, figured it was sarcasm.
The costs of this could’ve gone elsewhere, getting more of the boarder market then at their very best, 100 thousand sales for the first year.
To some degree I think this fits into the same trend as some of the new N/A manual hypercars coming out – the first era of automotive engineering was about power, the second was about efficiency, in the third era we managed to make 700hp cars that got 25mpg, and now in this 4th era we’re finding that what we really wanted was something fun to drive – sure, a turbocharged i6 gets more power and uses less fuel, but it’s not a V8, and it turns out our internal spec sheet had more than power & efficiency on it.
I don’t love this particular vehicle, but I’m all for people making decisions like humans and not spreadsheets.
word!
Rams used to by far be the cheapest option but with the classic dead and the Stellantis premium strategy that is no longer the case. When I bought my Silverado crew cab it was significantly cheaper than the new Ram. I’m not sure they will see the take rate they anticipate on the Hemi. I’m guessing most people will go for the V6, especially if it is getting better incentives and dealer discounts. With the sales volumes of full size trucks it was stupid to kill the Hemi instead of using pricing and production volumes to manage demand, like I’m guessing Ford is with the 5.0. Now that they are supposedly listening to customer maybe it is time to officially make the name the Dodge Ram again also.
I agree! I know lots of Ram owners who bought them because they were cheaper than F-150 or Silverado. (Toyota and Nissan are not options in these equations).
When they introduced the first EcoBoost it turned out the take rate was something like twice as high as they expected, so they ramped up production of it and backed off on the V8 as that was what customers wanted.
That’s the only reason my dad got his brand new. Terminally shit the bed about 7 years later, if you can believe it
It’s been an relatively open secret they have been rebuilding a hemi line for a few months. Hurricane still seems to needs lots of refinement. Plus you have people that demand a V8. They sold tons to fleets if they keep the costs down they will probably keep buying.
Fuel prices and interest rates are making it a tough time to sell trucks to people who don’t need them for work. This might have some benefit to sales, but it’s not the real problem.
Nice with the Gerald Ford reference! 😀
What most owners dont like is the Hurricane actually gets worse gas mileage than the hemi because of the amount of time it spends in boost. Especially when towing. Turbo engines look more economic until the turbo is actually doing something.
I agree with every word in your post.
My view, as someone who first designed a turbo-downsized engine for an OEM nearly 20 years ago, is that consumers should learn how to use the expensive and carefully engineered thing they just bought.
Turbo downsizing gives you the choice between having better economy or the same performance. However nearly everyone opts to drive with the same performance and is then shocked and angry that they get no gain in economy.
I do the same myself, I use boost all the time in my turbo cars, because it’s more fun. But when I need it I have the option of getting good economy.
I get that in this case the freedom to choose was taken away, but even so, don’t complain about the consequences of what you’re actively doing with your own right foot. Using less fuel means using less performance. Technology can help with this, but it’s not magic. Engineering is always a compromise, but sadly consumers hate compromise. People want to have their cake and eat it, and even then they’ll blame someone else when they get fat.
It’s soul destroying to spend three years engineering a thing that gives the customer options, only for them to ignore the advice in the handbook, and drive around being disappointed by it.
I know no one reads handbooks. I know no one likes change. I know that a typical human when confronted with evidence that the environment is being ruined will still floor it at traffic lights. It’s just disappointing when they blame the consequences on something that took so much hard work to create (and was mostly created in response to government standards that they voted for).
In summary: I’d much rather have spent 20 years working on engines that get well over 100bhp/litre the fun way, with revs, rather than with boost. But then I’d be on the internet having to defend engines with “no low down torque” from people who choose to drive in the wrong gear.
Yep, this is the truth. My CX-30 turbo can and does get within an MPG or two of the N/A variant on the highway, since I’m cruising entirely out of boost with cruise on, and gets significantly worse MPG around town because I paid for all the torque, so I’m going to use all the torque. It’s efficient enough when I need it to be and fun enough when I want to to go quick, it’s the best of both worlds because I use it correctly. You have to burn fuel to make power, all a turbo does is let you burn more fuel in a smaller displacement engine, and yet consumers don’t seem to understand that.
Fuelly suggests otherwise.
There’s some serious selection bias for individuals who put in the effort to log data on mpg.
Imagine the type of person that uploads data to a site called fuelly.
In a certain sense it’s not their fault, but shame that the whole world is going EV/PHEV while this is what we cling to. I guess climate change has to hit a lot harder before anyone will think about the consequences of their actions.
Are those EVs really fighting climate change? The cars aren’t kept nearly as long, they total easily, needing to he recycled. Meaning more will need to be built, leading to way more plastics (pollution), more rubber on the road due to heavy curb weights, the list goes on. EVs should be an option, but it you should have a choice.
Less brake dust.
Also, EV tire life entirely depends on how it’s driven. Floor it from every stop and evaporate the tires in 5k miles. I have about 20k miles on the original tires on my Tesla. It looks like they’re good for another 20k. Which is about par for the course for OEM tires in my experience. No, I don’t floor it everywhere.
It’s not true that EV tire life depends entirely on how it’s driven. Do driving habits have an effect on EV tire longevity? Sure, but not exclusively. The heavier curb weight of EVs is also a big factor in why their tires tend deteriorate quicker than their ICE equivalents.
A Q5 or Macan weigh about the same.
Sure, but we’re talking about larger trends here instead of a few cherry-picked examples. By and large, EVs tend to weigh more than ICE vehicles.
It’s not really disputed that EVs go through tires quicker because of instant torque and weight. Michelin themselves make this claim, and I figure they know a thing or two about tires.
https://news.michelin.co.uk/articles/the-new-demands-of-ev-cars-on-tyres-and-how-michelin-has-made-its-tyres-ev-suitable#:~:text=With%20the%20instantaneous%20torque%20of%20electric%20motors%20and%20the%20weight%20of%20the%20battery%2C%20tyres%20wear%20out%20up%20to%2020%25%20faster%20on%20EVs%20than%20on%20internal%20combustion%20vehicles.
You can argue about tires forever. Lifecycle emissions remain lower.
Cool. The original comment I responded to was discussing tires, I wasn’t making any larger claims about lifecycle emissions.
The lifestyle is much shorter. They really cant be compared.
Yes, and dramatically, and will continue to do so as the grid’s transformation to renewables continues apace. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/07/electric-cars-have-much-lower-life-cycle-emissions-new-study-confirms/
But I do like how people keep trying to invent new ways rationalize.
Every single point you make has been refuted…including recent articles on how Tesla designed its gigacastings with built-in repair points to facilitate repair.
Also, you think ICE vehicles are becoming easier to repair?
ICE vehicles will probably be around for awhile. But the tax burden for the environmental damage they do should be included in the cost. And the HUGE corporate welfare subsidies to the fossil fuel industry should be eliminated. Then you’ll have the true cost factored in.
As of today, any impact on an EV that an insurance company thinks might have impacted the battery results in totaling the car. As we learn more that may begin to change, but currently, insurance is so risk averse to battery issues that they are avoiding them.
While ICE will start carrying gigacasting style subframes, and already has high complexity as you state, the battery factor is leading to more EVs being more rapidly “totaled”. Low mileage EVs getting totaled from seemingly minor accidents was whole series of headlines last year.
So while, after 35K miles or whatever the number is, lifecycle emissions are lower per unit, have we created a situation where we have also noticeably increased the number of units that must be created? How does that balance out against a comparable group of ICE vehicles?
I don’t know why you think this. My insurance on my EV isn’t any different than I would expect for a vehicle (Model Y dual motor) that approaches 400hp and 400 fl lbs of torque with acceleration ~4.5s. It certainly isn’t radically higher than my other ICE vehicles.
EVs are getting in accidents more often and get totaled more, but the data suggests this has to do with drivers not being used to the instant torque, and that rate seems to be dropping, not rising.
But then you have these offsetting statistics:
Return of the lifter tick!