“That thing got a Hemi?”
“Nope. Might as well, though.”
That’s the new pitch from Stellantis, the parent company of Dodge, Ram, and other horsepower-focused brands.
The V8 Company
No company has built its image on V8 power as much as Stellantis. So what will it do in the age of electrification and $4 gas?
Part of the answer is to go electric, just like everyone else. The company has promised an all-electric muscle car, an all-electric Ram pickup, and even off-road-centered electric Jeep SUVs.
But gasoline is likely to remain an important part of its image while American drivers grow to accept electric vehicles (EVs) as mainstream. So the Stellantis brands need a way to maintain their performance image while using less gasoline.
The answer? The Hurricane.
Not a V, Not an 8
That’s the name Stellantis has given to its newest engine. It’s a twin-turbo inline 6-cylinder mill — a type of engine more associated with BMW than with American muscle. But it offers genuine V8 power in a more efficient package.
The standard Hurricane puts out more than 400 horsepower (the specific number varies based on the car it’s built into). High-performance variants make as much as 500.
The famous 5.7-liter Hemi starts at 395 hp. Its larger 6.4-liter variant starts at 485.
The inline-6 also weighs significantly less — 430 pounds compared to up to 600 for a Hemi — meaning it will have less weight to pull. And engineers can augment it with hybrid systems that add even more power.
Likely To Appear Everywhere
The company hasn’t officially said which vehicles will get a Hurricane, but the engine is designed to fit into the same platforms as the Hemi, so it could appear in everything from Ram 1500 pickups to Challengers.
We still expect to see even Dodge and Ram phase out gasoline-powered cars over time. The company has already said the Charger and Challenger, perhaps the cars most associated with V8 snarl, will be replaced with electric cars over time.
In the shorter term, however, they may get 6-cylinder engines in place of their old V8s — lighter and just as powerful.
