Report: Hemi V-8s Are So Back and Are Headed for Dodge Muscle Cars
Production of most Hemi engines allegedly resumes in August for Ram and Dodge products.
Ram truck fans got exciting news two weeks ago when a dealer in Wisconsin leaked details of an internal Stellantis presentation confirming the return of the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 in the Ram 1500, which for the 2025 model year had gone six-cylinder-only. A new report claims other Hemis, including the 6.4-liter “392” and supercharged 6.2-liter “Hellcat” V-8s are also coming available again after a year off, and they’re not headed only to Ram trucks but also the new Dodge Charger, which launched this year in all-electric Daytona guise but with six-cylinder Sixpack models to follow.
0:00 / 0:00
(Okay, for sticklers, we should point out that the non-392 6.4-liter V-8 has remained in production for Ram HD models while other variants were discontinued for the 2025 model year.)
According to anonymous sources speaking with MoparInsiders, Hemi production will restart in August at the Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan, and it won’t be limited to the 5.7-liter V-8 as previously reported. If the sources are correct, the plant will build all Hemi variants, including the 392 and Hellcat engines. Whether that includes all variants of the Hellcat remains to be seen.
A separate report from the same outlet published a day later claims Dodge engineers are hard at work fitting the Hemi V-8 under the hood of the new Charger, which controversially dropped all eight-cylinder engines for this new generation, much like the Ram 1500. We reported back in 2022 this would happen based on information from our own sources, but Dodge denied that report and seemed to be committed to a Hemi-less muscle car future. The new report suggests the V-8 Charger will come to market some time next year, following the EV model already available and the Sixpack inline-six models coming this summer.
The initial report goes on to say the engines will likely be carryover designs, but that new enhancements could be in the cards. It also broached the possibility of a new Hemi variant with even greater displacement than the 6.4-liter engine already found in the Ram HD.
Reached for comment, a Ram spokesperson called the report “speculation.” Stellantis has not officially confirmed the Hemi is returning to production, only that the truck-specific 6.4-liter V-8 would remain in production.
According to the internal email leaked earlier this month, both the 5.7-liter and 6.4-liter V-8s will be offered in Ram 1500 models. Previously, only the 5.7 was offered in 1500s while the 6.4 was reserved for HD models, so this could be more than just a reversal, Ram may be going all-in on V-8s in an effort to boost flagging sales with sportier light-duty trucks. Recently returned Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis previously told MotorTrend two months ago he wasn’t sure the removal of the Hemi was to blame for sluggish sales and would need time to analyze the problem. Recent reports seem to indicate Kuniskis has come to that conclusion and may be working to rectify it.
Ram dropped the V-8 engine option in the light-duty 1500 models for 2025, replacing it with the new twin-turbo 3.0-liter “Hurricane” inline-six. (Entry-level 1500s continued to use Chrysler's ancient Pentastar V-6 for motivation.) The decision coincided with the death of the Dodge Challenger and last-generation Charger, which also used variants of the Hemi engine. Likewise, the hardcore off-road TRX model and its supercharged Hellcat engine were retired and replaced by the otherwise identical but Hurricane-powered RHO. Given the investment Stellantis has made in developing the Hurricane engine family, it’s unlikely it’ll be discontinued and will probably continue to be offered alongside the Hemi and Pentastar V-6. The Hurricane engine is also offered in the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer and will soon be offered in the new Dodge Charger Sixpacks, where initial plans had the high-output version headed to the two-door Charger and the standard-output version going in the four-door. We suspect that allocation might be under review, given the Hemi's apparent joining of the lineup.
The leaked email also indicates the V-8 resurrection could spread beyond Ram and Dodge. Citing a Stellantis dealer presentation, it claimed 5,000 additional Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 models will be built. The Wrangler Rubicon 392 has enjoyed a seemingly unending run of "Final Editions," with the initial 2024-model-year run already supplanted by a 2025—there definitely wasn't much "final" about it. Nor, does it seem, the final nail has been hammered in the Hemi's coffin yet. While certain products seemed to be weaned off the Hemi for fuel-economy compliance reasons as much as diktats from former CEO Carlos Tavares, it's possible Stellantis has figured out how to make the Hemis suit the regulations—or it's simply banking on those regulations being relaxed or axed by the Trump administration, which has vowed to roll back stricter efficiency rules that have encouraged EV development.
Whether Hemis will soon be offered in other Jeeps like the Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer or future models like the next-generation Dodge Durango remains to be seen, but don't count them out. The current Durango is one of the few given extra time with the Hemi, particularly the Hellcat version in SRT models (which was originally set to expire two years ago but has continued being offered since), and the current Wagoneer models all launched with Hemi V-8s their first model year before transitioning to the Hurricane inline-six.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
Read More
