Ram has announced the changes to its 2024 models. Back in May, Stellpower wrote that “Either the 2024s or 2025s are likely to jettison the Hemi V8s in favor of Hurricane Sixes, with the possible exception of the 6.4 liter truck engines in the Heavy Duty lineup.”
All that has changed now is the dates: the 2025 Ram 1500 will be a hefty update to the current models, and quite likely will come without a Classic model on the old DS platforms. The Durango, in contrast, will have Hurricane engines but otherwise will carry over from 2024. The Durango has been selling reasonably well, and Dodge leaders, having enough to do with new cars, may well ask, why change what doesn’t need to be changed?
Ram has yet to talk about this, but officials have already said the Hemi itself is on borrowed time. Jeep’s 4xe in the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler is a more powerful alternative to the Pentastar V6, producing near-6.4-Hemi acceleration.
Before the Hurricane can more forward, though, Stellantis will have to figure out how to make enough of them. This may give the Hemi a bit more life, especially since the next-generation Charger and Challenger will draw on Hurricanes as well.
The Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are built on the Ram “DT” platform, so some of the work of adding it to the Ram 1500 is already done. The Hurricane 510 has 510 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, edging out the 6.4.
STLA Frame’s first vehicle, the Ram 1500 REV, is set to be a 2025. That suggests that the Ram 1500 “DU” series may arrive for the 2025 model year, and that’s when we’d expect the Hurricane; it would give the company enough time to add enough six-cylinder production. The straight six is only made in Saltillo, Mexico. Supply constraints may result in V6 engines staying on for base models, with Ram-rebranded 4xe a premium option.
This all concerns the Ram 1500. The 6.4 truck Hemi may continue on, since “heavy duty” pickups such as the Ram 2500 and 3500 don’t have quite the same fuel-economy pressure, and many would prefer a solid, overbuilt V8 engine for heavy towing and such. When this is phased out, it could be replaced by a specially tuned truck Hurricane which has less power but is coupled with electric motors for greater torque, to have a less-stressed powertrain for durable heavy hauling.
Even now, our conclusion remains the same as in February—Ram will almost certainly be adopting the Hurricane twin-turbo in-line six. The company already told buyers to expect the 2025 Durango to be a repeat of the 2024 but with new straight-six engines. And of course the Dodge Challenger will continue with a hot six instead of its hot Hemi—and other than Hellcats, it should be faster than the current models, while having better economy. It looks like the Mopar people are going to do more-for-less in 2025.
It would be nice if you could sit down with a Ram engineer or some Ram top brass and ask them theoretically that if they were to replace the Hemi in the HD trucks if they would consider: A) a detuned Hurricane keeping the aluminum block and plasma coating, B) a Hurricane with an iron block, C) a double sized Hurricane (6.0L I6TT) truck tuned with 500 hp, 600 lb-ft of torque, or D) a gasoline version of a Cummins I6 developed jointly with Cummins. A would be severely detuned for durability. B could share certain engine parts and would not have to be detuned as much as A. C would be building for the future because it would still have a lot of potential hp and lb-ft left in the design. C would be the best option to compete with Ford’s 7.3 Godzilla. D would definitely be the cheapest way out and could sell own the Cummins name alone, all while Stellantis washes their hands of any engine larger than 3.0 liters. Please take this article into consideration and bring up these ideas to Ram if you ever talk with them again. I feel these are their only options if they want to downsize from a 6.4 Hemi, but still have a “truck engine”. But this is merely my opinion and brainstorming for a conversation…
I feel like for most people that own anything from the Ram 1500 on down that the 3.0L Hurricane family will be more than sufficient. I feel like the average person that owns a Ram 1500 pickup even with a 5.7L Hemi more than likely doesn’t even use a quarter of what the truck is truly capable of. To put the Hurricane in a better perspective, the 2001 Ram 2500HD with a 5.9L Cummins Inline 6 put out 245hp and 505lb-ft of torque. The 3.0L Hurricane high output more than doubles the horsepower with 510hp and pretty much matches the torque with 500lb-ft of torque. It would be great to see the Hurricane truck variant come with a cast iron block, but it doesn’t seem to be lacking in it’s ability to be more than enough for what a 1500-series pickup is capable of. Personally, I would love to see what Stellantis could do with a 5.9L Inline-6 gas-powered hybrid HD truck engine to compliment the 6.7L Diesel I-6 Cummins.
As for the Durango, Stealth, Charger, Challenger, Dakota and whatever else may come on that STLA Large platform, as I’ve said before, the 3.0L Hurricane is more than plenty! I still say may everything a hybrid from the 2.0L, all three Hurricane 3.0L variants (S.O, H.O, & Cat-3) and have a Nettuno 3.0L V6 twin turbo hybrid at the top of the food chain putting out 800hp. Take these engines, give them the same fuel tuning technology that the CD170 has, throw a bunch of Direct Connection upgrades in the mix and we’re till right where we were at as far as horsepower numbers in lighter, better cars without missing a beat. Bring on the performance EVs as well. Everything from a Challenger to a 1500 would be just fine with all of this technology. That’s just my opinion though.