We have talked a great deal about the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer with the new Hurricane Inline 6 engine lineup, as well as the possibilities of seeing that turbocharged I6 in a next generation Dodge Challenger. What we haven’t talked about, even though it is the most likely vehicle to carry the Hurricane engine next, is a half-ton Ram inline 6 turbo model. After receiving a surprising number of questions about the possibility of a Ram 1500 with the Hurricane I6 engine, we thought that we would discuss the likelihood of a truck with the powerful new engine family.
While there have been no official statements from Stellantis as to which vehicles will rely on the Hurricane I6 engine family, the Jeep brand is currently using it in the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer and Dodge plans to use it in the next generation of the Drag Pak race car, which has traditionally been based on a Challenger. With that in mind, we expect that the next generation Challenger – or perhaps a distant-future ICE version of the new Charger – will be powered by a Hurricane I6 engine. We also know that Dodge’s Direct Connection catalog will offer at least three versions of the Hurricane I6 crate engine, adding more validity to the expectations of seeing the new engines in the Dodge lineup.
There have been no real official hints as to the future of a Ram inline 6 turbo coming to showrooms any time soon, but our contacts inside of the company have suggested that the popular new engines from the Jeep lineup will find their way to the Ram Truck brand soon.
Seeing as how the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are built on the Ram DT platform – the current chassis platform that underpins the half-ton Ram 1500 – it seems like a simple move to put the Hurricane I6 turbo engine in the pickup. In the same way that the 420-horsepower Hurricane has effectively replaced the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 in the Wagoneer, the I6 could replace the 5.7L Hemi in the Ram 1500. That Hemi in the truck offers 395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque, so the Hurricane from the Wagoneer, with 420 horsepower and 468 lb-ft of torque would present a significant increase in power.
Of course, if Ram also offered the Hurricane 510, with 510 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque, it would be the most powerful half-ton option shy of the Hellcat-powered TRX.
The big question focuses on when the Hurricane engine will actually arrive in the Ram lineup. It looks as though the Ram 1500 REV will arrive for the 2024 model year on the new STLA Frame chassis platform. If that electric truck with the new chassis and new look is joined for 2024 by a full lineup of new trucks, the odds are good that the Hurricane inline 6 turbo engine will be one of the options.
At the same time, there is a chance that Ram could introduce the new Hurricane engine option in the current generation of truck, which rides on the same DT chassis platform as the Jeep. Ram could make the DT-based trucks the new “classic” model for 2024 alongside the STLA Frame trucks and introduce this new-to-trucks engine in a familiar chassis platform or they could simply have the current trucks continue into 2024 as the ICE-powered models on the DT chassis while just the electric trucks ride on the STLA Frame platform for 2024.
In any case, our safe money says that in the next few years, we will see a production Ram inline 6 turbo model – we just aren’t sure exactly when it will arrive or which chassis platform will carry the new engine option.
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