Goodbye Hemi, hello turbo.
Think about some of the most American things ever. Baseball, apple pie, hotdogs, and a good old-fashioned American muscle car with a throbbing V8 heart. It sounds right, it feels right, and it is right. Like going back to your childhood home to visit your parents. In recent times, no manufacturer has better embraced the V8 muscle car heritage than Dodge. Yes, the Detroit automaker might only have a few models still in existence, and yes, they're kinda long in the tooth, but Dodge has battled to keep up with demand for them in recent years, all because of a little thing called the Hellcat V8. You can buy a 2022 Dodge Challenger and Charger with a V6, and you can even get a 5.7-liter V8, but the V8 is an integral part of the car and a key selling point. We already know the Hellcat will be no more after 2023, but now, a report from Stellpower suggests that the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 is doomed for the next-gen Challenger. And in its place will be an inline-six.
Now before you go and burn down Dodge HQ in Detroit, it's worth remembering that Dodge has already pledged to go electric. We'll see a new electric muscle car concept from the brand next year that will likely go into production sometime around 2023. The V8 can't live forever, but in the interim period between ICE and electric power, meeting ever-tightening emissions standards and reducing costs is a must for any successful automaker. The rumored replacement engine will be called the GME T6. The report suggests that it may or may not be sold with hybrid assistance, but the basic principle of the engine is a 3.0-liter straight-six engine augmented by a turbocharger, with no plans for a naturally aspirated variant.
The GME T6, which stands for Global Medium Engine Turbocharged 6, will be built for all vehicles based on the Stellantis Global medium platform, which would include the Challenger, Charger, Chrysler 300, and any crossovers related to these.
Whether or not this platform, and in turn this engine, will be shared with other brands like Alfa Romeo and Maserati remains to be seen, but seems unlikely as electrification in Europe is accelerated compared to the US market.
The engine outputs still remain a secret, but expect between the 303 hp from the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and the 375 hp of the 5.7-liter Hemi V8, while torque will likely decimate both. The V8 currently produces 410 lb-ft, but with the aid of turbocharging, the new engine should easily surpass that.
The engine was originally slated to be used in trucks, but its development was delayed to focus on NVH improvement. This will be the last combustion engine developed by Stellantis before the shift to full electrification, while in the meantime, the four-cylinder PHEV powertrain found in various Jeep 4xe products will also feature in a plethora of models.
Keyword: Dodge Ditching Hemi V8 For Next-Gen Challenger