Death of a Hemi: Dodge Ram half tons will now come with 3L turbo I-6 engines
 

Watching it on Motorweek right now.

At least it's not EV

New, from Stellantis, the Effemi Inline 6 cylinder. Sure, it's long and straight, but it's *****-power to the core.

LOL, there's an EV version coming, as well as a hybrid version.

I think they really destroyed their Hemi brand reputation, at least in the trucks, with the cylinder deactivation, just like Chevy destroyed the solid 5.3L reputation, so maybe this isn't a big loss anyway.

I had a 300ci I-6 Ford truck back in the day, and that thing was slow, but pulled way over its weight class and took all kinds of abuse from pulling way more than it was rated for with no problem.

Rode hard, put away wet, and the only issue when it was sold was the dome light burnt out, and, for some reason, the door jamb needed lube every once in a while so the truck would understand the door was actually closed when driving.

Somehow I doubt this new motor will have the track record of the 300ci.

I saw it yesterday, they loved it!

They're calling it the "Hurricane."

https://www.media.stellantis.com/em-...amily-unveiled

Chrysler's move to discontinue the Hemi and drop V8 powered performance cars under the misconception that the same customers will happily buy EV's and turbocharged mouse engines instead will result in their destruction.
Anybody with a double digit IQ can see it coming. Who's PAYING these people to make these piss-poor corporate suicide decisions?

Ford was an early leader in replacing truck v-8's with turbo v-6's, and they're still #1 in the light truck segment, IIRC. It's been long enough now that I'm curious how those v-6 equipped trucks have held up.

The feds.

I don't like seeing the Hemi V-8 going away, but I do have a thing for inline 6 engines, especially over the V-6 configuration.

Ford didn't have one iconic engine that they could not produce enough of. Chrysler did. HUGE difference.

Now that Chrysler is no longer making a V8 performance car and GM dropped the Camaro, even MORE Mustangs are going to be sold.

I-6's are tried and true, especially in the diesel versions, but my concern is displacement. We're pushing more power out of smaller and smaller engines with turbos to stand in the gap. What does that do for engine longevity?

I'm waiting to find out with my I-4 turbo Cruze, but I'm a low mileage driver, so I may never actually find out, which I guess is a good thing.

Inline six engines were great back in the day. Dodge had the slant six that couldn't be killed. Chevy had one that they put in some Novas. Ford had a good one that you could get in pickup trucks.

They could build one that would last if they wanted to, but I figure they will screw that up somehow and build a turd.

The I6 makes a lot of sense. It's inherently balanced, so easier to manufacture the crankshaft. Block easier to cast and machine. Fewer parts overall. Only one head instead of two. Probably easier to maintain, changing spark plugs.

Ford seems to have solved the turbo lag problem, at least with the 2.3L I4 in my Ranger. And it's good good low-end torque. Stellantis likely learned from that.

I think that there have been studies done on the most efficient cylinder size, and it's 500cc. So you'll see a lot of 2.0 I4s, 3.0 I6s. Maybe someone will bring back the straight eight in a 4.0L displacement :D

6 in a row is indeed tried and true and a good way to go. They lost favor for awhile due to their length and unsuitability for front wheel drive/transverse engine vehicles which are so popular today. The 258 straight 6 barely fit in the AMC Pacer, which was originally designed for a rotary engine that never happened. I remember servicing them 45 years ago, and I had to get #6 exhaust valve open so the rocker arm was down, and turn on the wiper motor, and as the firewall oil-canned, I'd time my snatch of the valve cover to get it off and clear of the engine. I-6's are inherently smooth and torquey and long lasting. As for tweaked turbo and supercharged smaller engines doing big jobs, just don't be their second or third owners. BTDT the first time around in the '80's and they become very expensive. I put 2 turbos on a customer's '85 Turbo T-Bird....if it had the base 302 it would have run for years after the Turbo Coupe cashed in its chips. A larger, under-stressed engine will always, always, always outlast a smaller, highly stressed one, even more so if the maintenance is lax.

Since we're discussing I-6s, I do sometimes miss the S38 inline 6 in my BMW E34 M5s. I do not miss doing valve adjustments on them.

A slightly different version of something I learned when I was about 15 and hanging around a good service garage. Its far better for a big engine to loaf then a small engine to strain!

My dad had a company 1978 F-150 with the inline 6 that was spectacular. My experience years later is with MB and BMW inline 6 engines. I like them better than the European V-8's. Plenty of power and smoother.

The engine has been Chrysler’s only redeeming quality for a long time.


RE: Mustang sales
That will make cars and coffee more exciting as it will significantly increase the number of Mustang crowd plowings

My neighbor back in Ashburn had a Ford 250 with a straight six and a four speed. He ordered it with no carpet and every weekend he would hose the interior out and get a pile of sand in his driveway. He was a mason. That was one tough work truck. Had locking hubs on the front and I had to pull them apart to replace his rotors and calipers. In return, he did some custom brick planter boxes in my front yard that matched the brick on my home.