Filed under: Etc., Chrysler, LLC.
Chrysler's future does not come with a Hemi powertrain
It looks like the Hemi engine, an icon for the Chrysler Corporation, won't be included in forthcoming applications due to changing fuel economy standards. Rising gas prices have already hurt sales of vehicles featuring these engines, causing Chrysler to cut back production. Now co-president Jim Press has declared, "The Hemi is not the powertrain of the future." Similar to the direction taken by GM, Chrysler is banking on newly developed V6 powerplants to take the reigns from current V8 options. These Phoenix engines are scheduled to hit production in 2009.
The Hemi engine's downfall is its inability to adapt to features proven to increase efficiency. The large combustion chamber design and dual valve structure leads to blow-by of unburned fuel, thus producing large levels of undesired emissions. The use of dual spark plugs has improved burn in the hemispherical combustion chamber, however, it's a solution that increased cost and complexity. More modern and efficient chamber structures, unlike the Hemi, can fit four valves and utilize dual overhead camshafts. Chrysler plans to implement these features into their future V6 engines, along with cylinder deactivation and variable valve timing.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
tbss_in_the_D 9:14AM (1/22/2008)
Thanks US government!
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Tyo 10:09AM (1/22/2008)
Dont forget about the awesome hemi 4.3L V6 from Australia in the valiant charger.
302hp 320 lb-ft in the 70's from a V6.
JN 11:03AM (1/22/2008)
Tyo, the Australian Valiant used a straight-6. Get your facts straight.
jg 11:27AM (1/22/2008)
Yes thank you. It ain't like auto companies would spend billions improving their products on thier own. They'd wait until a massive PR hit was about to land before they took any action. And even then they'd probably take their profits and fold up shop. Then all you little right wingers would be looking to government to help you out. God forbid government tries to get in front of the issue though. The rich can't have that. They pay millions to put Rush on the air so he can convince you that government regulation is a bad thing. Not always. Sometimes it actually is in the best interests of this country and its citizens. Not all citizens of course. A handful of rich folks will not appreciate the effort but so what? They can afford some discomfort and frankly I'm more concerned with the long term health of this country than whether GM stays in business forever or not. Corporate friendly government is fascism. Just ask Mussolini.
tbss_in_the_D 11:53AM (1/22/2008)
I was being sarcastic btw.
I have said it before and will say it again. CAFE will not change our oil use one bit. It will also not change the emissions that are put out ONE BIT. Go back and read John's McElroy's article on CAFE. He is dead on. There will be more cars by 2020 and the emissions output will be the same. They need to spend the governments time and money on helping the companies find alternative energy sources and not telling them to use less gas.
Mike 12:02PM (1/22/2008)
JG: ask gore about the $100m plus he has made of his global warming...oops... climate change since 2000. Not to mention all those carbon trading schemes set up now.... yep, oil for food on a global scale and the uneducated masses lap it up.
Just keep convincing yourself that you are morally superior, and that your socialism is better than our free markets.
naggs 12:37PM (1/22/2008)
so GM will be the only place to get a proper pushrod v8 soon
well that sure simplifies my car shopping
BLS 9:15AM (1/22/2008)
Happy doom day to you to.
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Avinash machado 9:15AM (1/22/2008)
Sigh. The passing of an era.
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tanooki2003 9:16AM (1/22/2008)
It's about time
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ryan 9:24AM (1/22/2008)
Come an' get your Challenger with a HEMI while ya still can!
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Neil Schelly 9:35AM (1/22/2008)
The Hemi was never more than a marketing scheme anyway. The design is decades old and inefficient. Inefficient is not powerful. These engines were powerful because they were big, not because they had hemispherical heads or some other genius design.
This is just more propaganda threatening people that car makers are going to stop making exciting cars because of the government. Most Chryslers weren't being sold with Hemis anyway, so I doubt it affected their average fuel economy as much as cars like the Sebring and Caravan anyway.
-N
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psarhjinian 9:57AM (1/22/2008)
I believe the Volvo XC90's Yamaha V8 was a fairly clean design (greenhouse gases aside) and, while it didn't push Hemi power, it was pretty respectable.
It probably cost a small fortune, though.
MikeW 10:02AM (1/22/2008)
No, the 'hemi' was powerful because the intake port was free flowing (no pushrod in the way)
And the reason for that, the reverse rocker arm for the intake valve, which is enable by the high mounted camshaft.
http://www.moparstyle.net/history/images/HemiDrawing1.jpg
So you could elimate the pushrods
http://www.wallaceracing.com/hemi-1.html
and maybe drop one spark plug, and add another intake and exhaust valve.
http://picasaweb.google.com/m2racesystems/CNCPortedCylinderHeads
Old time thought was mixing or filling. Mixing gave good low end and tractability. Filling gave good top end power. It never occured to them to do both. Like modern DOC engines do.
Jerk Face 9:46AM (1/22/2008)
You know what? The Hemi SHOULD die. When companies like Honda and Toyota have been using four valve, DOHC engines since the late eighties to produce clean, reliable power, technological dinosaurs like the Hemi are a shameful mess. Time to put the old beast out to pasture.
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sheth 10:10AM (1/22/2008)
idiotic commentary. The HEMI is a large engine with a lot of torque designed to move heavy cars and trucks. The 300 is a big car with big room and the HEMI moves it with authority. You cannot get that kind of torque from some Honda V6 even with VTEC, 24 valves and every other trick in the book. The HEMI is effective for its applications and when you consider the weight of the vehicles it propels and its huge torque its not even that inefficient. The 300 only gets slightly worse mileage than the 290hp RL even though the 300 is heavier and has FAR more power. Give me a break with all this dohc vs OHV nonsense. The HEMI in the 2009 Ram matches the Toyota 5.7L in hp and exceeds it in torque and has cylinder deactivation which the high tech 32v V8 lacks. Get your facts straight.
Shipey 10:12AM (1/22/2008)
Thank you for this incredibly uninsightful post. Jesus.
The new HEMI is a thoughoughly modern engine in all respects. This article is saying they simply can't adapt it's design for some of the even newer efficiency improvments. It'd need a complete redesign, and rather than that, they'll do V6s.
This lingering belief that DOHC is somehow inherently better than pushrods makes my brain hurt.
Jerk Face 10:18AM (1/22/2008)
Yeah, but your argument is completely lacking with regards to efficiency and emissions. Yeah, the HEMI can move the chubby, overweight vehicles they are shoved in; but it also is spewing far more pollutants than is reasonable in these times of needed environmentalist efforts.
I am not saying that the next Dodge Ram is going to be able to pull a bed full of bricks with a 1.8 liter engine, but the antiquated technology used in the Hemi engines specifically have got to go. The necessary torque can be achieved in different ways. Turbochargers? Diesel? It can be done and done BETTER that old dinosaur of an engine is doing now.
There is nothing 'idiotic' about wanting auto makers in America to step up to the plate and put some effort towards building cleaner, more efficient engines.
And so it looks like that is what Chrysler (and indeed all U.S. auto makers) seem to be realizing lately. This is a good thing. So rest in peace, Hemi.
LX builder 10:28AM (1/22/2008)
Oh yeah, and a rice burner makes tons of torque just like a hemi. I bet you can tow a 40 foot tri axle with your Honda.
Jim 10:44AM (1/22/2008)
2009 Hemi:
5.7 liters, 380 hp, 404 ft-lb.
2008/9 Toyota 5.7 liter (Tundra)
5.7 liters, 381 hp, 401 ft-lb.
I'm sorry, what was your argument again? Fat lot of good that 32-valve, DOHC VVT-i seems to be doing.