There are rumors that the Hemi V8 will no longer be an option for the 2025 Ram 1500. The company that makes trucks is replacing it with a twin-turbo inline-six engine that makes 540 horsepower and 521 pounds of torque. The 5th Generation Rams team got a copy of an owner’s manual that says that the engine type needs 91-octane fuel to run. With that in mind, it wasn’t ever meant to be cheaper to drive than a V8 that uses a lot of gas. It’s important to remember that the high-output straight six only needs premium gas. The 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and the 3.0-liter Hurricane normal output both work well on 87 or 89 octane gas. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the H.O. needs better fuel. The extra 120 horsepower and 52 lb-ft of torque make it faster than a normal Hurricane with the same engine. Even though the EPA hasn’t said how fuel-efficient the new Ram 1500 is yet, we can use the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer to figure out the difference. When these SUVs recently switched from a V8 engine to an inline-six Hurricane engine, they got an extra one or two miles per gallon. When switching to a smaller engine with forced induction, the goal has always been to improve speed and reduce pollution, not to get a lot better gas mileage. Toyota then made big body-on-frame cars, and all of their Sequoias and some of their Tundras have hybrid powertrains. Stellantis unveiled its new internal combustion engine in 2022 when the industry was moving toward electric vehicles. This was almost a surprise. After talking to the manufacturer, we wrote an article that explains how Hurricane Inline-six makes more power with less displacement. The article includes details about water-to-air charge cooling, low-inertia turbochargers, high-pressure fuel delivery, and a cool new coating on the cylinder bore that lowers mechanical friction. An official from Stellantis told the same story, “The Hurricane I6 is designed and optimized for its targets of reduced emissions and improved power.” It’s important to note that “cheaper ownership” is not mentioned in that part.
