- Ram is bringing back its famous Hemi V8 engine after removing it from the company’s 2025 trucks
- The 5.7-liter version is back, but not (yet) larger supercharged versions
- The Hemi will be a $1,200 option on many Ram 1500 trim levels
Coming Back as a $1,200 Option and a ‘Protest’
Ram will bring back its not-long-gone 5.7-liter Hemi V8 engine as an option on the Ram 1500 pickup for 2026. The move seems to be more about the company’s image than actual performance. The returning Hemi is less powerful than the engine that replaced it.
But Ram has seen its sales slump recently. The Ram 1500, long the third-best-selling vehicle in America, slipped to sixth in 2024.
Ram had introduced smaller engines partly because of new fuel economy regulations that kicked in during 2024 (although the new engines made little difference to fuel economy). But the Trump administration has signaled that it will ease those, returning to pre-2024 rules.
Ram President Tim Kuniskis says, “At the end of each month, we count sales to customers, not to statisticians or ideologues.” So, “data be damned,” he says, the less-powerful Hemi will return as an added-cost upgrade. It will come with a new badge Ram calls — and we’re not making this up — “the Symbol of Protest.”
In 2025, Ram Gave Up on an Image
- Ram built its marketing around the Hemi for many years, but removed it as an option over tougher fuel economy rules enacted last year
Ram long identified as the Hemi company. Parent company Stellantis built the images of two brands — Ram for trucks and Dodge for muscle cars — around the big V8. However, the company cut the Hemi engine from most of its lineup for the 2025 model year (the Durango still offers it, though).
That didn’t mean the end of high-powered models. Ram (and Dodge) replaced the Hemi with a family of turbocharged inline-6-cylinder engines called the Hurricane. The base engine in the 1500 has remained a V6 all along. But the optional upgrade, once a Hemi V8, became a Hurricane I6 for 2025.
Six-Cylinder Hurricane Still More Powerful than V8 Hemi
- The 6-cylinder engine that replaced it has more power than the V8 Hemi that Ram is bringing back
The base 5.7-liter Hemi Ram, removed from the lineup, made 395 horsepower and sounded great. It achieved 19 mpg in combined city and highway driving when paired with 4-wheel drive (4WD).
The Hurricane that took its place made 420 hp but lacked the V8 grunt. Ironically, it achieves the same 19 mpg.
Ram long sold a more powerful 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi, making 702 hp. It has not returned to the lineup. The peak engine for 2026 will remain a High-Output Hurricane, making 540 hp.
‘Freedom of Choice‘
- Ram says bringing the Hemi back is about “freedom of choice,” but it’s also about $1,200 more on the sticker
So why is Ram making the move?
“Everyone makes mistakes, but how you handle them defines you. Ram screwed up when we dropped the HEMI — we own it and we fixed it,” says Kuniskis. “We’re not just bringing back a legendary V8 engine, we’re igniting an assertive product plan and expanding the freedom of choice in powertrain for our customers.”
The Hemi will be a $1,200 option on the 2026 model-year Ram 1500 Tradesman, Big Horn, Express, Warlock, Laramie, Limited, and Longhorn, and will appear on the Rebel later. Ram hasn’t set prices for other engines, so we don’t know how that compares to 2026 models with the Hurricane engine.
We’ll bring you a pricing update as soon as Ram announces one.