The Hurricane inline-six looks like it will replace the long-running Hemi in Jeep’s largest SUVs.
Over the past couple years, Stellantis has slowly been phasing the Hemi V8 out of most of its lineup. Either by discontinuing older models like the Dodge Charger or Challenger entirely, or dropping it as part of a refresh like the two-row Jeep Grand Cherokee, it appears to be the end of the road for the 5.7-liter and 6.4-liter Big Hemi V8s. As reported by Car & Driver and evidenced by fleet order guides, documents suggest both the 2024 Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will only be available with the 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six moving forward.
Now, Jeep has not outright confirmed that yet, so the situation could change. Things are a bit murkier for the Grand Wagoneer, as well, since the EPA does still list a rating for the 6.4-liter Hemi. However, the 392-horsepower 5.7-liter V8 that came on the short-wheelbase Wagoneer is completely absent. Provided the information we see today is 100% correct, the 2024 Wagoneer will only be available with the 420-horsepower Hurricane moving forward. The long-wheelbase 2024 Wagoneer L, for its part, already comes standard with the six-pot engine rather than a V8.
At least on paper, the standard-output Hurricane is already a decent upgrade over the smaller displacement Hemi. It’s a similar story for the Grand Wagoneer, which gets the high-output 3.0-liter unit. The beefier version of Stellantis’ new Hurricane I-6 manages 510 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque, which again is an improvement over the Big Hemi’s 471 horsepower and 455 lb-ft. Both versions of the new engine (like the V8s that came before them) come bolted to an 8-speed automatic transmission. You can buy the Wagoneer with rear-wheel drive, while the Grand Wagoneer is 4×4-only.
Jeep isn’t the only other brand losing the Hemi option, either
While I still have to hedge a bit about the Hemi disappearing entirely from Jeep’s largest SUVs, it’s not the only brand ditching eight-cylinder options moving forward. All signs point to Ram replacing both the 5.7-liter engine in its standard 1500 half-ton trucks and the supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat unit in the TRX for the 2025 model year. Normal models will get the Hurricane SO with around 420 horsepower, while the automaker reportedly plans to use the Hurricane HO for high-performance applications like the TRX.
We do know for certain that 2024 will be the last year for the 6.2-liter, supercharged TRX, as Ram officially announced the final edition just last month.
What remains unclear is where Stellantis will take the Hurricane engine from here. Clearly, the company would have to supplement even the Hurricane HO’s power to reach parity with the outgoing TRX, and compete with insanely powerful rivals like the Ford F-150 Raptor R. So, too, would having a high-performance powertrain available for Jeep models prove useful in the future if, say, the company wanted to bring back a Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, since performance SUVs are in vogue right now.
It’s likely we’re just seeing the start of what Stellantis can do with the Hurricane. Future models will almost certainly be electrified, so we’ll see something like a Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer 4xe or even a new Ram 1500 TRX/Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk with some serious hybrid power. Jeep did say it would electrify every model in its lineup by 2025, so it’s only a matter of time.
