Hemi V8 Power Returns to the Ram 1500 Line in 2026
Auto enthusiasts can find almost anything to complain about, but that bellyaching doesn’t always get results. That said, Ram heard the chorus of doubts about its decision to nix the Hemi V8 in new trucks and is reviving the engine options for the 2026 model year.
It’s refreshing when an automaker acknowledges a mistake. Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said, “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. Ram will continue to offer the more powerful and more efficient Hurricane Straight Six Turbo, but we heard loud and clear from consumers: There is no replacement for the iconic Hemi V8.”
Ram recently opened the order books for the 2026 1500 pickups, which will offer a Hemi V8 with eTorque. The 5.7-liter mill offers 395 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque, short of the previous-generation TRX engine and the specs delivered by today’s Hurricane high-output inline-six.
Ram will offer the Hemi in the Tradesman, Big Horn, Express, Warlock, Laramie, Rebel, and Longhorn trim levels. It features a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that replaces the starter motor and offers up to 130 pound-feet of torque from the moment the driver presses the throttle.
The new engine brings Ram’s truck powertrain offerings to four. The base engine remains the Pentastar 3.6-liter V6, but the 5.7-liter V8 joins two inline-six-cylinder options, including the high-output mill in the Ram 1500 RHO.
[Images: Ram]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Instead of introducing a problematic lifter tick free engine they are bringing back a dinosaur. If you want a reliable V8 and don't want to go to the grocery store, you need to stop off at the Ford dealership and get either the Mustang or F-150 with the nice old Coyote V8 5.0 liter.
No failure prone short lived turbos, no failure prone lifters, no GM stupidity, no hemi tic... just a plain naturally aspirated v8 that's has been slowly and steadily modified and improved since the 1980s?!
I gotta admit that the only cars that ever left me on the side of the road, dead, were Fords and Toyotas. 2 Crappy 2.3 liter Ford engines, one in a little 88 Mustang and one in a 78 Fairmont. A horrible engine with either fuel injection or a carb. Toyota built some really defective computer controlled transmissions in the mid 2000s. I had two. Toyota 4Runner (2003) and Solara (2008).
But recently the little 5.0 liter Coyote seems to be the most reliable of anything anyone is putting into a half ton pickup truck. Certainly not the most powerful, but I talk to lots of independent mechanics who work on lots of cars and trucks. When I ask which engine I should get for a new pickup.... all of them, ALL OF THEM like the current generation Ford 5.0 liter engines. GM is in deep trouble with theirs. Toyota and Ram abandoned the V-8 (and I would not want the current light hybrid system). Ford still puts the modified 5.0 in the Mustang and in the 150 Pickup. If I were buying a P/U today, it would be the Ford F-150 with the heavy weight and towing packs.