2026 Ram 1500: You Can Officially Have A Hemi V8 Again
Carlos may have killed the Hemi, but after a short interlude, a V8 is back under the hood of the Ram 1500.
Key Points
- Ram is bringing back the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 for the 2026 Ram 1500, reversing its previous decision to drop the engine for the 2025 model year.
- The Hemi returns with familiar specs—395 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque—and now includes eTorque mild hybrid assistance to align with modern emissions and efficiency standards.
- Despite Ram's continued focus on electrification, the V8’s return is positioned as a response to consumer preference for traditional powertrains.
Ram announced today that the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 is returning to its full-size 2026 truck lineup. Ram infamously dropped the Hemi after former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares seemingly made it a pet project to ice the legendary eight-cylinder in the name of efficiency and performance.
Enter Tim Kuniskis, who rejoined Ram in December, and made it his cause to bring back the Hemi—which he used to great effect marketing the Dodge and Ram brands in previous stints as CEO.
"Everyone makes mistakes, but how you handle it defines you. Ram screwed up when we dropped the Hemi — we own it and we fixed it,” said Kuniskis, Ram’s CEO. “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 V8 will be rated at 395 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque, as it was before Ram dropped the motor for the 2025 model year. It’s less powerful than the more modern 3.0-liter Hurricane straight six-cylinder rated at 420 hp and 469 lb-ft used in Rams, Dodges, and Jeeps.
But Kuniskis said it wasn’t about crunching numbers with the Hemi, instead pointing to the sound and feel of a traditional V8 engine in a pickup truck. All Hemis will come with sport-tuned exhaust and a 33-gallon fuel tank. Hemi-powered drones will also get a new badge, which has a Ram head fronting a V8 engine.
The Hemi will team with eTorque light hybrid technology in a nod to modern efficiency. Ram had to tweak the Hemi to accommodate eTorque’s pairing with the company’s newest Atlantis electrical platform—it powers sensors, cameras, and UConnect—which wasn’t in use when Ram dropped the Hemi.
That’s the only major change for the engine, which otherwise soldiers on unchanged for the foreseeable future. Kuniskis estimated the V8 take rate will be around 25 to 40 percent of Ram’s sales. It will be a $1,200 charge on lower models and a no-charge upgrade on Limited and Longhorn trims. The order bank is open.
Clad in a black jacket and T-shirt featuring Ram’s new logo during a presentation at Stellantis’ design dome north of Detroit, Kuniskis extolled the virtues of the V8 and at times made a slightly humorous argument about the freedom the engine represents. But at the end of the day, also reiterated that Ram will continue to develop its range-extended and full electric trucks, and the V8’s return is in response to customers.
“We intend to get there (electrification),” he said. “We have to get there.” But in the interim, the V8’s return is “strictly a business decision based on market demand.”
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Greg Migliore is AutoGuide's Editorial Director. He has covered the auto industry for two decades, most recently as editor-in-chief of Autoblog. He's also been an editor at Automobile and Autoweek. He's a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University and the Yale Publishing course. Greg is a member of the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards jury.
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