Ram 1500 Hemi V8 Deliveries Begin After Quick Turnaround

The Awaited Return of a Familiar Engine

The Ram 1500 survived a single model year without the Hemi V8 – "survived" being the operative word, as customers have been eagerly awaiting its return since its absence.

For a time, the newer Hurricane twin-turbo inline-six replaced the long-serving 5.7-liter eight-pot in the Ram 1500. While the Hurricane offered respectable performance and slight gains in efficiency, it wasn't enough to satisfy buyers loyal to the rumble and feel of a traditional V8.

Thankfully, when Tim Kuniskis returned to lead the Ram brand, the course quickly shifted. Ram announced its return in June 2025. Now, only a few months later, the first trucks powered by the Hemi V8 are leaving the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan and heading to dealerships across the country.

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Overwhelming Demand for Hemi V8

According to Ram, customer interest in the V8 was overwhelming. The brand reported 10,000 orders within the first 24 hours after the announcement in June. Each Hemi-equipped 2026 Ram 1500 features a new fender-mounted "Symbol of Protest" badge, designed by Ram's in-house team to emphasize the connection between the engine and the truck's identity.

The 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 eTorque is available across a wide range of trims, from the entry-level Tradesman to the top-spec Limited and Longhorn, with the Rebel variant to follow at a later date.

The Hemi's return was managed in record time by engineers and plant staff at Sterling Heights, who had already marked a milestone earlier this year by producing the two-millionth Ram 1500 since 2018.

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Behind the Quick Turnaround

A report from CarBuzz sheds light on how quickly the returning Hemi V8 program came together. The decision to reintroduce the Hemi was made under a tight schedule, with the team given less than six months to prepare it for the 2026 model year. While the truck could physically accommodate the engine, updates introduced for 2025 meant new challenges.

Engineers had to recalibrate the braking systems, adjust the stability control, and reconfigure the noise cancellation. The electrical architecture required extra work as well, though lessons from the Jeep Wagoneer line provided a helpful reference. Testing extended as far as New Zealand to simulate winter conditions not available in the US at the time.

Suppliers also had to restart production equipment for the mild-hybrid V8. Despite these hurdles, the engine remained emissions compliant and essentially unchanged, allowing the Ram team to push the project through quickly.

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