The 2009 models and the Hemi horsepower conundrum

As you may already know from reading the forums announcement, the news page, and the home page, we’ve updated our coverage of the 2009 models.

What you may not know is that we’ve just finally updated every individual Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep model that had 2009 changes, so those are all in sync.

You may have noticed that the Hemi engine has wildly varying horsepower figures. There’s all sorts of speculation on why that may be. Here are some leading contenders:

• Chrysler PR people got a bunch of numbers mixed up. That’s supported by the Durango/Aspen press release which reports 356 and 365 horsepower - twice for both numbers.
• The engines are carefully tuned for the application, in some cases to get better gas mileage, in others to get more peak horsepower.
• The engines and their accessories can have different levels of efficiency and tuning, but the more horsepower they achieve, the more it costs. Therefore, power has been matched to the marketing and financial needs. The Ram, for example, had to be very close to Toyota’s 5.7 liter engines.
• The Hemi needs to breath well, and can’t do it in every vehicle. The Ram has a bigger underhood area and so gets the most power. The Challenger was designed around the layout of the engine and gets the second best power, etc. (Remember, we’re still just speculating.)
• The engine power is matched to the components and handling capabilities of the vehicle. Since it’s very heavy, the Ram can get more power without needing to upgrade numerous suspension parts, with various financial and gas-mileage costs; it also has a heavy duty axle for capacity reasons and doesn’t need an expensive axle upgrade to handle more power.
• Power ratings on the Ram were announced before gas mileage became an issue. Other applications of the new VCT Hemi were tuned for gas mileage, but the Ram number was “locked in.”
• In the case of the Ram 2500 and 3500, power is limited to increase durability.
• Chrysler is playing with our heads to see what kind of crazy theories we come up with. Really, the engines are all the same.
• After announcing the Ram 1500’s power rating, the engineers discovered that they could come up with a more satisfying, flatter torque curve by sacrificing some peak horsepower. Again, the Ram 1500 was locked in - they had already announced the number to the press.

You can speculate and guess along with us - the only people who really know are in the basement and executive towers of the Mall of the Pentastar, otherwise known as the Chrysler Technical Center.