I've loved the Gen 3 Hemi. I've owned at least four of them (3 5.7s and a 6.4) and I wouldn't trade in my 6.4 on anything other than MAYBE a widebody Hellcat unless someone else comes out with a nice looking, reliable, four door RWD sedan or WAGON (ideally). Maybe I'm in a minority but that minority sure as hell bought a lot of Chargers and Challengers and 300s during the last decade.
However, I'd be lying if I didn't say that eating a lifter wasn't on the back of my mind (or dropping a valve seat in my first Gen 3 06 Charger after both cooling fans cracked and my temp spiked albeit briefly). Hell, I even bought a tool to cut open my oil filters to keep an eye out for debris. Thankfully the tick in my 5.7 Durango was JUST the exhaust manifolds... but that brings up the key purpose of this post:
The Gen 3 Hemis have known weaknesses and bringing them back or keeping them around without fixing them is just plain dumb.
Here's how I view it: I can buy a Hurricane 6 which already has a laundry list of known issues coming up, or the Hemi engines I've had for decades, and stay on top of the oil changes and cut my filters open... OR just keep the Hemi I have because it's not going to be changed for anything substantial if/when it returns - not to mention that I'd just be looking at an even higher payment for a car I almost never drive, when I can experience the same thing in my 2021.
You want to bring Hemis back? Amazing! But not the same engines PLEASE. Gen 4 time. Make a Hellcat replacement. Keep the cam in block design - we don't need anything like Ford's modular series. Make it out of cast aluminum and aim for 200lbs lighter fully dressed. Make the lifter oiling system not suck, AND use more robust lifters and stronger cams. Oh, and more girth on the manifold studs for the LOVE OF GOD. I don't care if you use the same lifters that GM uses that have nowhere near the failure rate of the Hemi engines. Lower displacement - you can still get 700+ horsepower from under 6 liters, RELIABLY. The NA version "SRT" can still be 6 liters, but should be 550 HP NA. I don't think that's unreasonable to ask, and I wouldn't mind sacrificing low-end power to get it - I drive a performance sedan, not a truck. The base non-SRT engine should be 4.0-5.0 liters, target of 375 horsepower, on regular gas. Truck engines can be that or the 6 liter SRT engine with regular gas heads / cam / tune / whatever just like there's a truck 6.4 right now.
Make it loud. Make it reliable. Maybe even offer a limited run of 2000 cars per year, for 3 years (750 sedans, 750 coupes, 500 wagons) with a flat plane crank widebody version for "Track" car fans, and put me on that factory order list today for the widebody flat plane wagon because I want one now. And do a few "Street trucks" with the SRT engines, 2000 two door, 2000 four door, LOWERED.
No financial compensation desired for these ideas. Guaranteed to sell boatloads (if not priced like the 23 MY SRT/Scat cars - see 2020-2022 sales/pricing success). Only desired compensation is the ability to factory order the wagon I want. Make it Sinamon Stick or Plum Crazy. Thanks. 💘
PS: Bring back the Trackhawk.
PPS: Make a CR-V or RAV4 competitor. The Hornet is not one. Drive a CR-V and ask CR-V owners why, if unsure. That can be your CAFE fleet car for "In case" sanity returns to govern.