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Why does everyone think that the new HEMI is so great?
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Posted by: John

I was acosted in the hallway today by a person I work with who didn't realize what truck I had. He came running up to me and looked pissed off. I don't really know why but he was saying something to me about being a liar and not telling him what my truck really was. I don't know why it's such a problem.

Anyway, Mr. Happy there started babbling on and on about how great his truck was and how much potential it had because it came with a HEMI and how he'd rather have that than any other engine because it's a HEMI and on and on and on and on.

All I asked him was "If the HEMI is so great, why did Dodge use the Viper V10 in the Ram SRT-10?

Wow, that really got him good!

I just don't get it though. I always hear about how great it is and how wonderful an engine is and all but I just don't understand why I have to be singled out and hear about it. It's almost like my co-workers were egging him on.

Posted by: GMR

Its a decent engine, a bit overrated though, you
can thank Chryslers marketing department for that.
Form what Ive read, its not realy a true hemispherical
engine, the 4.7 is realy the true hemi. It has more in common with an
LS1 than anything realy. Theres a Lighthning running around town with stickers
on the back window that read..."Here Hemi Hemi" Everytime it drives by I point it out to a buddy who is as Diehard as you can get about Chyrsler and he gets all pissed off, and goes off..."Well if they supercharged the Hemi blah blah..."
Yeah and if my aunt had balls she'd be my unlce

Posted by: DeckSetter

It's all in the name. The displacement and horsepower of the 5.7 Hemi are roughly the same as an LS1 (which has been around close to 10 years now...) and they get worse fuel mileage. As for the 6.1, stick it in a pickup and let's see if it can keep up with a Lightning. I'm not impressed.

For a truck motor, it really doesn't impress me. I'd drive one in a car any day though. Well, I would if it didn't DRINK GAS LIKE MY JEEP. There's no reason for a car to be as bad on fuel as an SRT8 Magnum or Charger.

Posted by: rodslinger

Hell I wish they would tweak that 4.7 a little more. I love they way both of my Dakotas run with that engine. They are smooth, responsive, decent power and have been VERY reliable for me. Gas mileage has been pretty good on them also. I can get as good as 24mpg with easy interstate cruising on long trips. They'll both still get 12 to 15mpg when towing the trailer in the city loaded down.

Posted by: John

Actually, the LS1 makes more power and the smaller 5.3L V8 that comes in the Chevy/GMC trucks now is only about 35 horses short of the HEMI with almost half a liter more of displacement. It's just a standard wedge chamber. I just don't see why it's so great. Even the 6L Vortec engine makes anywhere from 345-400 horses depending on the vehicle it is in and it gets better mileage than the 5.7L HEMI and stomps all over it in the torque department.

The offerings from Ford are lacking but even with the notoriously bad mileage of the "mod" motors, the new models are posting better mileage numbers than the HEMI.

I had the "luxury" of having a HEMI Ram for a loaner when the Lightning decided to exploit a bad head casting and fire number 3 cylinder's spark plug across the engine compartment. Manufacturing defect, completely covered under warranty. Anyhow, they first gave me an 04 F-150 SuperCrew. That wasn't all that impressive. Then they said they wanted it back to give me an 05 Ram. So I said alright and brought it in. I thought the F-150 was a tad lacking. I got in the Ram with the Interior by Samsonite, asked if I got a gorilla to go along with the luggage (rental guy got the joke, laughed and agreed) and I promptly blew the crappy ass passenger car tires away just trying to pull out of the freaking lot. It had no pick up on the low end. It positivly screamed on the highway but if you stuck your foot in to it, you could watch the gas guage go down. I immediatly started missing the F-150. Especially since the F-150 had cushy, comfy seats and the Ram had the hardest foam I've ever felt. I didn't think they could make foam that stiff! UGH! I hated it.

Ah, I'll stop bitching about it now. Just bored at work.

Posted by: MadScientistMatt

Well, it is the first time Chrysler's dropped a V8 into a passenger car since they retired the Dodge Diplomat, or built one more powerful than the 360 that they've had since the '70s.

Posted by: formerice

I own 2 vehicles with hemis, an 05 QC 4X4 hemi Ram with a 100 hp shot of nitrous and an 05 Dodge Magnum RT hemi. Best time with the 4500 lb Magnum was a 13.4/103 mph and best time with the 5985 lb Ram was a 14.7/95 mph. What does a Lightning weigh? Very happy with both vehicles and very happy with the gas mileage. 22 mpg average and 25+ mpg highway with the Magnum and 17.5 mpg average with the truck. The GM's and Fords have had a long time to tune their motors, the hemi's are new. Already folks like John Hennessy are pulling some big numbers out of these hemis. 2wd hemi Rams are running low 12's without blowers.

Posted by: DeckSetter

a Magnum is 4500lbs?!? DAAAAAAAANG that's a pig, that's about what my Quad Cab Dak weighs!!!

Is that indicated mpg from the trip computer or manually calculated? Trip computers are known to be off. Mine seems to read at least 2mpg higher than I calculate. One tank the computer said almost 17mpg, but it calculated out to 13.7.

Posted by: Mr. P

Cudos to the MoPar marketing department, for taking the hallowed and race-track-earned hemi name and bantering it about an inferior product to make a buck "for as long as it lasts".

If anyone has had any exposure to marketing departments, you know their motto: "sometimes you have to embellish the truth". Also, in the instance of an inferior product coming out of Silicon Valley, what do they do? Answer: "they market it".

On the big ovals of the planet earth, the judge called "NASCAR" logged in a heck of a lot more wins for the wedge head than they ever did for the hemi. In addition, even in the wing-car battles, the Chrysler hemi lost a slim margin there too. I've been saying for years, "whats the big deal with the boat anchor, er hemi"? Sure, they do great with a big blower on top, but in a normally aspirated form, you didn't see ANYBODY selecting the hemi for a road racing rod like the 427 Cobra. If it was such a great motor, why the heck didn't anyone other than Chrysler race it, lol.

Mr. P

Posted by: Grape Ape

Holy old posts Batman!

The Hemi is what it is. It isn't what it isn't. The trucks run fairly well, but they're still trucks. The cars are heavy enough that they don't run nearly as well as you might expect. I'm not shocked or impressed to know the 5.7L truck runs upper 14s on the strip. I simply do not believe, however, that a nearly stock, no power adder 5.7L Magnum will run 13's. The 6.1L R/T will, but so would a Caprice Classic with that much muscle under the hood.

Where'd the 4500 lb figure come from, btw? Last I checked, the 5.7L Magnum R/T weighed well under 4200 lb. Add a driver and passenger, or full load of fuel and you'd be close to 4500, but otherwise, no. According to Dodge, that Magnum weighs 4,125 lb and I'd bet that figure is off, but not by 375 lb, which would net about a .4 difference on the 1/4 mile pass.

As for the 5985 lb Ram QC, that too, is bogus info. Even the Laramie QC 4X4 only weighs in at a bit under 5400 now, and it's the heaviest version ever, thanks to Dodge following Fords lead on the 2006-up design with the heavier frame, sound deadener material and "Quiet Steel" cab parts. The '05 and back models didn't have any of that stuff and weighed in a good 350-400 lb lighter than the current model.

Vehicle weight plays a key role in how anything will run, and that's why the older Hemi pickups run better than the new, just like with the non- "Heritage" 04-up Fords and the new '07 non- "classic" GM offerings. Even my raggedy F350 Crew Cab longbed DIESEL only weighs about 6,000 lb. I'd bet a wooden nickel that NO stock 1/2 weighs so much. My engine alone weighs about what most 1/2 tonners engine AND transmission weighs. Of course, it's all iron and it's not a gas engine. Plus, it's just big.

Posted by: LS1 Mopar Turbo

LSXs Rule!

Just bored....

Posted by: TNT

Quote:


	On the big ovals of the planet earth, the judge called "NASCAR" logged in a heck of a lot more wins for the wedge head than they ever did for the hemi. In addition, even in the wing-car battles, the Chrysler hemi lost a slim margin there too. I've been saying for years, "whats the big deal with the boat anchor, er hemi"? Sure, they do great with a big blower on top, but in a normally aspirated form, you didn't see ANYBODY selecting the hemi for a road racing rod like the 427 Cobra. If it was such a great motor, why the heck didn't anyone other than Chrysler race it, lol.

Sounds almost exactly what the Old Man told me when I met him. I guess great minds think alike.

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