Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

Since the 5.7 is producing approximately 380HP and the 3.5 is producing 250HP, would it make sense for Chrysler to offer a 4.0L V6 w/ Hemi heads if they could produce 300HP or more from this combo?

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

Well Dskippy, I'm one who would like to see this happen, the problem is it won't produce 300 hp with the output of the 5.7L nor the output of the 6.1L without further modifications. I would say a 4.2L Hemi on the basis that would be about the displacement of a V6 made directly from the 5.7L and the output would be around 275-280hp but the tq would be about 300ft-lbs and it could benefit from the MDS and probably get better fuel economy as well as maybe cost less than the 3.5L since this engine apparently isn't that expensive to build.

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

Using CID to HP ratio as the basis for the extrapolation?

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

It depends. If 250HP feels weak and lame in the Challenger, then yes.
But if it feels pretty zippy, then it's not that important to offer 4L.

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

Wow, that's interesting..... the 3.5 gets 71 hp per liter where the 5.7 gets 66 hp per liter and the 6.1 get 70 per liter.

Puzzling.....the non Hemi (in this very simplified equation) is more potent than the Hemi? Umhh.????

What am I missing?

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

If they could get a challenger out there with around 300hp for 26-27k I'd be all over it.

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

Not sure how to vote, (although the last option is tempting just on humor factor). Relative price of the R/T vs SE will make a big difference. They could probably do an "SXT" or something with a more powerful 6 if there was enough price gap to make it worthwhile. Too close price to the R/T and you'll never sell, to close to the SE and the SE becomes a moot point. I'd say if you can go 3K over the SE, and not get too close to the R/T, it makes sense. I'm not sure they'd call it a hemi though, that might kinda seem odd. And with multivalve engine design, the true "hemi" head isn't even the ideal setup anymore.

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

The 3.5L is a 4 valve per cylinder SOHC engine; whereas, the Hemis are traditional pushrod/OHV 2 valve per cylinder engines. The thing the 3.5L would lack is the torque that you could get from the Hemi which is more important in a heavier car. Also the 3.5L's design is not going to be as consistent in the hp & tq throughout the band as a Hemi would; however, after saying this I will tell you from my own experience the 3.5L feels strong no matter where you hit it.

The reason why I suggested a 4.2L is that Chrysler already has a 4.0L V6 engine and the fact that just as the Chrysler 3.9L V6 the replacement for the slant six and used in the trucks until 2003 was a 318 (5.2L) with two less cylinders. My theory is they should leave the displacement alone if they were to make a V6 from the Hemi (which unfortunately is unlikely to happen). The issue is as well that if you only used a 4.0L V6 Hemi the hp gain would only be about 10hp & the torque would be a 30lbs gain, but people pay far more attention to hp than tq so having 275-280hp & 300ft-lbs of tq would stand out more as an improvement over the 3.5L.

What Chrysler should consider doing is working on offering GDI technology on their engines as they are going to have to do this sooner or later. Since they are planning on retiring the 3.5L in around 201X I doubt they want to spend the money on it. If they added GDI to a V6 Hemi, 300hp would not be out of the imagination and GDI would help with the emission rules and fuel economy, but since they will probably not do this, what they could do is offer a version of the current 4.0L that produces about 285hp & 295ft-lbs of tq in the SEMA Sebring and Avenger.

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

Well anything IS possible and it is an intriguing idea, but I don't see anything like that ever happening. If gas hits $5-6 a gallon and stays that way (which could happen) and the V8 sales take a major dump as a result... MAYBE I could see Dodge investing in that kind of money and technology for a V6. But the Hemi V8 is clearly the star of the show in the Challenger and, barring a bizarre unforseen economic circumstance, is very likely to stay that way.

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

My Dodge minvan runs pretty fast with a 3.8L engine. I almost beat a Mustang the other day at the red light but he had to fight for it.

RE: Challenger 4.0L V6 Hemi
 

Well a few points. First of all, the oil bubble is going to pop sooner or later as well as the rest of the commodity market the only way I can see it staying that high is if the gov't raises taxes on gasoline, which is certainly also a possibility. The rumors hold that Chrysler is pouring a lot of money into their replacement V6s, so I don't see this as being so unlikely. The advantage of investing in this technology is it would share this technology with the Hemi V8 and make that even more competitive in power & tq as well as help it out in the fuel economy department.

As far as anyone having concerns that this will cannibalize any Hemi V8 sales, I don't see this happening considering how many of you complain about them offering a V6 base model to begin with despite the fact that is it far more powerful than the slant six and 318 offered in the originals. People who want V8s will get V8s, and people who want more power will get it. Why else do you think that people will opt for the 6.1L over the 5.7L Hemis in the LX cars? Also a way to prevent this from watering down the Hemi nameplate as what happened to the Magnum name when they called engines like the 2.0L I4 in the Neon a Magnum and the 3.0L Mitsubishi used in the Stratus/Sebring twins Magnums (which makes no sense since it isn't even a Chrysler engine), they could instead call it the FirePower or Fire Dome which were names given to the Chrysler and DeSoto variants of the original Hemi small block.

Jeremiah, what generation was the Mustang? If it is the current one, I don't think he was the best driver because a car that can do 0-60 in about 6.9 secs should have no problem beating a vehicle that does 0-60 somewhere between 9.4-10.1 secs (depending on the year and who the source is). If it was an 94-04 model, that would be an interesting and potentially close match. The fact of the matter is Chrysler could use either a better transmission or more powerful engine to compete against the V6 Mustang to cover for the weight as well as the Mustang's short gearing if they want to maintain their fuel economy.