No Hellcat Hemi motor per the boss Tim K damn that’s too bad

[IceAge]

https://www.motorauthority.com/news...n-wrangler-and-gladiator-but-theres-a-problem

Jeep boss says Hellcat engine fits in Wrangler and Gladiator, but there's a problem

April 8, 2019

Jeep has admitted the Wrangler and new Gladiator pickup can stuff parent automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobile's supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat V-8 under the hood, but there's a rather large roadblock.

Head of the Jeep brand in North America, Tim Kuniskis, said the Hellcat engine "fits like a glove," but it fits a little too snugly, according to a Monday report by the Australian website Drive. The engine leaves no space in the Wrangler and Gladiator for sufficient crush zones. In the event of a crash, the Hellcat engine would leave no room to absorb energy, and Kuniskis said a Hellcat-powered Wrangler or Gladiator would never pass federal crash tests. Effectively, Kuniskis nixed the idea of a V-8-powered high-performance Gladiator and Wrangler.

Yet, that doesn't mean isn't a high-performance pickup truck isn't coming. It just likely won't have a Hellcat engine under the hood. This past January, a rumor surfaced on a fan forum claiming Jeep had a Gladiator Hercules high-performance model in the works. The rumor didn't promise a V-8, to be fair, but Kuniskis didn't totally dismiss the idea of a Gladiator Hercules when Motor Authority spoke to the Jeep head at the 2019 North American International Auto Show. The Jeep boss shared Gladiator has a long future with the brand and there's plenty of potential to take the pickup in new directions.

It sounds like Jeep intends to reveal a higher-performance Gladiator pickup, but how it will accomplish that goal remains unclear. Regular Gladiators will feature the tried-and-true 3.6-liter V-6 with 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, and next year a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 rated at 220 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque will join the fray. Could a turbocharged V-6 be in the works? A turbo inline-6 has been rumored, but that would likely allow less space for crash absorption than the V-8. We'll have to wait to see what Jeep decides to do to rival the Colorado ZR2 but with more power.

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[steffen707]

nice article. Kind of assumed no hallcat was coming, but now i don't have to wonder about that. just want that straight 6 turbo motor to come true. Didn't they call it tornado or hurricane?

 

[bruno747]

This also begs the question. If they took the time to redesign the engine bay for the ecodiesel (They gave the same excuse for the ecodiesel in regards to the jk) why didn't they also plan for a hemi knowing the gladiator would share the same front end.

Seems like an oversight knowing people have been begging for a hemi for many years and that begging would only be amplified by a proper pickup with towing to match.

Some times I wonder if car manufactures have any clue just how much money they leave on the table making poor decisions like this.

 

[Limamikemike]

Meh, GM jammed a 5.3 V8 in the Colorado and the H3/H3T and they didn’t sell worth a damn.

I have also read that some of the V8 swapped JK’s are not the greatest low speed trail machines because of cooling issues. I think the factory would do a better job of packaging it than an aftermarket company, but if they can’t cool the ecodiesel properly it really doesn’t sound like a hemi is feasible option.

Not that I’m biased or anything but a V8 gladiator would probably eat into powerwagon and rebel sales.

 

[drogers]

This also begs the question. If they took the time to redesign the engine bay for the ecodiesel (They gave the same excuse for the ecodiesel in regards to the jk) why didn't they also plan for a hemi knowing the gladiator would share the same front end.

Seems like an oversight knowing people have been begging for a hemi for many years and that begging would only be amplified by a proper pickup with towing to match.

Some times I wonder if car manufactures have any clue just how much money they leave on the table making poor decisions like this.

It’s not a matter of forgetting to design it in - they chose *not* to make the engine bay longer than it is. Most design decisions have tradeoffs - make the engine bay 6” longer, and now you have to extend the wheelbase, extend the overhangs, or reduce the cabin space - all bad options for a wrangler, and given all the *^>! That Jeeps taking for the size of the ‘8r, it’s probably even a worse thing for the JT.

 

[dgreen1069]

Since Jeep talked about the cooling issues trying to up the tow capacity of the Gladiator, it never crossed my mind they'd try to stuff a Hellcat engine in a factory offering. In the Hellcat Charger and Challenger, they use every inch of frontal space to add cooling. You can't get the radar cruise control or fog lights in the Hellcat due to cooling in those areas.

 

[NYR_4_LIFE]

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/04/09/hellcat-motor-jeep-wrangler-and-gladiator/

 

[TennesseePA]

I won't miss it at all. I would like to see more power but I do not need anything near V8 power to be fulfilled.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

Meh, GM jammed a 5.3 V8 in the Colorado and the H3/H3T and they didn’t sell worth a damn.

I have also read that some of the V8 swapped JK’s are not the greatest low speed trail machines because of cooling issues. I think the factory would do a better job of packaging it than an aftermarket company, but if they can’t cool the ecodiesel properly it really doesn’t sound like a hemi is feasible option.

Not that I’m biased or anything but a V8 gladiator would probably eat into powerwagon and rebel sales.

I used to lead runs in Moab back in the day and there was always some kind with more money than sense showing up with a 426 Hemi crate putting out mega HP. Never, never saw one that ever got deep into a trail due to cooling, handling, performance, and a near total inability to do anything at the 4/5 trail rated level, which is ALL I would lead. Are they cool, neato and rumble as they cruise thru some Sonic drive in, yea, but for about that $25k dumped into the Jeep it was money down a black hole. Another key issue is off road suspension, that big Hemi brings a LOT of weight to the nose end of that Jeep.

Now Dynatrac is doing it right, but Jim (the owner) knows his business, there is a lot of work to do to integrate the big elephant motor into the font end of a Jeep. My pick would be the Caddy (Chevy) 6.2 all alum @420 HP and 460 lbs of torque way down low.

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