Jeep’s HEMI V8 Now Just One Step Away From Retirement
Once a popular engine within the Jeep lineup, the venerable HEMI V8 is now just one step away from retirement after the company decided to stop offering it with the three-row Grand Cherokee L for the 2025 model year.
The 5.7-litre mill endowed the midsize SUV with 357 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque, but also resulted in awful fuel economy, as evidenced by the combined rating of 14.1 L/100 km.
- Also: Jeep’s Large SUVs Lose Their V8 Engines for 2024
- Also: Jeep Slashes Grand Cherokee 4xe Price in Canada, PHEV Incentives Now Available
The only engine left with the 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee L—from the base Laredo to the top-line Summitt Reserve—is the old but trusty 3.6-litre Pentastar V6, which delivers 293 horsepower and a modest 260 lb-ft of torque while achieving 11.3 L/100 km. Unlike the standard, two-row Grand Cherokee (which dropped the V8 for 2023), the longer body style cannot be had with the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine or the 4xe plug-in hybrid system.
To be clear, you can probably still find V8-powered Grand Cherokee L units on dealer lots somewhere, but ordering one is no longer possible.
Will Jeep eventually add the new twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight-six a.k.a. Hurricane for power-hungry drivers? That’d be fantastic. As for the 4xe powertrain, it should only be a matter of time until we see it since the brand has promised to electrify is entire portfolio by the end of 2025.
The 2025 Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition will be the last eight-cylinder Jeep for sale, featuring the 6.4-litre HEMI that serves up 470 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque. Initially planned for 2024 only, the model is being kept alive for another round by popular demand. Orders will open later this year, with production scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2025. Jeep has yet to say how many units it plans to build this time around.
