Resumption of Hemi production will, for the first time, expand to Jeep's double cab bakkie.
The Jeep Gladiator will now, reportedly, join its Wrangler sibling in getting the 6.4-litre Hemi V8 engine as an option.
Its biggest displacement engine so far has been the venerable 3.6-litre Pentastar V6.
Big block V8
Known by its cubic inch moniker 392, the V8 has been exclusive to the three-door Rubicon-spec Wrangler since its debut five years ago, with outputs of 350kW/637Nm.
The first ever bent-eight Wrangler’s biggest engine was a 4.2-litre straight-six used in the original YJ, made between 1986 and 1995. The resumption of Hemi production earlier this year, largely for Jeep’s sister brand, Ram, will now include the Gladiator as only the fourth Stellantis North America product to have an eight-cylinder engine, the others being the Wrangler, Ram 1500 and Dodge Durango.
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Supposedly discontinued two years ago at the behest of former Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares, but brought back this year by the conglomerate’s North American operations head, Tim Kuniskis, the internally named Apache unit has also been mentioned as possibly being expanded to other Jeep derivatives.
This, according to the company’s CEO Bob Broderdorf, who confirmed the V8 not only for the Gladiator, but also for more versions of the Wrangler, as reported by Australia’s carexpert.com.au.
“We will extend the availability of the 392 Wrangler and, in fact, we will tap the power and performance of the Hemi across Jeep products as new projects are already underway,” Broderdorf was quoted as saying.
“Wrangler and Gladiator fans, and Hemi fans in general, don’t worry – we got you.”
392 for South Africa?
Meanwhile, Stellantis South Africa has indicated that the Wrangler 392 is being investigated for South Africa as an alternative to the current 2.0-litre turbocharged Hurricane petrol model.
At its annual media connect event last month, the firm announced that it is also looking into bringing back the Pentastar V6, which received the axe in favour of the forced-assisted four-cylinder as part of the facelift Wrangler’s market arrival last year.
For the moment, an official reveal of the Gladiator 392 remains unknown, however, expect more information to be provided soon.
With the mentioning of South Africa as a possible market for the Wrangler 392, and on the back of the facelift Gladiator being approved for introduction next year, don’t be surprised if the local market receives consideration for the V8-engined Gladiator once it becomes an eventual reality.
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