New Fuel Efficient Hurricane Engine Revealed

The Hurricane engine is a 3.0-Liter Inline 6-cylinder twin-turbocharged engine. The two low-inertia turbochargers provide a rapid throttle response accompanied by greater torque output for driver needs, like towing, without sacrificing fuel efficiency. The new Hurricane engine, with its smooth-running I-6 configuration, runs up to 15% more efficiently than the competitor's larger engines and provides more power than their naturally-aspirated V8 or boosted six-cylinder engines. The Hurricane engine's base architecture allows engineers to make two variants of the engine. First is the standard output (SO), which replaces the 5.7L V8 with more power and greater fuel efficiency. In fact, the SO Hurricane engine delivers more than 400 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. The second variant is the high output (HO), which beats the 6.4L V8 with more than 500 horsepower and 475 lb-ft of torque without sacrificing fuel efficiency.

Stellantis chose to use two turbochargers instead of natural aspiration because they provide more power and better fuel economy than larger engines. Each of the two turbochargers feeds compressed air to three of the engine's six cylinders. Before entering the intake manifold to be ignited, the compressed air goes through an engine-mounted water-to-air charge air cooler to lower the air temperature. When air is cooler, it is denser which makes for better performance through advanced ignition timing. This process also helps manage the temperature inside the six cylinders. After the engine is shut down, coolant is circulated by an electric pump to cool the turbocharger units. The turbochargers are optimized for each variant. For example, the SO Hurricane provides 22 pounds-per-square-inch of boost. Meanwhile, the HO variant delivers 26 PSI of boost. Looking at the Hurricane engine from a performance standpoint, having two smaller turbochargers instead of a large, single turbo delivers boost to the engine at a lower RPM because the turbochargers spin up faster with less inertia.

Stellantis gave the twin-turbo I-6 engine a wide array of innovative technologies to enhance performance and fuel efficiency. First is a Plasma Transfer Wire Arc (PTWA) coating inside the cylinder bores for an ultra-thin wear surface to minimize friction. The engine stop-start (ESS), which stops the engine while idling and restarts it when the brake pedal is released, uses a powerful starter remote for quick, more seamless restarts. Additionally, the engine uses high-pressure direct fuel injection pumps, one for the SO and two for the HO. Similarly, the engine-mounted water-to-air charge cooler has a single inlet in the SO variants and dual inlet for the HO variants. Another notable feature is the dual exhaust manifolds integrated in the cylinder head with water cooling. This allows the engine to reach operating temperatures more quickly, using less fuel and reducing engine wear.

The all-new 3.0L turbocharged I-6 Hurricane engine is now in production alongside the V8 engines. They will begin to make their way under the hoods of the Dodge, Jeep, and Ram V8 models later in the 2022 model year. Here at Lone Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, we pride ourselves on providing the latest from the Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands and we'll be hosting models with the new Hurricane engine when they are released later this year. For more information, please contact our sales team in-store, by phone or right here on our website. We look forward to hearing from you!