With electric cars being produced left, right and centre, its a breath of proverbial and not literal fresh air to hear that Jeep will be producing a new internal combustion engine.
The new engine, codenamed “Hurricane”, will be a twin-turbocharged 3,0-litre inline-six engine. More details with be provided at the New York International Auto Show in April this year, but basic information about the engine is already available. Sources claim that the Hurricane engine has a High Output (HO) variant and Standard Output (SO) variant. There are rumours of a third engine derivative but no concrete information has been released regarding that.
The Jeep Grand Wagoneer will most likely be the first recipient of this impressive engine. Speculations allude to the potential of upcoming Dodge Challengers and Chargers outfitted with the Hurricane engine, too, but this is just speculation for now.
The High Output variant will produce 368 kW and 780 N.m and Stellantis claims suggest that the engine is capable of providing “significant” fuel economy even under heavy loads..The Standard Output variant will -allegedly- produce more than 294 kW and 610 N.m. The SO motor is designed with a focus on fuel economy.
Power figures aside, this is a very interesting motor. It’s not every day that we see an inline-six engine go into production.. The HO variant features an aluminium block with a 9,5:1 compression ratio, coupled with a direct fuel injection system. It’ll likelyfeature a variable valve timing system as well. Stellantis claims that peak torque is arrives from 2 350 rpm and will be available across the rev range until the 6 100rpm redline.
An engine-mounted water-to-air charge cooler has been fitted which includes a dedicated cooling circuit, as well as dual water-cooled exhaust manifolds that are a part of the cylinder head. The two high-flow turbochargers will likely produce boost figures within the range of 1,7 Bar for the HO variant and 1,5 Bar for the SO variant. The Hurricane may also feature a cooled exhaust gas recirculation system which could be a means of reducing overall emissions.
The engine will be developed and produced at the group’s Saltillo North Engine Plant in Mexico.
Words: Ryan de Villiers
