No Comeback for the Hemi: Why the Old V8 Won't Fit Under the Grand Cherokee's Hood

Tim Kuniskis says the Hemi V8 doesn't fit the current Grand Cherokee's body structure — it would compromise front crash protection.

Jeep Grand Cherokee is not getting the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 back, despite the engine returning to the Ram 1500. According to The Drivecast, Ram boss, head of Stellantis' American brands and SRT chief Tim Kuniskis explained that the engine doesn't fit the current Grand Cherokee for packaging reasons.

The main issue isn't customer demand — it's safety and body structure. Kuniskis says the Hemi V8 runs straight into the front crash zone. To squeeze the engine in, engineers would have to redesign the elements responsible for absorbing impact in a frontal collision. For a production car, that's too drastic an intervention.

The V8 speculation didn't appear out of nowhere. The Jeep Grand Cherokee was previously offered with the 5.7-liter Hemi, and towing capacity reached 3,266 kg. After the Hemi's return to the Ram 1500, many expected Stellantis to drop the big engine back into the Grand Cherokee. Jeep representatives had also cautiously hinted earlier that the V8 chapter wasn't necessarily closed.

But Kuniskis' current position cools that scenario down. The 2026 Grand Cherokee is leaning on other powertrains, including the new turbocharged 2.0-liter Hurricane and the 4xe hybrid version. That doesn't mean Jeep will never have powerful variants again — but the old Hemi V8 in the current Grand Cherokee now looks unlikely.