# The Legendary Hemi Engine: A History Show
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(car screeching)- It's the crossrambreathing, fire snorting,eardrum deafening V8 that took America by storm. This absolute unit of an engine has powered everything, from muscle cars to your muscly dad's truck.
That thing got a Hemi? Yeah. (car engine roars) It's a legend so strong that for the first time ever, we're dedicating an entire video to an engine. This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on Hemi!
Ram charger! (electronic music) If you have been around since the early days of Up to Speed, you know that we love Dodge, and Dodge loves us. I got their name tattooed on my chest. They sent me a note when I was sick. Also this Christmas sweater, and these sweet Legos.
And we all know that Dodge made the Hemi popular. But before we get into all the Hemi cars that we know and love, I gotta give you some history first. Good thing, this is a history show. (dog barking) Hey babe, no no. Did you get lost?
The cars of the early 1900s had no power, baby. The Benz patent motor wagon made two thirds of a horsepower. Can you imagine two thirds of a horse? Gross! If you wanted to go fast, the best way to do it back then would be to drive off of a cliff. (slipping sound)
The main problem with engines back in the grandpa days was two fold. First was valve location. Early engines used what's called a side valve design, where the valves live inside the engine block. The air-fuel mixture enters one side of the combustion chamber and has to exit from the same direction. Because the air-gas mix had to enter and exit the same side of the combustion chamber, air was restricted from freely flowing through. That limited power.
The side valve design was cheap and easy to manufacture, so that was good enough for a lot of brands at the time. I mean, I don't blame them. Cars were only like four years old at the time, and everyone was happy with it. Except for one company, Welch. Now, Welch was a small automaker located in Pontiac, Michigan.
In 1904, they dropped the Model 4-L. A seven passenger car with a 336 cubic inch, 4 cylinder engine making 50 horsepower. In 1904. So how did Welch manage to make so much power in a time when other car makers would struggle to make half that? Well put on your engineering hats you Ram chargers' cause it's about to get technical for a minute.
They didn't opt for the side valve design, with its flat cylinder head, no. The Model 4-L utilized a hemispherical combustion chamber. This radical and radical shape completely changed how the engine made power, babe. The hemispherical combustion chamber increased the volume of fuel-air mixture to burn while minimizing surface area inside the chamber.
All of the new stuff that they needed to add to make an overhead valve train work made the new engine more expensive to manufacture. But, the benefits were immediately apparent. Just like my ex-girlfriend in high school showed up at my door with Nolan, I became, immediately, a parent. (laughs)
And while Welch only built four Model 4-Ls, their influence reached far into the automotive world. Brands like Fiat, Peugeot, and Alfa Romeo were all experimenting with hemispherical heads. It's kind of interesting that Alfa Romeo and Fiat were playing with Hemis, and now they are all part of Dodge.
So I'm sure by now all of you guys are wondering,
# The Influence of Welch's Hemi Engine
Welch's innovative approach to engine design had a lasting impact on the automotive industry. Their use of a hemispherical combustion chamber paved the way for more efficient engines and helped establish overhead valve trains as a standard feature.
The fact that Welch was able to achieve such high power output in 1904 is a testament to their engineering prowess. By minimizing surface area inside the combustion chamber, they were able to increase the volume of fuel-air mixture burned, resulting in more power.
Welch's influence can be seen in many modern engines, including those used by Dodge and other automotive brands. Their innovative approach to engine design has had a lasting impact on the industry and continues to shape the way we think about engine performance today.
# The Legacy of Hemi
The Hemi engine has become an iconic symbol of power and performance in American muscle cars. From classic models like the 1969 Charger R/T to modern-day vehicles, the Hemi name is synonymous with speed and agility.
But the legacy of Hemi extends beyond just its impact on car culture. The innovative engine design developed by Welch and other automotive pioneers has had a lasting influence on the industry as a whole.
As we continue to push the boundaries of engine technology and innovation, it's essential to remember the history and legacy of the Hemi engine. By understanding where we've been, we can better appreciate where we're going and work towards creating even more powerful and efficient engines for the future.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(car screeching)- It's the crossrambreathing, fire snorting,eardrum deafening V8 thattook America by storm.This absolute unit of anengine has powered everything,from muscle cars toyour muscly dad's truck.- That thing got a Hemi?- Yeah.(car engine roars)- It's a legend so strongthat for the first time ever,we're dedicating anentire video to an engine.This is everything you needto know to get up to speed onHemi!- Ram charger!(electronic music)- If you have been aroundsince the early days ofUp to Speed, you knowthat we love Dodge, and Dodge loves us.I got their name tattooed on my chest.They sent me a note when I was sick.Also this Christmas sweater,and these sweet Legos.And we all know that Dodgemade the Hemi popular.But before we get into all the Hemi carsthat we know and love, I gottagive you some history first.Good thing, this is a history show.(dog barking)Hey babe, no no.Did you get lost?The cars of the early1900s had no power, baby.The Benz patent motor wagonmade two thirds of a horsepower.Can you imagine two thirds of a horse?Gross!If you wanted to go fast, thebest way to do it back thenwould be to drive off of a cliff.(slipping sound)The main problem with enginesback in the grandpa dayswas two fold.First was valve location.Early engines used what'scalled a side valve design,where the valves liveinside the engine block.The air-fuel mixture entersone side of the combustion chamberand has to exit from the same direction.Because the air-gas mixhad to enter and exitthe same side of the combustion chamber,air was restricted fromfreely flowing through.That limited power.The side valve design wascheap and easy to manufacture,so that was good enough fora lot of brands at the time.I mean, I don't blame them.Cars were only like fouryears old at the time,and everyone was happy with it.Except for one company, Welch.Now, Welch was a small automaker locatedin Pontiac, Michigan.In 1904, they dropped the Model 4-L.A seven passenger carwith a 336 cubic inch,4 cylinder engine making 50 horsepower.In 1904.So how did Welch manageto make so much powerin a time when other car makerswould struggle to make half that.Well put on your engineeringhats you Ram chargers'cause it's about to gettechnical for a minute.(electronic music)They didn't opt for the side valve design,with it's flat cylinder head, no.The model 4-L utilized ahemispherical combustion chamber.This radical, and radicalshape completely changedhow the engine made power, babehThe hemisphericalcombustion chamber increasedthe volume of fuel-air mixture to burnwhile minimizing surfacearea inside the chamber.(electronic music)All of the new stuffthat they needed to addto make an overhead valvetrain work made the new enginemore expensive to manufacture.But, the benefits wereimmediately apparent.Just like my ex-girlfriend in high schoolshowed up at my door with Nolan,I became, immediately, a parent.(laughs)And while Welch onlybuilt four model 4-Ls,their influence reached farinto the automotive world.Brands like Fiat, Peugeot and Alfa Romeowere all experimentingwith hemispherical heads.It's kind of interestingthat Alfa Romeo and Fiatwere playing with Hemis, andnow they are all part of Dodge.So I'm sure by now all ofyou guys are wondering,"I thought this frickingvideo was about Dodge.When does Dodge show up?"I'll tell you.1940, Chrysler had begandevelopment on an enginefor fighter planes, thecoolest vehicles ever.It goes fighter jets, rocketships, horses, NASCARs,Volkswagen golfs.The engine they came up with wasa gargantuan, thirty sixfrickin' liter, V16, calledthe Chrysler 14-2200,with Roman numerals.The engine was actuallydesigned to run upside down,so when it was mounted ona plane, there'd be roomfor nose mounted weapons.The hemispherical combustionchambers weren't enoughfor the engine to makepower at 25,000 feet.At that altitude, there isn'ta lot of oxygen to burn.So they had to find a way tocram more air into the engine.You see where I'm going with this?That's right.On top of a 36 literengine, Chrysler also bolteda big old, General Electricmade, spinny boy on the back.The end result was amaximum power output of2,500 buff horses at only 3,400 RPM.While Republican Aviationbuilt two P47 fighter planeswith the 1422 under thehood, the war was almost overby the time the engine was ready.Ain't that always the case, war endsright before you getto use the cool stuff.After the war, the Chryslerengine development teamkept experimenting withthe hemispherical designs.First, in single cylinderlawn mower engines,believe it or not.Then in V6 motors.Those were either too weak,or too heavy, or too long,or too raw.Chrysler's next generationengine would have to be--- The V8 engine.- Yes, and the V8 engine.- By 1950, the Chryslerteam was hard at work,just in the lab, crankingon the new engine.It was a 331 cubic inch V8sporting a forged steel crank.Hydraulic lifters,and those sweet, sweet warproving hemispherical heads.I have a slightly hemispherical headbecause my parents leftme in my crib too muchwhen I was a baby.(whimsical music)Hemispherical heads mightbe great on engines,but they're not great on babies.Make sure that you rotate your baby,at least once every hour to two hours.(whimsical music)Chrysler was on top.They called this little babybeast the Chrysler firepower.Ugh!No power heads know it by another name.The first gen Hemi(car engine roars).The firepower Hemidebuted in Chrysler carslike the Imperial, the NewYorker and the Saratogato wide the claim, naturally.People love the high poweredHemis and the successconvinced Chrysler leadershipto share the Hemi loveacross all of their brands.But instead of usingthe fire power engine,Dodge and DeSoto designedtheir own Hemi enginesfor their cars.- Announcing the new DeSoto Firedome 8.- A 276 cubic inch V8making 160 horse powers- This is your new Red Ram V8 engine.- Ram chargers!- It made 140 horsepower.(car engine roars)By the late '50s ChryslerImperials and New Yorkerswere available with a 392 cubic inch Hemiwith 10:1 compressionmaking 345 horsepower.Get outta town.(car engine roars)But even though the engines were great,it was getting increasinglydifficult to justifyputting them in passenger cars.I mean, having three companiesdesign their own engineswas getting expensive,and their complicatedoverhead valve design, remember,was really expensive to build.So Chrysler axed the Hemi in 1958.An additional factor in thedeath of the early Hemishappened in 1957.The Automobile Manufacturers Association,AKA the Scrooge McDucks of the car world,banned all manufacturersfrom involving themselvesin racing.Wouldn't you know it just afew years later after the ban,Ford and Shelby started tobuild fast motors again.- What? I thought we all promised.- They're like,"You believe that littlegentlemen's agreement?"- Yeah. I thought we were all boys, dude.- Yeah, dude, we're boys.But it's not gonna keep usfrom trying to be the best.- I should have known.I gotta go train.Ram chargers, roll out.(car engine sounds)- Enter Chrysler president, Lynn Townsend.The dude had two sonswho spent a lot of timeon Woodward Avenue, whichwas a street racing hotspotin Detroit.So Lynn's sons told him thathis cars were kinda boring,and that they got beata lot on the streets.Not that it is something thatyou wanna hear from your sons.He decided that the Chryslerfamily needed a total refresh.Chrysler engineers quicklygot to work on a new enginecalled the B-Engine or the Wedge.The engineers did a great jobbecause the Wedge was a dominantforce at the drag strip,but not so much in NASCARovals, which was basicallythe biggest marketing toolthat car manufacturershad in America at the time.Lynn's race engine groupleader, Tom Hoover,who also, probably invented the vacuum,had a suggestion.- If you wanna go toDaytona, and go like stink,let's adapt the hemi headfor the Wedge engine.- And Lynn was like-- You're crazy man, you're crazy.- They had 10 months untiltheir work would debutat the 1964 Daytona 500.The team used the 426cubic inch Max Wedge engineas the foundation.These things used crazylooking cross ram intakesand humongous valves toachieve superb airflow.The Wedge boasted insanecompression ratios, maxing outat an available 13.5:1.Just hearing one of these things start upis enough to send yourrivals running for the hills,or making little booty hole pucker.(car engine roaring)After 200 grueling laps, theygot first, they got second,they got third, withRichard Petty, the king,in the number one position.The Hemi was back.(birthday blower)The engine developmentteam also built a 426 Hemioptimized for drag racing.Obvi it's frickin'.Duh, it's what they do.In the quest of NHRA drag racingdomination, Chrysler builtturn key race cars from the factory.Built to run in the 1964 superstock class.I wish I had one.New rules mandated that no fiber glass oraluminum body work was allowed.So Chrysler stamped thebodies of these carsout of super thin steel.Like imagine the thinnest steelyou've ever seen in your life.Okay, you're doing it?Thinner.And the weight shaving didn't end there.The interiors were basically stripped out.They made the intakes out of magnesiumand the cast cylinderheads out of aluminum.These cars were knowninternally as A-864 cars,available in the formof the Plymouth Savoy.In 1965, these cars weregiven the designation A-990and can be heard as DodgeCornets, or Plymouth Belvederes.(car engine roars)Now all this success would be pointlessif Chrysler didn't make thehemi available to the people.The Hemi street Engine was tweakedfor reliable everyday driving.Camshaft was milder, thespring rates were softer,everything was better for low RPM driving.But the valves, lifters,rods, rockers, crankshaftwere all carried overfrom the A-990 engine.This was a 425 horsepower raceengine for your daily driver,in the frickin' '60s.(car engine)For 1966, the street hemi was availablein Dodge and Plymouth,B-Body cars like the Coronet,Belvedere, Satellite, and the Charger,if you can afford it pal.The hemming was an $1,105 dollar option,which is the equivalent ofalmost $9,000 in today money.When a majority of theircars were restyled in '68,including the beautifulnew Coke bottle charger,customers' interest in theHemi was greatly renewed.I mean, these cars lookamazing, and all that power,it's a no brainer dude, it's the easy.(car engine roars )Throughout the rest of the 60s and in the-Sorry.Dudy, come here.What's in your mouth?(muffling)The second gen Hemi hitits peak in 1969 and '70when Dodge and Plymouth used it to powertheir pointy boy factory race cars.The Daytona, and the Superbird.These cars were so farahead of the competitionthat NASCAR had to nerf them in 1971for racing to be evenremotely interesting.(car engine roars)Over in the NHRA, the Hemisuperstock Darts and Barracudascontinued to (beep) everyone else up,Something they still do today,at the Dodge Hemi challenge,held every year at the NHRA US Nats.(cars engines roar)With a legacy like that,it's no wonder the 426 Hemiis one of the most iconicengines of the muscle car era.So how do you follow it up?Emissions regulationskilled the 426 Hemi in 1971but fortunately, Hemi fansdidn't have to wait longfor the new Hemi on the block.Unfortunately, theresurrected Hemi wasn't quitewhat they had in mind.(car engine starting)The 1981 2.6 liter, Hemi, availablein the Dodge Ariesand Plymouth Reliantwas a 4 cylinder enginebuilt by Mitsubishi and itpeaked at 92 horsepower,which was a little short ofthe previous Hemis' power.But this tiny boy Hemiwas technically a Hemibecause it had hemispherical heads.Naturally, Chrysler sentthat Mitsubishi Hemi awayto live on the farmwith my childhood pets.So the Hemi name lay dormantfor 16 years, until 2003,which is the same yearthat a little movie calledLord of The Rings, Returnof the King came out.Coincidence?In my line of work, there's no such thing.The Dodge Ram was availablewith a 5.7 litre Hemi V8for the 2003 model year.The Hemi made 345 buff horsesin 375 pounds(mumbles).Those BV numbers had peopleall over the world rolling upnext to Rams and asking,"That thing got a Hemi?"- Yeah.(car speeding)Soon the Hemi wasn't just for trucks.Cars all over the Chryslerfamily were gettingthe Hemi treatment.I'm talking Dodge Durango,I'm talking Chrysler 300c,I'm talking Dodge Magnum, I'mtalking Jeep Grand Cherokee,I'm talking Dodge Charger.(car speeding)But this new Hemi was a little differentthan the Hemis of old.The heads were no longerhalf sphere shaped.The combustion chamber wasmuch shallower and flat lookingby comparison.There were still only twovalves per cylinder, but now,they had two spark plugs.The second plug now firedshortly after the first,which helped with emissions.The 5.7 liter Hemi might nothave been exactly the sameas the legendary 426, butit's still a frickin' Hemi,and people were stoked.But when the Dodge andChrysler SRT8 models came alongin 2005, they needed somethingwith a little humble power baby.(car speeding)Three hundred CSRT8,Magnum SRT8, Charger SRT8,and the rest of the SRT8swere equipped with bigger6.1 liter Hemis.Changes such as larger displacement,cast a little on intake andforged crank allowed the 6.1to hit 425 hrsprs, thesame as the old 426.The Hemi got another boost in 2011,with the introduction of the 392.The 392 had been available for yearsas a great engine for racecars, but it went mainstreamunder the hood of SRT8 carslike the Charger and Challenger.The beefier engine nowmade 470 to 485 horsepower,far surpassing the legendary426 while being smallerand more efficient.But you guys know, thatthe best was yet to come.(finger snaps)Thank you.Throughout this wholestory, the Hemi has stayednaturally aspirated.Relying on its big displacementto make all that power baby.But what would happen if the Hemi was--I don't know, justspit-balling here(mumbles)What if it was super charged?That's exactly what we found out in 2015,when Dodge dropped the Hellcat,a 6.2 liter supercharged Hemi.Making a monstrous 707 hrsprs.(car roars)Chrysler didn't limitthe Hellcat to Dodges.In 2018, the Jeep Trackhawkput all 707 hrsprsto the ground, with all wheel drive.I've driven one witha bigger blower on it,it's one of the craziestcars I've ever driven.The launch, dude, we pulledon a supercharged Huracanfor two gears.(car roaring)(laughing)A hundred and four miles an hour.You should know by now that 707 horsepowerjust wasn't enough, man.So in 2018, Dodge gave usthe Challenger Hellcat Demon,which used a larger 2.7 liter blowerthat boosted power to 808 on 91 octane,840 on 100 octane.(car speeding off)We did a whole episode on that car,so if you want to learn more about it,check that out right here.I also drove one in anotherthing, and I also unboxed it.It comes with a frickin' crate.Also, it's not even the craziestone you can buy anymore.What the (bleep) is going on here.Are there no rules anymore?Last year at the SEMA show, Dodge unveiledthe most outlandish Hemi yet.A thousand horsepower.950 pound feet crate enginefor the price of $30,000.They call it the Helephant because yeah,these dudes are the frickin'best at naming crap.- What are you gonna call your car?- I don't know, the Taurus.- What are you gonna call yours?- The Hellcat.- The Demon.- The Helephant.Most metal (beep) ever.This 7 liter thiccest,thiccity, thiccity boy ever hasaluminum engine block, forged pistons,the Demon's valve train andan updated super charger.Dodge hasn't put the Helephantin a production car yet.(car engine roars)I don't think any outro that I could writecould be as good as hearinga Hemi one more time.Colby.(car engine starts)Just like when my ex-girlfriendin high school showed upat my door with Nolan, Ibecame immediately a parent.(laughs heartily)I love you.
