It'll Leave Your Jaw on the Floor... Jeep's Grand Cherokee Might Finally Get the Engine We've All Been Begging For

Alright, buckle up, because I just got my hands on some news that made me spit out my coffee. My goodness, folks, we need to talk about the Jeep Grand Cherokee...

Photo by: Jeep.com

I'm telling you folks, this is the kind of rumor that gets my heart racing faster than a Hemi at full throttle. Word on the street, straight from the folks over at MoparInsiders who apparently have a source and a leaked document in hand, is that Jeep is finally about to give the Grand Cherokee the engine it has been begging for since the day the old 5.7 liter Hemi V8 rode off into the sunset.

We are talking about the twin turbo 3.0 liter Hurricane inline six. And if this pans out for the 2028 model year like the rumor says... Absolute madness.

Let me back up for a second, because I know some of you are new to the Hurricane family. This engine is not messing around. It is Stellantis's answer to "how do we make a smaller engine that still hits like a truck." The version Jeep is reportedly slotting into the Grand Cherokee is the Standard Output variant, and in other applications like the Grand Wagoneer, that thing is putting down around 420 horsepower and a stomach churning 468 pound feet of torque.

Now compare that to what you can get in a Grand Cherokee today.

The tried and true 3.6 liter Pentastar V6 gives you 293 horsepower. Solid. Reliable. A little sleepy. The newer 2.0 liter Hurricane four cylinder turbo bumps that up to 324 horsepower and 332 pound feet. Better, sure. But neither one of those numbers is going to leave your jaw on the floor the way 420 horsepower will.

Here is the part that really gets me fired up though.

That old Hemi V8 everybody misses so much? It was only making about 360 horsepower and 390 pound feet. This rumored inline six would not just match the Hemi... it would straight up embarrass it. More power, more torque, and reportedly better efficiency to boot. That is the dream, my friends. That is having your cake and eating it too.

But wait. There is a real world problem hiding in here, and I promised you I would always be honest with you like a friend, not some corporate press release.

When Jeep dropped the V8, buyers lost towing capacity too. Right now the six and four cylinder Grand Cherokees max out around 6,200 pounds. That is a full 1,000 pounds less than what the Hemi could pull. If you have got a boat or a travel trailer sitting in your driveway wondering when Jeep is going to let you tow it again... this is exactly the fix you have been waiting for. That extra torque from the Hurricane six could bring that lost capability roaring back.

Now here is the honest warning part, the part I would tell you if we were standing in my garage talking about this over a couple of sodas.

This is still a rumor. Jeep has not confirmed a single word of it. Company execs have actually said in the past that the inline six was too long to physically fit behind that iconic seven slot grille. So do not go trading in your car tomorrow expecting to drive home in a Hurricane powered Grand Cherokee.

But here is why I am not writing this off as fantasy...

Stellantis already built the proof. Earlier this year, an SRT development prototype showed up packing a High Output version of the Hurricane six paired with something called eBoost Air, an experimental electric compressor setup. That prototype reportedly flirted with numbers approaching 640 horsepower. Nobody expects that monster trim to land in a standard 2028 Grand Cherokee. But it proves the packaging problem everyone worried about can be solved. The engine fits. The excuse is gone.

And get this, a return of the V8 in a future high performance SRT model has not even been ruled out either. So Jeep might not be choosing between six cylinder power and V8 power at all... they might just be building both.

If I am reading the tea leaves right, here is the play. Jeep offers the Hurricane six on the upper trims to create some real separation from the base four cylinder models, gives buyers a reason to climb the price ladder, and quietly brings back the towing muscle that so many loyal Jeep owners have been missing since the Hemi disappeared.

I will say it plainly. If this rumor turns real for 2028, it fixes almost everything people have been complaining about since the V8 left. More power. More torque. Real towing numbers again. And hopefully, better fuel economy sitting right alongside it.

Keep your eyes on this one with me, folks. The second Jeep makes this official, I am going to be the first one screaming about it from the rooftops.