ummmm. if the 1951 hemi was a real hemi, if the 1966 street hemi was a real hemi, if the 1969 race hemi was a real hemi, the 5.7 and 6.1L “new” hemis are indeed, a hemi. hemispherical combustion chambers = hemi. and yeah, a lot of other car companies have picked up on this design attribute - difference is, they don’t own copyrights/history to/of the name. I’d use the shit out of a term with so much heritage too, especially in the nostalgic 2000’s.
interesting fact: ye olde street hemi of yore is likely physically underrated. in the mid-sixties the 426 was dynoed (engine dyno, not chassis) and was found to produce 467 bhp @ 6000 rpm. The factory rated them at 425 bhp @ 6000 rpm, using the old gross rating system.
the SRT engineers got an opportunity to test out the SRT-8 6.1L hemi on an engine dyno. it produced… 467 bhp @ 6000 rpm. full circle? on unleaded gas, with DoD tech to get near 29 mpg. not. too. shabby.
okay, to really say what cars are under/over rated, you really have to think what the car was designed to do. For me to come from a rally background and say “f-bodies suck, they can’t turn”, or from a drag history to speak of “shitty NSXs, they don’t trap well”, would be the same for me to say, “makita’s line of 18v cordless drills blow, they can’t make a decent ham & cheese. and they always leave off the damn honey mustard.” am I right or wrong here?
that said, '03-‘04 Cobras are underrated, they dyno close to their advertised power. Miata’s are underrated because of their "chick car’ stigma, they are very pure driver’s cars. Chargers are underrated. anyone that bitches about 4 doors on it doesn’t obviously remember the 110 horse four-banger FWD embarrassments of the eighties. that was a travesty.
I think GTO’s are underpriced. 400 horse for just over 30k?
cliffs: drills make poor sandwich makers.
