Following a $730 million investment, the (Fiat-) Chrysler Group got an all-new six-cylinder engine widely known as the Pentastar V6. First introduced in the 2011 model year Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Pentastar engine is celebrating a rather big milestone these days: over five million engines produced.
18 months after the (Fiat-) Chrysler Group started to make the Pentastar V6 at the Trenton Engine Assembly Plant in Michigan, the company manufactured Pentastar V6 motor number 1,000,000. Here’s a trip down memory lane: ”To build one million of anything, and in an impressively short amount of time, is a significant achievement,” is reading a press release published back in January 2012.
The 60-degree V6 configuration employs aluminum for the engine block and head. The DOHC drivetrain is currently available in 3.0, 3.2 and 3.6-liter variations, all using wet sump lubrication and sequential multiple-port fuel injection for added efficiency. When it was shown to the public at the 2009 New York Auto Show, Chrysler trumpeted about the capability of using both E85 and 87-octane, cylinder deactivation, as well as a dual variable valve timing feature.
These days, Pentastar V6 powerplants are available in 14 vehicles from the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram brands. Since the beginning of 2015, approximately 47 percent of FCA US vehicles sold are equipped with a member of the Pentastar V6 family. The Pentastar V6’s defining element is its exhaust manifold, which is integrated with the mill’s cylinder head, thus enabling greater packaging efficiency.
“The success of the Pentastar V6 engine family continues to be a testament to our powertrain engineering prowess,” declared Bob Lee, Vice President of Engine, Powertrain and Electrified Propulsion, and Systems Engineering at FCA North America. “This engine delivers world-class performance in multiple displacements and vehicle applications around the globe. We’re extremely proud of how this engine family has evolved to provide our customers with a wide range of performance capabilities.”
What Bob didn’t tell you is that the Pentastar V6 has been recalled a few times now. Furthermore, there’s a force-fed update in the pipeline, expected to be presented late 2015 or early 2016 in the 2017 Chrysler Town & Country. Due to Ford's success with the EcoBoost family of engines, rumor has it an all-new 2-liter twin-turbo Pentastar four-cylinder engine might be in development, but let’s wait and see what happens.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News