alright, i'm a total idiot when it comes to domestic vehicles and technology, but lately, i've been hearing hemi here and hemi there... so what the heck is a hemi, in terms of technology??

 

HEMI and How it works

 

Hemi is short for hemispherical and refers to the design of the head. In a hemi the combustion chamber's shape is hemispherical, ie half a sphere. This style of combustion chamber is supposed to be extremely efficient.

 

I believe all top fuel dragsters use a Hemi. They put down thousands of HP.

 

They've been around for a looooooong time but are most famous for being used by Chrysler in their 60's muscle cars. Other company's have used the hemispherical head as well, like the Chevy 409. But I think the word hemi is only used by Dodge. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

yes i belive its a Dodge term

 

Chrysler and Dodge use the HEMI moniker as a PR stunt, but there is nothing really new about it, and it wasn't that new even in the 1960s.

Jaguar used a hemi engine in their sports cars starting in the 1940s.

 

One small correction: The 409 Chevy didn't even have a combustion chamber (to speak of) in the head.

Chrysler started selling Hemis in the early/mid 1950s. I think they were the first to adapt the technology to a large displacement v8. The idea had been around for a long time, but was used on smaller displacement engines (with the exception of aircraft engines).

 

the true hemi is a straight-plug

 

True, but they way you said that casts a very negative light. They never claimed to invent the Hemi but they certainly have a history with it, that's undeniable. A PR stunt might be to call a regular motor a Hemi, but I don't see anything wrong with using a Hemi and advertising that fact, it is a part of their heritage and a solid lump of iron at that.