JCG V6 Pentastar upgrade
- Thread starter 68camaro
- Start date
ratled
Adventurer
I have been looking into this myself and haven't found anything promising.
Most Cold Air Intakes (CAI) (I know you didn't mention it but might as well cover all basis of what you after) are not really cold air intakes as they still take their air in from under the hood so it is still hot. All reports say it gives you a nice throaty sound but little if any increase in MPG and very little increase in HP/torque. ROI doesn't seem to validate this route. Snorkels can be true CAI as they pull from the outside. Some of the popular ones can increase water issues on water crossings. They may not seal well for cold air and water and can be an issue as they route the air flow lower than stock through the fender and then up. I wish AEV would make a CAI to have the intake setup like the way the snorkel comes out from the hood but without the rise of the snorkel. Should be cheap to do using snorkel parts and a washable filter in the stock box.
Exhaust mods seem to have about the same results as a CAI but can cost much more than a CAI. One budget exhaust mod has been to simply do a muffler delete. Cheap to do, easily corrected, and with the resonator left in place, keeps you off the radar for noise pollution. Down side is possible fumes in the passenger compartment and some states laws get iffy if a muffler is required. This doesn't seem be an issue if you have smog requirements in your area.
Super chargers have a measurable positive impact but at the price point to get a proper one installed appears to not be a worthy investment. To truly get the most from a super charger, as well as a turbo charger, you have to get a good custom performance tune. Without it it really just isn't worth it and canned tunes don't cut it.
Turbo chargers fair no better at best than super chargers, can cost even more and seem to be less reliable.
The issue isn't just with HP/torque increase but also where in the power curve you realize the gains and where you actually want it. With all of this I came to the conclusion that this isn't for me. Best of luck in your quest for positive information. I will be interested to see any other responses to this thread!
ratled
Most Cold Air Intakes (CAI) (I know you didn't mention it but might as well cover all basis of what you after) are not really cold air intakes as they still take their air in from under the hood so it is still hot. All reports say it gives you a nice throaty sound but little if any increase in MPG and very little increase in HP/torque. ROI doesn't seem to validate this route. Snorkels can be true CAI as they pull from the outside. Some of the popular ones can increase water issues on water crossings. They may not seal well for cold air and water and can be an issue as they route the air flow lower than stock through the fender and then up. I wish AEV would make a CAI to have the intake setup like the way the snorkel comes out from the hood but without the rise of the snorkel. Should be cheap to do using snorkel parts and a washable filter in the stock box.
Exhaust mods seem to have about the same results as a CAI but can cost much more than a CAI. One budget exhaust mod has been to simply do a muffler delete. Cheap to do, easily corrected, and with the resonator left in place, keeps you off the radar for noise pollution. Down side is possible fumes in the passenger compartment and some states laws get iffy if a muffler is required. This doesn't seem be an issue if you have smog requirements in your area.
Super chargers have a measurable positive impact but at the price point to get a proper one installed appears to not be a worthy investment. To truly get the most from a super charger, as well as a turbo charger, you have to get a good custom performance tune. Without it it really just isn't worth it and canned tunes don't cut it.
Turbo chargers fair no better at best than super chargers, can cost even more and seem to be less reliable.
The issue isn't just with HP/torque increase but also where in the power curve you realize the gains and where you actually want it. With all of this I came to the conclusion that this isn't for me. Best of luck in your quest for positive information. I will be interested to see any other responses to this thread!
ratled
Last edited:
Outside somewhere
Overland certified public figure brand ambassador
Not on a gc but its the same motor. This has been my experience with the jk's I've had. Superchargers are the best bang for the buck for the 3.6 Of course an LS or hemi swap is better but 8-10k vs the 25-35k for a v8 which is a dream killer for most. Even the 2.8 swap is 10k and to be honest its not all that impressive. I've had both, just depends what your end game is. In my case on a mild jku build - auto, 37's, 488s with the added weight of a rack with a tent and gear inside then moving to a tent trailer I found sc'ng gives just enough of a bump to not feel like everything is a struggle. SC companies with tell you it's v8 like power but that's simply bs, just know that going in.
I dyno'd stock in 2014 on a 3.6 auto trans rubicon jku with stock tires/wheels and 4.10 gearing at 260hp. I used that as my baseline when I started that build with the above stats (37's, 4.88s auto etc) That took me down to 220hp. I tried a sprintex first and it never worked well, very buggy software, ran hot. Ditched it and went to a stage one ripp, after much trial and error with tunes I got it to a reliable state. It does also require playing with combos of cooling both by wsy of fans, rad and the trans and oil coolers. That dyno'd at 308 - far from the almost 330 I was told I would get. Ripp told me moving to 513 gears, long tube headers etc would get me to 335-340 but frankly that's a waste imho on stock axles and I was fine with the 308h. It's no sports car or v8 but its not supposed to be. I really think those that ********** the loudest about SC performance usually hold unrealistic expectations of what SC'ng a jeep gets you.
With all that said yes I feel SC is ok value for money for my application which is light wheeling, light towing and cross country travel. If you are doing more than that I'd sell and get something better tasked for the job. On a personal note I kick myself in the ass daily for selling my 6.4 brute lol.
I dyno'd stock in 2014 on a 3.6 auto trans rubicon jku with stock tires/wheels and 4.10 gearing at 260hp. I used that as my baseline when I started that build with the above stats (37's, 4.88s auto etc) That took me down to 220hp. I tried a sprintex first and it never worked well, very buggy software, ran hot. Ditched it and went to a stage one ripp, after much trial and error with tunes I got it to a reliable state. It does also require playing with combos of cooling both by wsy of fans, rad and the trans and oil coolers. That dyno'd at 308 - far from the almost 330 I was told I would get. Ripp told me moving to 513 gears, long tube headers etc would get me to 335-340 but frankly that's a waste imho on stock axles and I was fine with the 308h. It's no sports car or v8 but its not supposed to be. I really think those that ********** the loudest about SC performance usually hold unrealistic expectations of what SC'ng a jeep gets you.
With all that said yes I feel SC is ok value for money for my application which is light wheeling, light towing and cross country travel. If you are doing more than that I'd sell and get something better tasked for the job. On a personal note I kick myself in the ass daily for selling my 6.4 brute lol.
Thanks guys, I looked previously and came to came conclusions, Supercharger can give increases but can be really buggy and I am well beyond age I liked to tinker at. Pentastar is great engine and I love my Jeep GC but I was in a rush and should have waited to get a Hemi, dealer had none and I needed one ASAP.
Outside somewhere
Overland certified public figure brand ambassador
I hear you. I had an investment opportunity presented to me that was a now or never thing. Im glad I did it but selling that v8 brute was duummbb. I did want to clarify for posterity. To be fair to ripp, the issues I had were due to wanting more than a canned tune of "hey, make my jeep faster" otherwise I wouldn't have had an issue. I wanted two tunes, one for daily driving and one for wheeling/towing. I'm also super anal about monitoring temps, shooting for longevity so I went with a larger rad, larger trans cooler ever though I didn't really need too.
I'm now in a pace where I'm looking at s/c'ng my 15 aev jku but i dont want have time to do the install. The nice thing now is these kits have been out long enough there are shops that have this down to a science and a total pkg of parts and install is a third of an ls or hemi swap. If you decided to trade later the best part - it's 100% reversible. Best of luck.
