UselessPickles
Making Grand Canyon replicas from air boxes...
My FJR was quite neglected last year. I barely rode it last summer. I actually drove a 4-wheeled cage nearly every day. Here's why:
Yeah, I got a Jeep. And then I put a turbo in it.
So first of all, a Jeep is MUCH more enjoyable to drive than my previous cage (Pontiac Sunfire). It's a convertible, the doors come off, and it even has a manual transmission with that 6th gear that some people wish the FJR had! I used to hate driving my Sunfire, so I would basically ride the FJR at all costs to avoid that boring car. I actually enjoyed riding the Jeep, so the FJR had to start sharing me with my new cage.
With the newer 3.6L V6 "Pentastar" engine, the 2012+ Wranglers are actually decently quick compared to previous Wranglers. It's the same engine as the V6 Charger and Challenger. About 190 hp and 175 ft-lbs at the wheel (lots of drivetrain loss, ~33%) is enough to get it from 0-60 is about 7 seconds. It's not exactly slow, but also not really fast. I kinda like fast. And ridiculous.
So as soon as I found out that a company (Prodigy Performance) was developing a turbo kit for the newer 3.6 Pentastar Wrangler, I knew it was destined to happen.
I received the "Stage 1" kit in June. No intercooler, no blow-off valve (BOV), ~7 psi boost, 330 hp and 342 ft-lbs at the wheels. I spent a long/exhausting weekend installing it in my driveway with lots of help from a friend and my wife. It was one of the first few kits to be shipped out, so I was an "early adopter". As such, it was not a simple install-and-forget kind of project. There was much time spent throughout the rest of the summer tweaking details of the install (including fixing install mistakes like exhaust leaks), recording data logs, providing feedback, testing updates, more data logging, more feedback, etc. In order to properly test and provide feedback on the custom tune, I basically had to drive the Jeep quite a lot. Each time I install a new tune, it takes several days of driving for the computer systems to re-calibrate closed-loop fuel trims, etc. So the FJR sat neglected in the garage.
Then the "Stage 2" kit became available, and I got it installed in September with help from my wife.
This adds a giant intercooler (which I painted black for a stealth appearance), a blow-off valve, ups the boost to ~8 psi, and brings things up to 360 hp and 373 ft-lbs at the wheels. MOAR POWER!
Like the Stage 1 install, I was an early adopter of the Stage 2 kit. So I was still tweaking details after the initial install, and continuing to provide feedback on driveability, testing new versions of the tune, etc. The FJR continued to remain mostly neglected in the garage.
The Jeep is just hilariously fun to drive now. In 1st gear, the rear end squats and it nearly lifts the front wheels off the ground. The transmission is a light-duty truck transmission, so the shift from 1st to 2nd is clunky and slow. During this time, the rear suspension unloads, rocking the Jeep forward quite a bit, just in time to get back on the throttle in 2nd gear, rocking it back again. It's like an amusement park ride. Passengers always laugh after that shift into 2nd. I haven't recorded any 0-60 mph attempts yet, but I'm predicting under 5.0 seconds if I can learn how to launch it well.
I'm now nearly 100% happy with the installation. I still have a suspected exhaust leak I need to find and fix sometime when there's warm/dry weather, and I need to tweak some things to prevent the air filter from vibrating against the plastic wheel well liner. I do have some ideas for the future when I have spare money, like adding oil catch cans to the PCV system, but there's no rush.
The engine tune also been improved a lot since the initial version. There's still a few annoyances, but I've been told that they're going to do some serious tuning sessions over the next few weeks to work on perfecting the tune.
I'm really hoping that I'll have a great tune before Spring arrives so that I can stop feeling the need to drive the Jeep as much as possible to test new versions of the tune and record data logs. I plan to get back to riding the FJR regularly this year. Then again, there's already a "Stage 3" kit under development. I'm not sure if I'll be able to resist the opportunity to perform more modifications for even more power
Here's tons of details/pics of the kit and installation: https://jeeplab.com/showthread.php?131-Prodigy-Performance-3-6-Turbo-DIY-Install
And the Prodigy Performance website: https://prodigyperformance.com/
Yeah, I got a Jeep. And then I put a turbo in it.
So first of all, a Jeep is MUCH more enjoyable to drive than my previous cage (Pontiac Sunfire). It's a convertible, the doors come off, and it even has a manual transmission with that 6th gear that some people wish the FJR had! I used to hate driving my Sunfire, so I would basically ride the FJR at all costs to avoid that boring car. I actually enjoyed riding the Jeep, so the FJR had to start sharing me with my new cage.
With the newer 3.6L V6 "Pentastar" engine, the 2012+ Wranglers are actually decently quick compared to previous Wranglers. It's the same engine as the V6 Charger and Challenger. About 190 hp and 175 ft-lbs at the wheel (lots of drivetrain loss, ~33%) is enough to get it from 0-60 is about 7 seconds. It's not exactly slow, but also not really fast. I kinda like fast. And ridiculous.
So as soon as I found out that a company (Prodigy Performance) was developing a turbo kit for the newer 3.6 Pentastar Wrangler, I knew it was destined to happen.
I received the "Stage 1" kit in June. No intercooler, no blow-off valve (BOV), ~7 psi boost, 330 hp and 342 ft-lbs at the wheels. I spent a long/exhausting weekend installing it in my driveway with lots of help from a friend and my wife. It was one of the first few kits to be shipped out, so I was an "early adopter". As such, it was not a simple install-and-forget kind of project. There was much time spent throughout the rest of the summer tweaking details of the install (including fixing install mistakes like exhaust leaks), recording data logs, providing feedback, testing updates, more data logging, more feedback, etc. In order to properly test and provide feedback on the custom tune, I basically had to drive the Jeep quite a lot. Each time I install a new tune, it takes several days of driving for the computer systems to re-calibrate closed-loop fuel trims, etc. So the FJR sat neglected in the garage.
Then the "Stage 2" kit became available, and I got it installed in September with help from my wife.
This adds a giant intercooler (which I painted black for a stealth appearance), a blow-off valve, ups the boost to ~8 psi, and brings things up to 360 hp and 373 ft-lbs at the wheels. MOAR POWER!
Like the Stage 1 install, I was an early adopter of the Stage 2 kit. So I was still tweaking details after the initial install, and continuing to provide feedback on driveability, testing new versions of the tune, etc. The FJR continued to remain mostly neglected in the garage.
The Jeep is just hilariously fun to drive now. In 1st gear, the rear end squats and it nearly lifts the front wheels off the ground. The transmission is a light-duty truck transmission, so the shift from 1st to 2nd is clunky and slow. During this time, the rear suspension unloads, rocking the Jeep forward quite a bit, just in time to get back on the throttle in 2nd gear, rocking it back again. It's like an amusement park ride. Passengers always laugh after that shift into 2nd. I haven't recorded any 0-60 mph attempts yet, but I'm predicting under 5.0 seconds if I can learn how to launch it well.
I'm now nearly 100% happy with the installation. I still have a suspected exhaust leak I need to find and fix sometime when there's warm/dry weather, and I need to tweak some things to prevent the air filter from vibrating against the plastic wheel well liner. I do have some ideas for the future when I have spare money, like adding oil catch cans to the PCV system, but there's no rush.
The engine tune also been improved a lot since the initial version. There's still a few annoyances, but I've been told that they're going to do some serious tuning sessions over the next few weeks to work on perfecting the tune.
I'm really hoping that I'll have a great tune before Spring arrives so that I can stop feeling the need to drive the Jeep as much as possible to test new versions of the tune and record data logs. I plan to get back to riding the FJR regularly this year. Then again, there's already a "Stage 3" kit under development. I'm not sure if I'll be able to resist the opportunity to perform more modifications for even more power
Here's tons of details/pics of the kit and installation: https://jeeplab.com/showthread.php?131-Prodigy-Performance-3-6-Turbo-DIY-Install
And the Prodigy Performance website: https://prodigyperformance.com/
. A completely custom install would be too expensive me.
