JK Lack of an acceptable ENGINE. I am leaving Jeep for now sadly.
 

After 3 years of trying everything to justify the lack of power with the 3.8 v6, i sold my jeep JK rubicon and am moving on.

I have looked at everything, every thread, tried a programmer, but with all said and done, it just seems like everyone keeps trying to make excuses for what i have now concluded is a "bad engine". What i mean is that it is just not the right design for the Jeep Rubicon. I live in the Rocky Mountains and no matter what i can't keep up with the other cars, it does not matter what it is. I only had 33" tires. I can't even imagine what people are doing with 35 and 37s...

Dont' take me wrong, i love jeeps, love the JK design, but i HATE the engine. I WILL return to jeeps when they put in a diesel engine or a v6 that is not 10 years behind and way way underpowered...202 hp?

I just can't believe that Jeep has not introduced a new engine for this, come on, people are putting $20-30,000 into hemi conversions? $6000 into superchargers without warranties.

I just hope that they do something soon and that all of you (great JK community) are happy, i just think people are justifying the bad engine because they have no choice. If i lived at sea level, i might have be able to survive until they redesign.

Good luck to all of you and hope to see you real soon. Just do me a favor and get real with the Jeep folks when you see them and complain.

I could see how people would be happy with the 3.8L if it got good gas mileage, but it doesn't deliver that either. No excuses anymore, game over for me.

What are you getting as a replacement?

Well, there is not much to compete. FJ Cruiser has suicide doors, can't do that. I am thinking of buying a pickup with a v8, lifting it, and driving it for a few years and praying that they put the 2.8L diesel or some better engine in the JK. Then im back. But for now, Chevy Silverado 6.2, Ford SVT Raptor 6.2, or Tundra. It makes me sad, but having power is a must in the Mountains, especially when trying to get to Moab. Yeah, i know all about gearing, but im not interested in just increasing my rpms and calling that power. Thanks for asking....not a perfect solution, but it will get me to where i need to go.

I completely agree with you, I thought about transferring out to any diesel tundra/ford 9" I could find but the cost just doesn't make sense with all that I have in the JK. I'm also NOT in the market for a 6L+ diesel king cab. I want a damn reasonable 250hp/450ftlb 3L turbo diesel-they just don't exist in the US besides the Audi Q7

I have noticed this as well..

On the otherhand the options are limited.

Regear and deal with high RPMs

Get another engine and replace

do the hemi upgrade...

That is it and all at considerable cost expect #1.

I dont know what the answer is, but im guessing that after all the money ive put into the JK ill likely modify the engine at mucho cost to me (since i can NOT do that one myself) in the future....

Amen brother! As soon as they do that they have the BEST vehicle on the planet. I will be back only when they start doing things with integrity. No offense to all those who modified and put Hemi's and superchargers, its just a design issue for me.

yeah, if you are going to do that (new engine), you could try to find someone to do a diesel swap....but, most likely, youll do that, then they will release the diesel 2.8.

I just can't imagine having that engine, i bet it would get 25 mpg on the highway and have plenty of torque as well as be highly modifiable.

Good luck, ill still stop by now and then to see if someone finds a magic formula. For me, that is not a Ripp supercharger since i am too concerned with high reliability when in the wilderness and don't need things that could break on the trail. Just a factory diesel, PLEASE!!!!!!

Living in Florida, it's not so bad. The biggest hill I need to go over is the highway overpass.

Really? I find I'm the fastest vehicle on the road... why can't people in Utah accelerate to the speed limit quickly? The creep up to speed just in time to brake at the next light. The only time I've noticed a lack of acceleration was in a full on head wind trying to go 78 to pass a semi (the speed limit was 75) But I blame that on the head wind and the Jeep's aerodynamic shortcomings.

I don't really care about going fast, I prefer to almost always be under 70mph. I ONLY care about my 0-45 time, and I don't like to be flooring it to get there in under 10 seconds. I'm fortunate enough to have have a dad who lets me whip the Audi Q7 he got last year when I pop over to his house and mow the lawn for him. 500ftlb of diesel even in a 5500lb bubble feels like warp speed compared to the JK.