mrcabinet

Ever since I put 35" BFG's on my '08 4 door w/ automatic and 3.73 gears, I've been disapointed with the performance of the little V6. The constant shifting in and out of overdrive on the freeway was driving me nuts! Well, the slot machines were pretty good to me the other night, so I went to 4Wheel parts and picked up a Max Energy programmer and an Airaid cold air intake. Here's my very unscientific report of the mod.s.

I decided to run the programmer first. The instructions were clear and easy to follow. The only problem was that the buttons were off 90 degrees, so to hit "Y" or "N", I actually had to press the up and down arrows. A little confusing, but I got through it. The programming did take longer than expected, but was done without any hiccups. The first thing I noticed was a much crisper throttle response off the line. I increased the shift firmness by 25%, which got rid of the muddiness in the shifts. Also, the lag in the 20 to 30 mph range at half throttle was substantially reduced. On the freeway, the up and down shifting was reduced as well, and the speedometer actually seemed to be accurate. Overall I was favorably impressed, but didn't get that "Holy Crap!" response I was hoping for. Because of the messed up buttons, I set everything back to stock and went to the store to get a replacement ordered.

Next was the Airaid. I didn't hit their quoted 30 minute install time, but was pretty close. I'd highly recommend unbolting the power steering resovoir to get the front bracket nut on. The most noticeable change was the growl coming from under the hood. That was completely unexpected, but pretty cool nonetheless. Performance wise, the results were just about the same as the programmer - better throttle response, reduced lag and shifting. Again, no "Holy Crap!" experience.

I received the new programmer yesterday and installed it in the afternoon. O.K., now I can say it - Holy Crap! The combo of the cold air intake and the programmer is what this little buggy needed. Off the line, it is now better than when it had the stock tires. Throttle response is immediate and lag is virtually eliminated. Acceleration is vastly improved. I no longer feel like I need a 1/4 mile gap in traffic to pull out safely. I can punch it on the freeway and it will actually jump now! The annoying up and down shifting has all but dissapeared.

All in all, I'd say that either individual mod. is a definite improvement, but the combo is a huge difference. A new cat back exhaust is next on my list, but that will have to wait until the tables are good to me again.

flip2spin23

lol

tx-skydiver

I have had a CAI for most of the Jeep's life and didn't notice much. Then I got the Jet Stage II (only thing available at time) adn still didn't notice much.

I'm gun-shy to try anything else. Maybe if someone would let me borrow theirs for a try-out. Does 4wheel parts do that where they can program you for so many hours?

Oh - Did it help gas mileage?

LinkSync

Gas milage?

LOL

Sure he went faster quicker and got better milage ....

Ummm

My bet is he isn't driving like an old lady.

magical thinking is a wonderfull thing tho.
to believe in the possabilities is to have hope.
to have hope is priceless.

I hope the programmer is in fact magical.

I have both a CAI and a flow thru muffler.
It does growl nicely.
With just the CAI I noticed an improvement in low end response.
Adding the muffler LOST that and more but improved my milage on the freeway.

None of that means a thing when in 4WL.
Where a JK is a JK and the reason I bought it.

MJS_Jeep_888

By all means, keep making unfounded negative judgments about a product that you haven't used personally. I have a CAI and Hypertech, and there's a noticeable improvement from both. Whether you choose to believe it or not doesn't change the fact that my JK performs better with them than without.

You Jeep

I have the Hypertech, Banks CatBack and AEM Intake. I have the programmer set to Regular gas, I do not have the option to change shift firmness? Do you have to have the programmer set to Premium to get this? Or do I need to update my programmer?
Anyone Know?

MJS_Jeep_888

I did a double-take when I read that, too. I think he must just be observing that shift firmness is improved over stock, because it's not an option when you're programming. I've noticed much crisper shifts after programming than stock, too - haven't you?

You Jeep

No I really have not! Mine still slips and bogs down when driving slow, I think it goes into overdrive at abot 30mph?

MJS_Jeep_888

Hmm... that's interesting. You may want to try updating your programmer through their online utility... like I said, I've noticed crisper shifts, and it also seems like the engine is willing to rev higher before forcing an upshift.

You Jeep

OK, I will try setting it back to stock and update. Because I am really not that impressed with the results so far. Thanks.