I'm new to the Forum and a new JK owner looking to coax a little more power and efficiency out of my '10 Sahara Unlimited. Its my DD and I put it on the interstate between Louisville and Frankfort (100 miles round trip) a couple times a week but mainly drive it around town. It also has some light towing duty (couple waverunners and a small utility trailer) and a little wheeling in it's future. It took a year to convince my wife to make the move from Cherokee ('04) to Wrangler so the serious mods and offroad adventure will have to grow with time.

For now, I would like something that increases the power and mpg while not being so loud that I can't hear myself think in the cab. I'm looking at the following mods and am curious if anyone has gone with a similar setup. I ran something comparable (K&N cool air, Dynamax Super Turbo but no chip) in my old '01 Chevy Z71 and loved it because it bumped the power, increased the mpg a bit, offered a nice rumble at idle and was only loud when I really got on it.

- K&N 63 Series Air Charger Intake
- Gibson Cat Back Exhaust (dual out)
- Superchips Module

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I would go with the superchips for sure. As far as intake there are some oilless ones out there that you might want to consider. I have read that oilless is the new way to go.

I would take a good look at the exhaust. I would worry you might actually loose some power by going with a dual exhaust. There is a whole tread on here somewhere about that same problem. I will see if I can find it.

 

Flashpaq, and then start saving for gears.

Auto's are under-geared straight from the factory, so that will be the single biggest performance improvement you can do...

 

This is what i did.
1) I took out the back seat. Of course this depends on if you actually need it or not.
2) Lose that mammoth of a muffler and put on a 29 inch Cherry Bomb Glasspack.
3) Cold Air Intake-you can buy one or take a Dremil to your stock box and buy a cone filter from AutoZone.(much cheaper)

Less weight and breathing easier breathing i'm assuming adds at least 10hp to the back wheels.

 

I have heard re-gearing will allow you to feel more power than intake, exhaust, etc.... I don't know from personal experience but I have been looking around for ways to increase power too, especially since I put a lift and 35" tires.

 

Thanks for the input. I had not really considered regearing in the short run but that seems to be high on the list in many of the threads I've read. I definitely see how that would bring more life on the low end but what about the impact on gas mileage at higher speeds. I get that this is like asking for my cake and wanting to eat too. I left the stock 3.73 in my truck (same as a Sahara w/the tow pkg, right?)and took what I could get out of the intake and exhaust upgrades.

 

I just checked out the "Q&A for Newbies" thread and found a great chart showing RPMs at 70mph with various gear settings. Very helpful.

 

Go with the Superchips Flashpaq. This makes a considerable difference in overall driveability, get up and go, acceleration, etc...well, it did for me, both stock and lifted.

The exhuast and CAI are nice, meaning the sound makes me feel like I have more power. The AEM Brute Force intake does not require oil.

...wait to re-gear once you lift it and get 35's or 37's

This is what I'm running:

Auto U
Yukon 5.13
Superchips
AEM CAI
MBRP Exhaust

I'm quite happy with my entire set up, although I'm sure it's not all necessary or completely beneficial. It sounds great, and I can pass people going up mountain passes now while holding 75 mph....due to the gears.

 

We have the Airraid intake, Rusty's(Cherry Bomb) exhaust, Flashpaq, and 5.38 gears. The single best improvement was the gearing change. I give up some mpg at freeway speeds, but on local rural roads it's awesome. When we get bigger tires, the mpg may improve on the Interstate.

 

If you read the forum for long, you'll find this pattern of recommendations in order of cost effectiveness,

1. Superchips (especially if you have an automatic)
2. Regear
3. RIPP Supercharger
4. Hemi

In general, the forum's opinions on CIA is that they suck in water with little other benefit, throttle body spacers are a waste of money, and exhaust appears to be mostly a matter of preference for the sound.

Keep your eye in the RIPP headers. They look promising.