NMFF

I installed the Prodigy Performance turbo on my 2011 Rubicon and thought I would share my experience with the kit. First I have a 2011 Rubicon unlimited with automatic, 35" tires and 4.10 gears. I live in northern NM which is in the mountains. I travel 90 miles each way to work and the drive takes me from 6800 ft to 8400 ft in elevation. I have been researching for a while to find a way to improve power levels as the stock engine had serious difficulty with the hills at highway speeds. One of my coworkers went through three engines being blown due to the overload caused trying to maintain speeds on the steep hills before he sold his Jeep. There are two steep hills on the commute that will cause the Jeep to loose about 15 mph, dropping down to 60mph and downshift to second gear near redline just to maintain that. So my choices were trade it in for a commuter, go really slow on the hill or find a way to increase power.
I contacted Prodigy and explained my situation, the setup of my rig and what I was looking for. I was assured that this turbo kit was exactly what I needed for my needs and would work without any other mods or the need to re-gear, which was a concern as I know that the supercharger kits recommend re-gearing and I didn't want/nor could afford the extra expense of re-gearing on top of the price of a kit. So I decided to buy the Prodigy Performance turbo kit since it seemed to be the best choice for my application, which was a huge decision since I have a very limited budget and this kit has a pretty big price tag.
Installation was what I expected and took two days. First impressions were that the power increase was amazing. After taking the commute to work I noticed that the power was either all or none. The turbo would not come in till 3000 rpms and at 80mph on the interstate I was only at 2300 rpms. So the Jeep would down shift to 3rd and take off like a rocket, passing 80 mph quickly, shift back to 4th and start to quickly loose speed, then start that process all over again. Needless to say this was very annoying and difficult to drive this way. Also this caused a drop in my MPG from 15-16 on the highway to 9-10 MPG.
I contacted Prodigy and explained the problem. They were very helpful and sent several new tunes to try and correct the problems, however none of the new tunes fixed the problems. The next thing they tried was sending me a new turbine housing, at no charge, to try and fix the problem. Again this did not work, in fact it was a step in the wrong direction. Prodigy suggested returning to the original turbine housing and said they would send a new tune that would correct the issue. The new tune did not fix the problem either and caused computer problems leaving my electronic throttle un-responsive in the middle of a steep hill in rush hour traffic. Obviously a huge problem and very upsetting! Prodigy recommended switching back to the previous tune while they worked on the issue and came up with a solution. I switched to the previous tune and began having problems with this tune as well. It would cut out and loose power so I switched back to the original tune and contacted Prodigy to check on progress. They said they were working on it and would let me know when they have something. They also said that I would need to re-gear to get the turbo to work correctly because it was not designed for my particular situation of the highway speeds and the mountains. Funny but I asked this before buying the kit and was told this is exactly what I need? After almost a month with no news I contacted Prodigy again for an update and was told "There is a problem with that calibration Id with diablosport. We have been told next week it will be fixed." Almost another month and not a single word or update. Guess it can't be fixed?
So, to sum it up. I would definitely not do it over again. The Jeep has become unreliable and economically not practical as a commuter and apparently there is no fix in sight for the computer issues. Due to the mods required to install the kit it will cost even more money to return it to stock, which puts me back to square one with a Jeep that does not have the power needed for my commute and out a lot of money. Needless to say with a nearly $6000 price tag this has been a very disappointing and upsetting experience. This kit may work great for most but for me it certainly didn't. Hope this helps someone who is considering this to make a decision.

jtphoto JK

Thank you for your very honest review. I would think this is the informations others will appreciate before dropping that kind of cash on a mod such as this.

MojaveJK

Shity you spent all that money an got those results hope something comes trough for hou

kh202

That sucks. But if you came this far, I would maybe save up and just regear. In the long run it makes sense. If you just take the turbo off you will probably end up regearing anyways in the future .

AdvJeep

Sorry to hear that! I also have a 2011 rubicon that I have supercharged with the sprintex kit (now innovate) I have been having tuning problems since day one went from over 20mpg on the highway at 55-60mph in the mountains here in western Canada to less then 10mpg same speed and driving style. I have made my opinion know with the forum members and the different companies associated with the kit, the immediate companies have become impossible to deal with and am now looking at going to a cmr tuner in order to get the tune right, before I decide to pull it off and go back to stock until I can afford an LS swap through motech!

I have heard good things about Wes's tunes but I guess it isn't working good for you. Did they try a smaller turbo? Or an electronic boost controller?

T&ERun

This and offroad is why our Jeeps are better off with a roots style blower. Sorry to hear your problems after spending so much money.

kh202

FALSE.... better off with a 6BT

borracho

your profile says you're in Rio Rancho but you say you live in NNM...where exactly are you commuting to? Los Alamos?

And with respect to your post, I'd imagine regearing would help put the RPMs where the ought to be which may help the turbo spool up when it should.. IDK? Good luck either way...hope you find a solution to the issue

demtek9

I have a similar issue with the Sprintex Supercharger where I just pulled the trigger on a $1,300 regear to 5.13s. I could live with where I was based on the Jeep not being my daily driver and i have a short commute anyway. So with 4.10s and the Auto 4speed I kept dropping into 3rd to maintain 75-80 MPH. (thats the speed limit in Colorado)

So to regain overdrive and get better in town driving, I'm going to regear. For me its not really the issue of the supercharger, but the combo of the auto tranny. I don't think I'd touch gears with a 6 speed manual.

When this is done, I'm really hoping that is the end, and I'll have a good combination. My total investment will be about $4,500.00 for the SC and gears.

rays0852

Short of putting a torque monster like a diesel or a LS or Hemi swap....gearing is the best way to keep a Jeep moving forward at hwy speeds. The problem you have is two-fold.

1) you live at altitude. Both forced induction and naturally aspirated motors lose power AND you have significant grades to climb.

2) forced induction needs to build boost to produce more power. This is TYPICALLY not done at lower RPMs without a very small turbine.

I feel a engine swap would be your best option for generating more usable power, but it's the most expensive option.
I know you said you do not have money for both, but a re-gear would have been a Good way to keep your RPMs in the power band of the motor without over stressing it too much. You would have seen a loss of MPG but not like you have now.

I say save your $$$ and do a re-gear now that you have the turbo and use the factory tune you started with that was reliable.

Even in the 2012s once you put 35s or bigger on them, Jeeps just aren't meant to do 80 with a lift and tires. Mine does pretty damn good, but I can't imagine that at 7000 feet it wouldn't struggle.

One day Chrysler may offer a Hemi Rubicon version but then you are talking Dana 60 axles from the factory and a V8....$60k JKU?