3.8 is okay.

but admit it.

a 6.1 hemi with a nasty cam and off road x pipe and borla stingers EHMMM!!!!

 

exactly dude... 33's with an auto and STOCK gears?? no wonder its useless on the freeway..

 

The auto does wander a lot. This does give the perception of lackluster power. I have the stock setup with 3.73's. I feel the 4.10's would have been a better choice for the standard gear set, especially for the auto. When I go to bigger tires, I will figure my re-gear as if I started with 4.10.s.

 

The 3.8L Beats the snot out of the 3.0L V6 in my 88 4Runner w. A/T and 4.10s and my 89 4Runner 5 speed.

I for one am a proponent of adequately powered vehicles, it keeps you from tearing up your drivetrain components. Drop a Hemi in there and see what your 4WD converter or ring and pinions look like when you stomp the pedal and the wheels are at a full turn in 4WD and grab some pavement or solid traction at all four corners. zing is all you will hear after the teeth shred off.

 

At 53 year's old ,I have driven lot's of diffrent car's & truck's. some fast , some no so fast. The 3.8L is in the middle of the group & does evreything I need it to do. Have had no problem's with it

 

I like the 3.8. seems to have enough kick when it needs it.


my complaint is that sometimes when I punch the gas, nothing happens for a bit while the computer tries to figure out whether it should let me go or not. I certainly don't think it's the engine, cause I've driven enough underpowered vehicles in my life to know what happens when an engine tries and fails to deliver power, the 3.8 isn't always being told to go when you hit the gas... I don't know why.

 

this is my first jeep so i can't really compare it with anything else, but i do like the engine type. it seems powerful enough for me and the mild trails i wheel on. to be honest though, i would love to have a diesel engine instead...but overall pretty happy with my 3.8.

 

I'm generally pretty happy with the 3.8,the 4 spd auto could use some help though. Its pretty much a PITA.

I had my Dodge Ram serviced today and drove a Dodge Nitro for a couple hours. The Nitro had a 4.0 V6 and 5 spd auto. My JK and the Nitro are similar in size,weight,and shape. The Nitro absolutely blows the JK out of the water as far as driveability goes. The 4.0 in the Nitro does make more power,but IMO the 5spd tranny makes the biggest difference. It really was a pleasure to drive.

I think there would be far less complaints with the 3.8 if it came with a 5 spd auto.

 

Gotta say that I too get annoyed with the seemingly everyday Pissing & Moaning, mostly from owners that for whatever reason just had to have an Auto tranny. Seems more than likely that a good percentage of this disgruntled bunch purchased a JK without taking a test drive, or if they did they didn't give it much thought. It's way to easy to be tempted to buy automobiles based only on looks,style,emotion,advertising,etc.etc. always has been. As for me, I don't know perhaps I just lucky but I really couldn't be happier (well there's always the Mod list). I admit that like many others I was hesitant to buy a Chrysler product but After two years and 19k on the clock I love everything about mine and yes that includes that 3.8 under the hood.

 

My Rubi performs very well, but I am stock size tires (32") six speed and 4.10 gears, all stock. I have added a Warn winch and a Blue Ox base plate to the front so I have increased the weight up front by about 200#. A set of Rancho leveling coils up front eliminated the sag and leveled the rake. But the engine is still more than adequate for the ride. IMO increasing the tire size makes a huge difference to rolling resistance. If you want to play, you gotta pay.......