New member here. 2010 JK 6 speed manual with 3.21 gears. It is strictly a local daily driver. 1.5" RK springs (about 2.5" lift) with 33x12.50 Duratrac's, as well as some other suspension pieces. I just received a Superchips Flashpaq and aFe exhaust http://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Engine-Perfo...pn=AFE49-46208. I am just looking to get a bit better throttle response and maybe some hp and mpg increase. Currently getting in the mid 16's local and 17+ on the small amount of highway driving I do. I understand not to expect miracles. For my usage, didn't want to spend $1500 - $2000 (parts+install) on gears. I was thinking about this CAI http://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Engine-Perfo...pn=AFE51-76203. On the forums I am on, most basically HATE CAI's on the JK. Since I don't off road, I am not concerned about water, dust, etc. The general consensus is that they are a waste of money, can damage the engine over time and one should remain stock when it comes to the air box. Most vendors as well as aFe think otherwise but I hope it is not just because they stand to profit off of them. Finally, if this gets installed, is there any benefit to this throttle body spacer http://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Engine-Perfo...pn=AFE46-35002? Can you folks please give me your perspective on the CAI and spacer? Thanks ahead of time.
Last edited by Dr. Evil; 12-03-2014 at 08:34 AM.
I'll get my shot in before the experts arrive.
With 3.21s, your plan should be weight. You'll suffer from piggy gears if you add too much weight to this Jeep. The first of these mods your talking about should be the intake. AFE's is good. you'll get better sound and throttle response.
People who say they do nothing are wrong. For the 300 bucks, your Jeep will sound better, and feel better. The exhaust I care for less. If you only buy one, do the intake.
Welcome New Guy!
I like a throttle body spacer and intake also. Exhaust is more of a personal choice. Remember chrysler spent millions developing the JK's exhaust with the pentastar. I doubt these aftermarket companies have improved it.
If you gonna do an exhaust, make sure its one that barks when you floor it, but can be quiet also. I've been looking for one that works like the corvette dual mode, but have not found it.
X2 on Pznivy's focus on WEIGHT.
If you don't want to gear, you should stick with keeping the weight down. These air flow mods will make your stock jeep nicer to drive, but will not save you from the performance decrease you should expect if you do steel bumpers, flares, etc.
If you were asking me about what sort of overall plan you should try for and NOT change those 3.21s, Id say your pretty much there. 33s. Stock bumpers, no winch. A stock jeep looks beautiful, and without the extra weight, yours will perform better than stock with the air flow pieces your talking about.
Intake first is the rule, if you can, drive it like that for a week. THEN do the exhaust. I like listening to the engine better than listening to the exhaust. Keep the stock exhaust on and do the intake and you will see what I mean. Then do the exhaust after, and keep the option in your pocket to go back to stock if you feel like it.
Welcome Dr. Evil.
X3 on WEIGHT. Cutting weight is like adding horsepower. I love the mods on my jeep but if I could shave several hundred pounds off my truck it would be great (Ross you should start a weight saving thread. Let's have a JL weight loss contest!!). Save the cost of exhaust. Unless you can open up breathing from the heads back there aren't big gains to be had. I have an AFE CAI on my 3.6 pentastar. I didn't install it for HP or throttle response. I did it for sound.
The motor can only burn what it breathes. Like all of us you're at part throttle most of the time. In our case the tune will determine air/fuel and the TB will meter air flow which together create a charge for the cylinders and dictate horsepower. It's the same air flow wither you have a CAI or TB spacer or not. There's no getting around the throttle plate (if you do, then there's no getting around intake/exhaust valve size, which if you do there's no getting around bore & stroke, and so on and you can see where we're headed until there's no getting out of the doghouse when our wives figure out what we've spent).
Response can be improved with the CAI and TB spacer if that's the goal. The flashpaq program, if it has an aggressive timing table and air/fuel table, coupled with 93 octane fuel can certainly make a change. It can make a different mix of fuel for a given volume of air and adjust timing to ignite it a more efficient time.
I vote "NO" on the throttle body spacer. I have not been able to find any evidence that they do anything at all for modern port-injected or direct-injected engines. The original theory behind throttle body spacers was to give more distance/time and/or create turbulence for the air/fuel mixture from the carburetter to mix more thoroughly before entering the cylinders. From what I've read online, this actually did improve performance on older carburetted engines with the carb/throttle body mounted directly on top of the engine with a small intake manifold.
The Pentastar has its throttle body mounted on a large intake plenum, then then has an intake runner going to each cylinder's intake port. The fuel injectors are in the lower intake manifold, inside each individual runner, very close to the intake ports. A throttle body spacer will have no impact on how the fuel mixes with the air, and will have very little impact on the volume of the intake plenum. The intake plenum itself is likely already acoustically tuned to enhance airflow at certain rpm ranges. A spacer could actually make things worse at those rpm ranges.
Some more reading material about throttle body spacers:
http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/bl...-body-spacers/
I've used a tuner (Diablosport) on a stock jeep, running the 93 octane performance tune. It definitely improved low/mid-rpm throttle response. I think a tuner is worthwhile especially if you also plan to change tire size and can take advantage of its speedometer calibration features.
I have not used a CAI, but the general consensus seems to be that the sound is the most significant change. If the sound makes you happy, and you don't splash through deep water, then go for it, but don't expect big performance gains.
I think all of these options (tuner, CAI, exhaust) more subtly enhance throttle response rather than significantly improving full throttle acceleration. If you like the noises they make, then the sounds combined with improved throttle response will overall make driving more enjoyable. Just don't try lining up against a mustang thinking you'll win
Originally Posted by gbaumann
^^^ This guy gets it.
Other forums are about heavy armor and huge pointless tires. At JeepLab, The attitude is. KEEP IT FAST!
Armor is pointless!
Avoid Steel anywhere you can!
Our jeeps are cars! A fast car beats a slow car every day of the week!
We don't want the trucks to be pigs and then say "hey its a jeep, performance cannot be good" That's crap! BB is a rocket. Sweet pea is a rocket. Jesse's Girl is a rocket. All putting down 0-60s as fast as a Supra Turbo. (supra did 5.5 in the nineties)
Have that AND climb anything? Thats the goal.
Rant over. (I hate heavy jeeps. can you tell?)
Thanks for the welcome. I don't have the Pentastar engine since my JK is a 2010. Most folks that comment base their opinions on the 2012 and up engines. I believe it is different for my 3.8. The exhaust I linked in my OP has a nice sound but not too loud, which is one of the reasons I bought it.
I don't have stock bumpers. I have front and rear Or-Fab bumpers with no winch. I have the tuner and am picking up the exhaust tomorrow. I haven't decided on the CAI yet which is why I started this thread. Your post is interesting since most people have recommended if it was between the exhaust or CAI, they would do the exhaust (along with the tuner). I am not that picky that I care about where I hear the sound from, whether it is the engine or exhaust. The exhaust has a nice sound, could provide a better feel and is lighter than stock which based on your comments is definitely a plus. Now I just need to decide if I should go for the CAI. I don't see a down side to it even if there isn't a huge performance plus. I'll take anything I can get I guess.
Say that on Wrangler Forum and prepare to get SLAMMED!
Actually, $252.99.
edit: just purchased it.
Last edited by Dr. Evil; 12-03-2014 at 09:17 PM.
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