Anyone have any ideas how to increase the horsepower in a 2011 jeep wrangler
Looked at jet performance chips and cold air intake but everything I read it's not worth the price
Engine is so slow

Unless you pump in a ton of $ into it you get what you get. I don't think a 3.8 is slow. Although having a 2dr w/4.10's and a 6spd. helps alot. Gears and weight wins every time.

It's a Jeep, so you're basically looking at what you've already got. While there's certainly a lot of 4.0L. v. 3.8L bashing going on here, the difference is typically minimal. Keep in mind, Wranglers were never meant for speed, they were meant for torque and crawling - so there's no bolt on miracle like you'll have with a sports car. Rather, if you're really unhappy with the engine, then it's time to consider an upgrade. With a JK you've got a nicer slew of options, like the HEMI, that become easier to install.

Edit

Kik nailed it on the head and I didn't think of it. Gearing would help the "get-up" feeling, but it's not going to actually increase your overall HP.

Regearing and supercharging are really the only ways to guarantee significant power increases. Regears are about $2000 and I think superchargers are close to $5000. Most people think a regear is plenty. Plus, then you can throw some bigger tires on t

where you trying to speed off so quickly to? I bought a jeep for so many reasons and none of them were to go fast. lol

Sprintbooster to help with throttle lag. Regearing if you have an auto transmission. You're shifting too soon if you have a manual transmission.

That's it for below $2000 or so. Next up is a supercharger for more money.

Trade it in and get a 2012....

i got a superchips, jetchip, throttle body, cai, headers, exhaust

none of this did really anything. it only made it sound nice.

i dont think i picked up any mpgs.

but after all was said and done, the best bang for 1k was hands down regearing.

and its still slow.

my suggestion is to get a new ride for hp needs

Sorry to say but if you wanted more HP you should have waited a year.

I knew the 3.6L was coming out for the 2012 model year in 2010, that's why I waited.

If you want real usable power in a 3.8 get a super charger. You dont need a pentastar to have power. Its not what you buy, its what you build

Gears do not increase power. They simply get the Jeep into its powerband earlier in the RPM range, which inturn makes the Jeep feel as if it has more power.

just a question to all that complain about the 3.8 and lack of power did you not test drive it before yo bought it?

They increase the "usable" horsepower tho. I know it won't increase the max horsepower but at 70mph if I'm turning 2,000 rpm then I regear and am now at 3,000 rpm at 70 mph I'm making a significant amount more power than before. So although it might not increase my 202hp I make at max it'll put me in a more powerful driving rpm range. So at the same speed I'll have a more powerful jeep. That's why people regear. It doesn't put the power down earlier, it just raises the rpm at that speed to produce more power

Purchase Chevy Corevette with T-Tops!

Your current convertible is not designed to be fast - get in, slow down and enjoy the ride!

Oh, I understand. Remember, I come from a street/strip background. Just wanted to make the OP aware that he will not get increased horsepower by installing lower gears. Just more usable pre-existing horsepower. It's all about mechanical advantage.

Oh yeah that's true. In street/strip that would be a bad idea.

Although I really don't think it is beneficial or productive to just say "get a 2012", you have a 2011 which is at max a year old and probably low miles. If you were considering regearing at say $2200, you should just see how much it would cost to upgrade to a 2012 if it's the same price, that might be something to at least consoder. For $7k tho you could supercharge and regear and thatd be faster and more powerful than any 2012. It's all up to you and how deep your pockets are

Regearing. The 3.8 can produce at wheel hp at around 10 to 15hp less then the 3.6 in the 2012 but it isn't gear right to hit the optimum hp range. I can say for 100% fact that since I went to 4:88 gears my little 3.8 isn't lacking at all. I had my gears done for $1500.00 and went ahead and threw in a E-Locker in the front for another $900

You can always just drive it like a Jeep, slow and steady. Then when your on the trails, put it in low gear and go. Thats whats the wranglers are best at, not 80 mph tire smoking ticket getting power...

Admittedly, I have a 2012, but almost the exact same thing happens when my auto downshifts from 5th to 4th gear on a hill (and sometimes I don't even notice it's doing it) and all without regearing.

Actually, it goes from about 2,100 to about 2,550 or so (with my 3.73), which, so far works great. And if I'm really going up a bad grade into a headwind, I can still go 60 mph at 3,000 rpm in 3rd gear, which is enough for me under such circumstances (or at 65 mph, I would be hitting about 3,250 pms in 3rd).

Please send me some of whatever your smoking
Gear changes do not add HP
You still going to have 202hp no matter what gear you put in

Say what now? No, he has 202 hp at peak--just before redline. At the crank. Dynos show that's about 140 hp at peak at the wheels.

However, hp is a curve that rises as RPMs rise, all the way until peak. So if I am spinning 3k RPMs at 70 mph, I will be putting more hp at the wheels than if I was spinning 2k RPMs at 70 mph. Either way it'll be under 140 hp, but it's just a question of how much.

So while gearing does not actually add hp to the engine, it in fact does increase the effective hp at the wheels for a given speed. That's what's being said as to the 3.8.

As to the 3.6, look at 3.8 and 3.6 dynos side-by-side. If you move the hp curve for the 3.8 into lower speeds by regearing, you can see that the 3.8 can actually get within striking distance of the 3.6 for hp until you hit about 4k RPMs, at which point the 3.6 takes off like a rocket and the 3.8 is pretty much out of steam. Of course, nobody drives at 4k RPMs, so . . . .

You didn't understand what I meant. I never said it increased engine hp. I said by regearing you are getting your RPMs higher to were you are at a more optimal hp range. The higher the rpms at a given speed will be at a better hp range


If you running 3.73 gears (stock 32 tires) at 70 mph in o/d (Auto) you are at a range in the engine hp curve at 1892 rpms and ~55hp (actually dyno at wheel numbers)

Now if you regear

At 4.88 gears with the exact same setup at 70mph you are at a range in the engine hp curve at 2476 rpms and ~75hp

The Engines overall hp does not change but since you regear you are running at the engines more optimal levels so at 70mph a regearing will give you 20 more hp at that speed

This is true but if you went to large enough tires your 5th gear would begin to become useless. You have 35 DT's right? I bet 38" MTR's could probably do this to you. It all depends on his plans.

The other place regearing helps is 1st gear. Whether you are in 4low or not, regearing will take a great amount of wear off your clutch or torque converter.

So yes you are right, you can just downshift but unfortunately not in 1st gear

You do gain significant hp by regearing. Not because regear makes the engine more powerful because it doesn't. You gain hp because regearing makes you run at a higher rpm and at a higher rpm the engine produce higher hp

202hp is only at 5000rpm which you will rarely ever hit. But by regearing it gets you close up the steep hp curve

I hear lots of mod stickers make u go faster. Take for example this sticker, it had to add at least 5 hp.

I completely agree jkjeeper (except I have 65-lb ProComp 35s; I'm going back to my favorite--the Cooper STTs--then they wear out). If I went to 38s or even 37s, I probably would regear. Sadly though, I might not if I had 4.10s (that would put me roughly where I am now with 3.73s and the 35s--in terms of practical gearing--not counting tire weight).

I think 1st gear is where the main difference is for me (because you usually can't downshift from 1st). But for me though so far, the 3.73s with the 3.6L and 35s are fine in 1st gear and hitting about 2,100 rpm at 70 mph is fine. On a level highway, my engine just purrs along without working much (and probably getting better gas mileage than witht he same set-up and 4.88s). If I (or it or the trans) want to go to 2,550 rpm going uphill, that's an instant automatic option. I'm probably taking it to colorado for a few weeks in August. I'll let you know if I change my mind then.

Does anyone have a 3.8L or 3.6L HP-curve graph thingy?

I'm curious how the curve looks.

The 3.6L specs say that it tops out at 285-hp at 6,400 rpm. I'm curious what it's doing at various 500-rpm intervals.

x2

Heres is one for the 3.8 at the wheel. This isn't the factory engine hp but a dyno at wheel. Not sure if this was a JK or JKU dyno. Use to know that lol, think it is a JKU

Blue line is stock. Red was with tuning




Here is the rpm's for each gear and tire size

Here is a 3.8 and 3.6 factory engine specs. these numbers are at crank not wheel