One thing I'm discovering about the Wrangler is that there is a definite "mod bug" that comes with it...the vehicle lends itself to tinkering and there's a very active vendor community ready to sell you all sorts of mods and gadgets to personalize your Jeep.
After going back and forth on this for a few weeks now, I went ahead and ordered an AEM Brute Force cold air intake for the 3.8 liter V-6 in the JK. The CAI looks like a pretty simple install, even for someone like me who's more comfortable tinkering with wires or software than with nuts and bolts and greasy stuff. :)
The idea is that the engine gets better airflow and also pulls in colder, denser air which boosts torque and horsepower. They claim 13 extra horsepower @ 5,000 rpm and 15 ft/lbs at 4,5000 rpm. I'm not one of those guys who gripes about the Wrangler's engine being underpowered, but on the other hand a few extra horses won't hurt anything either.
Anyhoo, I ordered it from Quadratec today. It's $249 + s/h, but back in December they were "selling" up to 2 $100 gift certificates for $80. I was either going to cash those in on this AEM intake or a safari/bikini top, and the CAI won out. The tops are just starting to come out now and they don't have a duster/tonneau cover yet, so I'm still waiting on that one. The end result is that with the 2 certificates I got the cold air intake for $40 off, which makes me pretty happy. :)
I need to fill up the gas tank tomorrow and reset the MPG meter for this tank so that I can get some recent fuel economy numbers before I do the upgrade. My long term average over the past few thousand miles has been around 19-20mpg, most of that in the crappy stop-n-go congested traffic around here. I'll be interested to see if the intake bumps that up a little bit, as some people have been claiming.
You can get the AEM intake from JC Whitney for around $237 with FREE shipping with this link.
4 Wheel Drive Hardware also carries it for a few $ more, but they have a low price guarantee, so compare it with shipping costs and see how that works out.
posted on 15-Mar-2007 |
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