Unless you were lost in space housed in a cryogenically frozen container you most likely have heard about the 392 Wrangler concept that Jeep unveiled. As I sat around and pondered the idea of such a large displacement motor in the Wrangler I started to wonder what would make me buy it.
My current JL is very nice.
I picked up the JL in January 2018. My home state didn’t even have on the lot yet and I had to drive South to Virginia to get one. My standard Firecracker Red 4 door Rubicon with a manual transmission.
Since that time there have been quite a few upgrades.
- Revolution Gear and Axle 4.88 Ring and Pinion (Gear Swap – From Turtle to Faster Turtle)
- TeraFlex ST3 suspension with Falcon 3.3 shocks and then an upgrade to their 8 arms Alpine setup with IR bushings. (One Year With The TeraFlex ST3 Lift)
- Keeper Winch and Warn front bumper. (Warn Elite Series Stubby Bumper for the JL Wrangler)
- More tire and wheels than one vehicle should have. The current set of BF Goodrich tires and TeraFlex Nomad wheels are still being reviewed. (BFGoodrich KM3 Mud-Terrain On-Road Review)
- Several tire carriers from EVO Manufacturing, MOPAR, Warn, and the current one from Smittybilt. (EVO MFG JL Tire Carrier)
What’s on the horizon?
Well, currently we have the new Endurosport bumper from Dynatrac headed our way to review. The complete Undercloak skid plate system from Metalcloak and getting more performance out of our stock JL using our HPTuners software and MPVI2. We possibly have some new axles on the way and maybe a power adder!
Which brings me back to the original thought.
What would make me upgrade to the V8 if and when it becomes available? The first thing will be cost. If the v8 adds a big jump in price to the Wrangler it won’t be worth upgrading from the current version. I could see a 1-2k jump in premium but anything more than that and I think Jeep will miss the mark.
I would also be more interested in trading for the V8 if it is available in lower trim levels. A Sport S with a V8 could be very interesting. Especially if you could get it with a Dana 44 upgrade but not the Rubicon lockers etc. That would be an amazing vehicle to begin a new build with.
Final thoughts on the V8 Wrangler.
I don’t believe we need the 6.4 Hemi. A long stroke 5.7 with plenty of torque and decent horsepower is actually more preferable.
My wife and I had a Hemi Challenger for a short while. It had the 5.7 and the 8-speed. In that car, we could get 30+ MPG on the highway and it had plenty of go under the loud pedal to get into serious trouble.
A Wrangler would never be that efficient due to its box-like aero, but it would be efficient enough to compete with the V6 fuel mileage.
