3.6 Engine - Now I understand the power issue

[Mr Miami]

I have the 3.6 in both my '16 JKU and '24 JTR and overall never felt underpowered. However, other than towing my boat (total 6,000 lbs. on trailer) for two trips of about 4 miles each way with the JTR, I have never really put either to the test in anything approaching a need for more power than what the 3.6 offers.

But here I sit in Boise Idaho after having rented a '24 Grand Cherokee in Denver about six days ago. I'm doing a one-way rental to Spokane WA since the drop-off charge was minimal as opposed to returning it to Denver. We have done NE, SD, MT, WY and ID so far to see some stuff I had never seen (Mt. Rushmore, Old Faithful, etc.).

So back to the Grand Cherokee. I must admit the 3.6 is considerably underpowered compared to other vehicles that were often passing me. Granted, cruising in Montana or across Idaho at 90MPH up and down some serious hills takes a lot of power. But I must admit, others appeared to be doing it much easier than I was. There are a lot of Fords out here and some of them were easily blowing by me. I have no idea what they have under the hood but even the Explorers seemed to do the high speed cruising far easier than I did.

I really would have liked to have the 3.0 Hurricane twin turbo. Maybe they can find a way to squeeze it into the Gladiator but now I really understand how the 5.7 would be a better choice for the Gladiator than the 3.6.

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[Gvsukids]

Oh boy...

 

[smlobx]

Yep!
If you drive on mostly flat terrain with minimal cargo the 3.6 is fine.
Start loading the truck up and navigating some serious hills etc. and the need for more power becomes pretty evident.

 

[ChrisNLA]

I would love to have more HP in the Gladiator.

I do not want the Hurricane engine to get there though, unless I plan to get rid of it when the drive train warranty runs out. Seems needlessly complex when compared to something like the GM 2.7L used in their mid and fullsize trucks that is single turbo and doesn't have an intercooler integrated into the package.

At least the 3.6L has very good odds of servicing at a low cost when kept beyond the warranty, even if my occasional heavy towing leaves a bit to be desired.

 

[Rahkmalla]

spent quite a lot of time in the more mountainous areas of the Appalachians (it's our go-to affordable vacation area, both the poconos and the catskills). Even pushing my load range E heavy 35s with steel wheels on 4.10s through the manual transmission, i'd never felt short of power.

But... I've also never towed with this truck, and with as little as it has on the low end it's easy to imagine pulling a load would be immensely noticeable.

 

[JTdiRtyD]

I felt the same way when I bought my Tacoma. I was coming from BMW X5 and the Tacoma felt like hot garbage power-wise (and honestly was. The 3.6 Gladi is night and day better). When on the forums I noticed the folks who thought the Taco was just fine had never really owned anything else, but the folks who agreed that power was lacking and drivability was sub-par had all at some point owned something that was adequately powered.

Then Toyota released the 4th gen Tacoma with a turbo'd 4cyl that makes great power and torque and everyone was pissing and moaning that it was a turbo 4 and couldn't possibly be a good engine or work in a truck. "It's a 4cyl! I'll take my V6 power!" "A turbo is too complicated!" "It's a turbo, it's going to fail!"

 

[Coltron_Actual]

If I turn on the A/C in my 2006 LJ on the freeway, the vehicle will literally slow down. The pentastruggle is a rocket ship in comparison

All of the Fords that passed you likely had some flavor of ecoboom.

 

[Labswine]

I tow a 27', 5,100 lb (with all we want or need) travel trailer with my Overland (ordered 5/19, delivered 7/19) and find it adequate for towing power. Yeah, it does remind me that it's a V6 when I hit a grade but, I just drop a gear or two (7th to 5th, 3K RPMS or 6th around 2,500 RPMs) to get back to 65 MPH then it's back to 7th around 2,100 RPMs. Almost never see 8th unless I'm going downhill with a tailwind

I also have a 2019 GC Ltd. with the V6 (both vehicles were built the same time frame, build date on the door tag says 6/19) and I find it's pretty peppy. The accelerator is more sensitive than in my Overland in that you tap it and it wants to fly. But then again, we're not running Daytona or the Indy 500 with them so, they get us where we need to go more than adequately.

 

[Labswine]

All of the Fords that passed you likely had some flavor of ecoboom.

"ecoboom"

 

[biodiesel]

I bought the Gladiator because it had the 3.0L EcoDiesel, but I think the 3.6L Pentastar is a good fit for the Gladiator. Jeep somewhat complicated things by maintaining a small engine bay (which limits bigger engines options) but building a very heavy midsize truck. My 2023 Gladiator Rubicon EcoDiesel weighs as much as my 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. I love the Gladiator, but in some ways, I think Jeep should have built a Comanche style truck so that a larger engine could have been used. Even the EcoDiesel lacks cooling because of how small and cramped the engine bay is.

 

[GladiatorGuru]

I bought the Gladiator because it had the 3.0L EcoDiesel, but I think the 3.6L Pentastar is a good fit for the Gladiator. Jeep somewhat complicated things by maintaining a small engine bay (which limits bigger engines options) but building a very heavy midsize truck. My 2023 Gladiator Rubicon EcoDiesel weighs as much as my 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. I love the Gladiator, but in some ways, I think Jeep should have built a Comanche style truck so that a larger engine could have been used. Even the EcoDiesel lacks cooling because of how small and cramped the engine bay is.

3.0L EcoDiesel Engine Weight

• The 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 engine, manufactured by VM Motori, weighs about 505 lbs (229 kg) as a standalone engine block and components
  
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• This engine uses a compacted graphite iron block for strength, which adds to its weight compared to typical aluminum blocks used in gas engines
  
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3.6L Pentastar Gasoline V6 Engine Weight (Approximate)

• While exact official published weights for the 3.6L Pentastar engine specific to the Gladiator are less readily available, similar Pentastar engines typically weigh around 430-450 lbs (195-205 kg).
• The 3.6L Pentastar V6 uses aluminum block and heads, which contributes to its lighter weight relative to diesel engines
  
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[Lost1wing]

I bought the Gladiator because it had the 3.0L EcoDiesel, but I think the 3.6L Pentastar is a good fit for the Gladiator. Jeep somewhat complicated things by maintaining a small engine bay (which limits bigger engines options) but building a very heavy midsize truck. My 2023 Gladiator Rubicon EcoDiesel weighs as much as my 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. I love the Gladiator, but in some ways, I think Jeep should have built a Comanche style truck so that a larger engine could have been used. Even the EcoDiesel lacks cooling because of how small and cramped the engine bay is.

I would like to see a diesel that doesn't incorporate a CP4 fuel pump placed under the hood of a Gladiator.

 

[Teqsand]

If you think the 3.6 has enough power, you've never driven the 3.0 diesel...

 

[Chaos Theory]

I agree. It's the trade-off for a 'presumably more reliable' non-turbo engine.

 

[Stan H]

I have the 3.6 in both my '16 JKU and '24 JTR and overall never felt underpowered. However, other than towing my boat (total 6,000 lbs. on trailer) for two trips of about 4 miles each way with the JTR, I have never really put either to the test in anything approaching a need for more power than what the 3.6 offers.

But here I sit in Boise Idaho after having rented a '24 Grand Cherokee in Denver about six days ago. I'm doing a one-way rental to Spokane WA since the drop-off charge was minimal as opposed to returning it to Denver. We have done NE, SD, MT, WY and ID so far to see some stuff I had never seen (Mt. Rushmore, Old Faithful, etc.).

So back to the Grand Cherokee. I must admit the 3.6 is considerably underpowered compared to other vehicles that were often passing me. Granted, cruising in Montana or across Idaho at 90MPH up and down some serious hills takes a lot of power. But I must admit, others appeared to be doing it much easier than I was. There are a lot of Fords out here and some of them were easily blowing by me. I have no idea what they have under the hood but even the Explorers seemed to do the high speed cruising far easier than I did.

I really would have liked to have the 3.0 Hurricane twin turbo. Maybe they can find a way to squeeze it into the Gladiator but now I really understand how the 5.7 would be a better choice for the Gladiator than the 3.6.

90mph how fast does one need to go to feel as if one has Ample power .
Drive 65 stay alive !!

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