3.6 Engine - Now I understand the power issue

[JTdiRtyD]

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

80mph is the posted speed limit across I90 through many states. Most traffic is doing at least 85. Big rigs are really the only thing doing 70 or under.

I've travelled that highway plenty, if you're not doing at least 80 you're getting everyone damn near rear ending you because they aren't expecting anything smaller than a buss going slower.

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[professorkx]

I find these posts on the underpowered 3.6 comical, especially when someone posts that a Gladiator is only good for flat land on the highway…

The use case for my Gladiator is not the same as the use case for my Corvette…they serve different purposes. While the Corvette puts a big smile on my face in the curves and accelerating from a stop, it’s not going work for rock crawling, just as neither will work on single track trails, which is why I also own motorcycles.

If I were as unhappy with the 3.6 as some folks seem to be, or I routinely towed a trailer, my Gladiator would be in the shop getting a V8…the lack of power can be solved with money, but it still won’t be a rig that will be great at everything, as there is no such rig IMHO…

 

[Stan H]

80mph is the posted speed limit across I90 through many states. Most traffic is doing at least 85. Big rigs are really the only thing doing 70 or under.

I've travelled that highway plenty, if you're not doing at least 80 you're getting everyone damn near rear ending you because they aren't expecting anything smaller than a buss going slower.

Insanity

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Insanity

What do you mean?! Don't you have that crazy beltway traffic out there? I've heard stories...

 

[Stan H]

What do you mean?! Don't you have that crazy beltway traffic out there? I've heard stories...

Nope 70 is max in WV and thats only on 2 highways . 77& 79 . Rest of the state is 65 and 55 and under.. hardly a stretch ling enough and straight enough to get up to 90mph and slow back down before some humongous curve

 

[legacy_etu]

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.

Agree. I recently test drove an Explorer with the base 2.3L. It was a nice powerband and had enough power and torque that it actually was fun to drive and push a bit. The chassis would even rotate a bit on throttle. The 3.0L engine must be even more fun.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Agree. I recently test drove an Explorer with the base 2.3L. It was a nice powerband and had enough power and torque that it actually was fun to drive and push a bit. The chassis would even rotate a bit on throttle. The 3.0L engine must be even more fun.

1/4 mile in the 13s with the 3.0L Explorer. They move.

 

[jebiruph]

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.

We just drove my wife's 3.6 powered 2024 Grand Cherokee L from Des Moines to Seattle in August. We covered the same territory as you and did not have any performance issues with the 3.6.

 

[ericw.]

My other car is a 600 AWHP Audi S7 with a twin turbo v8, big turbo swapped and tuned.

Once you have a car with some power, you really appreciate having the ability to assert yourself around bad drivers, or just merging and getting around traffic effortlessly.

This car drives well above the speed limit with better manners than most do at 55mph. Can definitely go from 0 to jail real quick if you're not mature with it.

Before I had a baby and stopped racing, I did a 2.9 0-60 and a low 11 second 1/4 mile.

(This is considered a mild build for the Audi S7 platform.)

 

[Mr Miami]

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

Remember, I was driving in states where the speed limits are 80mph or so and realistically about 90mph when there are very few vehicles on the road and you can see for 10 or more miles in any direction. Plus, I was not suggesting that I would drive anywhere close to that in my JTR. I was referring to driving a Grand Cherokee with that engine, and comparing it to other vehicles under the same conditions, especially at altitude of 5,000 ft. or much more. As Coltron mentioned, the Fords probably had some flavor of "ecoboom" under the hood (that was funny).

 

[jmr]

I wish Jeep would use the same tune as the RAM 1500 and bump the power to 305HP for the 3.6.
They could offer a DirectConnection Stage 1 tuning kit for the 3.6.

 

[Stan H]

1/4 mile in the 13s with the 3.0L. They move.

Not 6.2seconds totally disillusioned and depressed not to mention disturbing

 

[Gvsukids]

We just drove my wife's 3.6 powered 2024 Grand Cherokee L from Des Moines to Seattle in August. We covered the same territory as you and did not have any performance issues with the 3.6.

Different aerodynamics, different gearing, different horsepower curve...

 

[montechie]

I live in MT and don't feel a lack of power with my JTR if I don't care about lighting money on fire in MPGs trying to pull a pass at 80. I have to have serious wind and be up on my payload to feel the lack thanks to the low gearing and transmission. That's maintaining speed, accelerating vs a 2.7 Ecoboost or bigger I'd lose everytime with our elevation. My house sits at 4900' in the bottom of a valley, a bit more than Florida.

Those F150s aren't that heavy for a full-size and have turbos which dominate at elevation. Even a 2.7 would probably do better in our passes than a 5.7 with the lower oxygen. I really like the 5.0 Coyote or Hemi feel, but it's hard to find anyone here who tows with a F-150 that hasn't embraced the 3.5 Eco over the 5.0. If you are a Ram diehard, the only towing answer at elevation is "Cummins".

I imagine the Grand Cherokee final gear ratio is quite a bit different than a JTR and I assume different shift mapping on the transmission for better econ. People undervalue the effect gear ratio has on everything, especially with modern high gear count transmissions.

 

[montechie]

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.

Yeah, I love our LJR, but am finally going to swap or a performance rebuild on the 4.0 for traveling around Montana+. Flat is fine, but there is no pulling hills here.

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