3.6 power loss at elevation

[2nd 392]

That party it's named after took it a little too slow getting to the other side, and we know how that turned out. "Officer I wasn't speeding, I'm hungry and don't want to have to eat one of my passengers"

I’m old enough to remember these painted exactly like a CHP cruiser down to an officer looking out the window partially hidden to look realistic on the old mountain passes. Also vehicles over a cliff left for effect,… or difficulty of retrieval ? for an extended time .

not that I was ever speeding and annoyed by them

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[azjl#3]

OK, just spent a week wolf creek and above 11,000ft, 3.6 did great, no noticeable loss of power.

 

[Ratbert]

OK, just spent a week wolf creek and above 11,000ft, 3.6 did great, no noticeable loss of power.

You didn't notice losing about a third of your power?

 

[alphawolff]

You didn't notice losing about a third of your power?

When it's gradual it's hard to notice. I've seen vehicles come in that vibrate so bad you wouldn't believe. Motor mounts just slowly wearing out and the owners don't notice how smooth it was before because it was so gradual.

You'd probably have to drive it at 11k then immediately decend to sea level to get that "holy shit" feeling

 

[Zandcwhite]

When it's gradual it's hard to notice. I've seen vehicles come in that vibrate so bad you wouldn't believe. Motor mounts just slowly wearing out and the owners don't notice how smooth it was before because it was so gradual.

You'd probably have to drive it at 11k then immediately decend to sea level to get that "holy shit" feeling

Or just drive it hard. If you look at the horsepower output at sea level, the 3.6L isn't over 200hp to the wheels until ~5200 rpm. It hits 175 whp about 4500rpm, which is typically after it shifts if you are driving easy. If you're one of those drivers, of course you won't notice any power loss. Your 3.6L has never put out the power it's still capable of at 11k feet. Granted it will hold shifts longer and rev higher than it does down low to get there but at 6200rpm it will still make the 175hp to the wheels you're used to. Now conversely if you regularly see 6k rpms because you accelerate hard, tow a trailer, try to maintain 80mph+ up steep grades, etc it will absolutely feel like "holy shit" I'm missing 33% of the power I'm used to.

 

[Pareto Offroad]

Yeah, that’s just par for course with a NA engine. I live at 6500 and am frequently higher than 12k, but dont notice much more loss as I spend the majority of the time up that high in 4 low.

A supercharger is in my future

 

[azjl#3]

love a supercharger, but not on this high strung vvt engine made by stellantis.

to bad they dont sell kits to build your own 3.6 and make it bulletproof, and more supercharger friendly.

to bad they dont sell reprograming to fix the stupid high engine heat

 

[jeepingib]

I just don't trust any forced induction on this engine. It's just too high of a compression ratio. I can only imagine the amount of pressure those ring lands are in when 11.3 to 1 meets 20 psi of boost.

 

[LostinBigBear]

I live at 7,000’ where the posted speed limit is not more than 40mph, so I’ve never noticed loss of power per se. however, is that what the hesitation is when stopped and then try and go, but nothing happens right away and then it jerks forward?

 

[AnnDee4444]

The Ferrari/Maserati F160 engine is based off of the Pentastar. That should help with power loss at elevation.

https://www.pentastars.com/engines/ferrari.php

 

[Rodeoflyer]

37's, 10k feet and a lethargic N/A V6 requires 5.x gears

 

[Rodeoflyer]

I live at 7,000’ where the posted speed limit is not more than 40mph, so I’ve never noticed loss of power per se. however, is that what the hesitation is when stopped and then try and go, but nothing happens right away and then it jerks forward?

Throw some 35/37'' tires on that puppy and get back to us lol

 

[Zandcwhite]

I just don't trust any forced induction on this engine. It's just too high of a compression ratio. I can only imagine the amount of pressure those ring lands are in when 11.3 to 1 meets 20 psi of boost.

Nobody is running anywhere near 20psi on a stock 3.6L. The magnuson supercharger adds 59% hp, at roughly 7% gain per pound of boost that's a peak boost of 8.4psi. That gets you 440hp out of your pentastar, more than enough to smoke a 5.7 hemi swapped JL. Sure if you lowered the compression ratio and forged the bottom end and opened up the ring gaps you could run 20psi and be flirting with 700hp but if you're looking for those numbers you'd be better off with a hellcat swap.

 

[jeepingib]

Nobody is running anywhere near 20psi on a stock 3.6L. The magnuson supercharger adds 59% hp, at roughly 7% gain per pound of boost that's a peak boost of 8.4psi. That gets you 440hp out of your pentastar, more than enough to smoke a 5.7 hemi swapped JL. Sure if you lowered the compression ratio and forged the bottom end and opened up the ring gaps you could run 20psi and be flirting with 700hp but if you're looking for those numbers you'd be better of with a hellcat swap.

I knew that it was ridiculously high. I wasn't sure where the PUG was capable of handling boost, so I just erred high on purpose.

 

[Zandcwhite]

I knew that it was ridiculously high. I wasn't sure where the PUG was capable of handling boost, so I just erred high on purpose.

I'd gladly run the magnuson on my JT mojave.. if it had GPEC5 support. It's still a high compression engine with a short piston so it's not optimal for boost, but I think it would hold up well to 8psi.

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