3.6L Pentastar + BSG at Higher Elevations

[chessiehokie]

I'll be retiring next year and moving from Virginia to the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado... a 2019 JLUR is an integral part of the plan. My new home will be at about 7,000 ft elevation, with many roads and trails exceeding 11,000 ft. I know that the turbo in the 2.0L has some advantages at altitude... but how about the added BSG to the 3.6L for the 2019 model year? Will I get some performance perks at altitude from the BSG and to what extent, if any, will it negate the turbo's altitude advantage?

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[Grimmjpr]

Congratulations on your future retirement, I have been on many of the high altitude trails in Colorado and had a friend that lived at about 9000 feet elevation for a while. I don't know for a fact but based on what I i know, I'd imagine the BSG would help a bit over the non BSG 3.6 but its still going to have a larger percentage of power loss than the 2.0 turbo at the same altitude. I live at about 4000 feet altitude and if I was going to get a JL I'm pretty sure it would be the 2.0 turbo. Nothing wrong with the 3.6 Pentastar, I've had three in a JKR, JKUR, and a WK2 currently. 3.6 with the 8 speed is really nice.....in my opinion. I hope this helps. Good luck with your decision, I'm sure that whatever you decide to go with will bring a smile to your face.

 

[OnlyOne]

I live at about 7000 feet. This new JL runs really good. You won’t have any issues here. But at this altitude you’re losing, what, 25% of your horsepower so there will be power loss. The turbo will not really lose much if any. Night and day difference from my 2015 JKR.

 

[Flyguy81]

I live at 6500’ and drive in the mountains every week. No issues climbing the passes in the 3.6. Plenty of power to accelerate on the climbs at 70 mph. Way better than my ‘14 JK

 

[chessiehokie]

I don't know the RPM range for which BSG is effective but I think its only in the lower RPM's to accelerate the vehicle from a stop. This is speculation on my part, there isn't enough battery capacity to do much more. I doubt BSG is doing anything when pulling a grade at 4000+ RPM.

From what I have gathered, the full 90+ pounds of torque applied by the BSG takes place within the first 1400 RPM and then drops off to essentially nothing as the Pentastar takes over... so you are right about no help pulling a grade at 4000+ RPM. But those a 90+ lbs of torque kick in at full force at the weakest point of the engine's power curve... so exactly where it is needed most. Since the Pentastar reaches something like 90% of its rated torque by 2000 RPM makes addition of the BSG seem like an excellent addition (assuming that reliability proves out... though I believe I have read that the engine will still operate in case of a BSG failure). That the added BSG torque is NOT degraded at altitude as the NA engine is makes it seem an even better match for anyone at altitude.

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