I thought I would do a quick RIPP Supercharger review on my 2008 Jeep Wrangler JK Unlimited Rubicon. I have owned this jeep since about 2010. When I bought it, it already had a teraflex 4” lift on it and that was about it. It now has 37” MTRs, 5.13 gears, and heavy roof rack, 3rd row seating (I have 4 kids), Dynatrac Prorock 44 front, standard drivelines, and now a RIPP Supercharger. This jeep has the stock bumpers, but I added a standard winch plate to the front. I don’t know how much longer the stock bumpers will last, but I am literally going to keep them until they are torn off. This is a heavy vehicle with the 6 speed standard transmission.
I bought this vehicle to replace a 2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ. I wanted a family wheeler that could still do the trails I wanted but take the entire family. Right off the bat, as soon as I did the gears, I felt like the pathetic 3.8L was better than the XJs 4.0 (with 4.56 gears) on the highway, but not as good off road (The torque wasn’t there, but it had lower gears, so no big deal). Driving a jeep with big tires has always been a trade off, but I found myself looking for another vehicle with a V8….especially when I would want to drive my 2010 Toyota Yaris instead of the jeep because of power. I decided instead to try the RIPP Supercharger. I had about 50K mileage on the jeep when it was installed.
It took 500 – 1000 miles to break in, but after it broke in, what a huge difference. I have thoroughly enjoyed driving it ever since. Off road, I don’t really notice anything different unless I am driving it down dirt roads in 2 wheel drive. In 4 Lo, I am more of a “don’t spin a tire” kind of guy, so no real change. Driving it to and from Moab, to work, Park City, or where ever has been the biggest change. I can pretty much hold the speed limit in 6th up hills and have plenty of power to pass anything I want when I shift down. Gas mileage has been interesting. Before the Supercharger, I would get 15-16mpg. Now I will get 14-19mpg depending on how I drive. Cruise control kind of sucks (I may need to work the programmer), because it tries to go into boost and then lets off causing a yo yo effect.
It was expensive (cost of unit and cost of running premium fuel which is not required but recommended), but it has drastically improved the drivability of the jeep on the highway. I thought about upgrading to the better 3.6 in the 2012s and later, but with how I had this jeep setup, this was a better option for me. My jeep is still a heavy, large vehicle, but it much more driver friendly now.
I bought this vehicle to replace a 2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ. I wanted a family wheeler that could still do the trails I wanted but take the entire family. Right off the bat, as soon as I did the gears, I felt like the pathetic 3.8L was better than the XJs 4.0 (with 4.56 gears) on the highway, but not as good off road (The torque wasn’t there, but it had lower gears, so no big deal). Driving a jeep with big tires has always been a trade off, but I found myself looking for another vehicle with a V8….especially when I would want to drive my 2010 Toyota Yaris instead of the jeep because of power. I decided instead to try the RIPP Supercharger. I had about 50K mileage on the jeep when it was installed.
It took 500 – 1000 miles to break in, but after it broke in, what a huge difference. I have thoroughly enjoyed driving it ever since. Off road, I don’t really notice anything different unless I am driving it down dirt roads in 2 wheel drive. In 4 Lo, I am more of a “don’t spin a tire” kind of guy, so no real change. Driving it to and from Moab, to work, Park City, or where ever has been the biggest change. I can pretty much hold the speed limit in 6th up hills and have plenty of power to pass anything I want when I shift down. Gas mileage has been interesting. Before the Supercharger, I would get 15-16mpg. Now I will get 14-19mpg depending on how I drive. Cruise control kind of sucks (I may need to work the programmer), because it tries to go into boost and then lets off causing a yo yo effect.
It was expensive (cost of unit and cost of running premium fuel which is not required but recommended), but it has drastically improved the drivability of the jeep on the highway. I thought about upgrading to the better 3.6 in the 2012s and later, but with how I had this jeep setup, this was a better option for me. My jeep is still a heavy, large vehicle, but it much more driver friendly now.
