Wrangler Rhino

[ViperRyan]

They are putting the 707 Hellcat motor in this thing. That would be a BLAST.
http://new.usspecialtyvehicles.com/xt

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[Martin]

I'd buy one - that's a pretty cool concept.

[1ststrike]

WOW! not sure I could handle this off road. Fast!!

[Martin]

It's all about torque and gearing. I've had 4WD vehicles that got bogged down at high altitudes, and it's just no fun running out of juice when trying to climb a steep hill - especially with a manual transmission. Your only choice at that point is to try and back down, and that can be a serious puckering experience on some narrow trails. Having a supercharger is a lot of fun off-road - I put one on my Grand Cherokee and it just about doubled the amount of usable torque. Only downside for me is that it really doesn't like the 91 octane CA gas - if I'm going to do something where I know I'll be getting into boost a lot, I put a half tank of race gas in to keep the ring lands happy.

[Camfab]

Is it just me or does that look like a Toyota land Cruiser knock off?

[viper04blk]

I think it looks like a FJ cruiser and a hummer H1 combined

[IndyRon]

It's different. I'd much prefer the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 707hp though.

[Martin]

It's different. I'd much prefer the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 707hp though.

As long as they give the buyer all the same option choices that they do with the rest of the lineup. I'd want to set it up for what it's meant to do - go off road, possibly rock crawl, and tow stuff on occasion. The new ones aren't as mod friendly as the old ones (I have a WJ), but I doubt I'd want to tear apart any FCA product in this day and age anyhow... So, if they made a JGC available, with whatever options you want, with the Hellcat engine package, I'd buy it tomorrow. Right now, I'm trying to find a good car to replace my WJ with - it's an awesome car all around, but I've pounded on the poor thing for 17 years now and I'm sure it would like to be relegated to less severe duty in its retirement years.

[Vprbite]

I'd buy one - that's a pretty cool concept.

It's not a concept, is it? I thought it was being made by that company USSpecialtyvehicles, right?

[Rmj]

Martin, which engine is in your wj that you supercharged? What type of fuel management does it have? I have an xj (hunting truck, but it's nice) with a 4.0 that I have been considering supercharging...
Thanks

[ViperRyan]

As long as they give the buyer all the same option choices that they do with the rest of the lineup. I'd want to set it up for what it's meant to do - go off road, possibly rock crawl, and tow stuff on occasion. The new ones aren't as mod friendly as the old ones (I have a WJ), but I doubt I'd want to tear apart any FCA product in this day and age anyhow... So, if they made a JGC available, with whatever options you want, with the Hellcat engine package, I'd buy it tomorrow. Right now, I'm trying to find a good car to replace my WJ with - it's an awesome car all around, but I've pounded on the poor thing for 17 years now and I'm sure it would like to be relegated to less severe duty in its retirement years.

There is actually a company, in AZ I believe, that is putting the 707hp hellcat motors into the current JK Wranglers. There is a video of it online tearing through a field. Sounds ridiculous. I think the "Package" with everything installed is around $40k, on top of the cost of the wrangler.

[Martin]

Martin, which engine is in your wj that you supercharged? What type of fuel management does it have? I have an xj (hunting truck, but it's nice) with a 4.0 that I have been considering supercharging...
Thanks

I have the 4.7 V8, and it's a Kenne Bell 2.8L supercharger running about 10psi of boost at full throttle. I had to work with the guys at Kenne Bell a LOT in the beginning to get the engine management right (I was the guinea pig for the setup), but it turned out great. It was complicated, though - we had to augment the speed density system that the stock engine uses, and piggy-back a MAF system on top of it. In addition to that, the transmission controller didn't like the supercharger at all.

All in all, though, I'm really happy with it. I've got close to 200,000 miles on the engine/supercharger combo as of now, and both are still reliable and showing no signs of wear. Only gripe I have is that the rearmost spark plug on the passenger side is impossible to get to. So, last time I swapped plugs was when I pulled the supercharger off for some other repairs (the auxiliary fuel supply line started leaking, and it's in the back of the supercharger and impossible to access).

[Vprbite]

There is actually a company, in AZ I believe, that is putting the 707hp hellcat motors into the current JK Wranglers. There is a video of it online tearing through a field. Sounds ridiculous. I think the "Package" with everything installed is around $40k, on top of the cost of the wrangler.

There are a couple doing it I believe. Crocker offroad performance used to do some sweet builds but their site is down so maybe they closed. I don't know. I wonder what that hellcat feels like in 4Lo? Is there such a thing as too much torque in a 4x4? I guess it depends on where the torque hits and what kind of wheeling you are doing. Dunes vs trails, etc.