is the 2.5l as capable as the 4.0l

9194x4

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Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Location
bunn North Carolina
im new to jeeps, im in the process of selling my 99 z28 to get a tj Wrangler. being that ive been a muscle car guy for almost 3 years now its gonna be a huge power difference from 345 hp 365 tq at the wheels to i believe around 200hp in the 4.0. which is fine with me, fast cars are too tempting. at any rate, i need advice. if you have owned both please please please tell me whats best. im definately getting something lifted. im thinking in the 4" range, that being completely suspension. im not going to run anything bigger that 33's, if you go bigger you should re-gear right? its going to be my dd as well as my toy so i want something thats going to have enough power to crawl over anything reasonable and still accelerate 0-60 in under a minute. now its my thought that the smaller 2.5l motor will have to work harder to turn bigger tires than the 4.0. any legitimacy to that? also if its got to work harder would that mean worse mpg? thats just my thoughts and i appreciate any and all replies like i said im uneducated. PLEASE HELP!!!
Thanks for reading, Shane.
 
I wouldn't bother with a 4 cyl.
even with only 33s, you may have to regear-- my YJ had 3.07s and I went to 4.10s (4.0 HO). stock 4cyl axles are 4.10 so you can get those pretty cheap usually.

I think this has come up many times over the years, I don't think the information really changes. aka, search.
 
I had a 97 2.5 and currently have a 2000 4.0. I did the exact same thing to both 4" lift and 35's. The 2.5 had 4.10 and the 4.0 had 3.73. While the 2.5 was capable of going just about any where I wanted too, it was gutless. Even with the 3.73 gears the 4.0 was 1000 times better then 2.5. Now that I have 4.88's in the 4.0 there is no comparison.

If you plan to just put around town on stock tires the 2.5 will be fine but if have any plans to modify it all then get one with 4.0.
 
No replacement for displacement :smokin:
 
Here's the flip side argument.....

I ran a 4 cyl in my YJ for years with the stock gears and a Lock Right in the rear up against 33" tires and it did pretty well (and never broke anything) in everything I ran except mud. Mud requires horsepower. That being said, it really depends on what kind of trails you are wanting to run on. You can run all over Uwharrie set up like I was if the trails are dry. Add a good rain and all bets are off.

Now, once my 4 cyl bit the dust, I swapped out the entire drivetrain to go to a Chevy V8, SM465 transmission, Dana 20 t-case and Scout axles up against 36" Swampers. Put simply, I BROKE STUFF. I BROKE A LOT OF STUFF. More power = more broken stuff.

The next rig I build will be very light and relatively low to the ground. Most likely 33's but with a wide power band. Should be able to handle the low speeds I like, but the ability to fling mud to clean out the tires when needed too.
 
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