I wish I had LS3 money....I'm far too broke to do that engine although I am jealous of it slightly. but I have a 97 XJ that started life as 2wd and now is 4wd with help from a ZJ's 242 T case , drive shafts and front axle . I have 2" JKS rear shackles and front coil spacers on 30" tires and get 17.5 mpg average. 32o miles on 18 gallons with lots of town driving
LS swap it. You get 3-5 times the torque and horsepower and 50% increase in fuel economy.
My 01 with 35” tires 4.88 gears and a 3” lift got 13mpg at best, same rig with a 6.2 supercharged LS3 is consistently getting 18 on the highway.
I know an engine swap is a dramatic step to increase fuel economy but it is one of the many benefits.
Remember those 4.0s are basically 50 year old technology in a lot of ways. Designed when nobody really cared that much about fuel economy.
An LS3 is total overkill. Super fun but not at all necessary and it actually causes a lot of problems.
An LS1 would be much more appropriate for an XJ.
Making a 2wd into 4wd is probably almost as much work as an engine swap. 17.5mpg is not bad at all for an XJ!
lifted and MPG shouldn't be in the same sentence
That makes sense!After I lifted my XJ the MPG dropped?
An LS3 is total overkill. Super fun but not at all necessary and it actually causes a lot of problems.
An LS1 would be much more appropriate for an XJ.
Making a 2wd into 4wd is probably almost as much work as an engine swap. 17.5mpg is not bad at all for an XJ!
I have done a ton of work to my rig. It has a 4.7L stroker with the low rpm cam, headers, 2.5" exhaust, 21 lb injectors. It is lifted around 6" with 35's. I get right at 20 mpg at 75 on the freeway here in Colorado. It drops to 17 when I pull my teardrop in the mountains. I run a snorkel. I find it helps the power and mileage as well on the highway. I have an AFR gauge and built an adjustable MAP sensor and I dial the mixture for a 14 or so on the highway.