Colorado 2.7L (or any >7K ASL) owners chime In...especially those with 4.7 gearing

[Bullitt]

I'm a Ranger on Pikes Peak and have my Bronco above 7,000' on a regular basis. Absolutely love the power/gearing...all the way up to 14,000'.

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[Montana Bronco]

I live at 7,500 ft and work at 11,000 ft.

My 2.3 has plenty of power up here.

 

[Jdyount]

I have a 2.7, Badlands, SAS, on 37s.

I live at 846' in SE Kansas and just spent a week at 9600'+ in the Breckenridge area last month. Is there a difference, yes, 1000%. I found the power to be a bit laggy until the turbos really spooled up then it was more than fine. The 1 second lag was annoying enough that I was running Sport Mode to help counter. NOW, when the turbos kicked in, all the power seemed to be there.

I had a complete loss of power, just complete stall, on Saints John trying to climb a shelf I normally should have crushed. Now a clogged air filter from dusty roads and previous wheeling trips was a big part of that, but the (admittedly extreme) elevation was still a factor. (I did change the filter out on the second day of our trip).

If I lived at elevation, or planned on doing another long trip, I would definitely look at getting a tune to help, especially if I was climbing up to 12000'+ often. Also a high performance air filter (like the S&B dry filter) would help get more air flow thus more O2 in.

 

[tripmcl]

Maybe it's because my house is over 10K that I've not noticed a difference or had any issues. We regularly are over 12K wheeling.

 

[graham5david]

For the audio, even with the Ford B&O system, the Jeep is better?

I do not have the bo system but I test drove one with it. The bo was much better than stock bronco system but not as good as the jeep alpine system with jeep subwoofer in my opinion. That is the only thing I miss about the jeep.

 

[eaburke80221]

I appreciate the information guys. As much as I love my Jeep, after being at 7K+ for 2 years, the lack of power is really starting to grind on me. Though I could look into an engine swap or a supercharger, the reliability would likely be reduced or become unpredictable.

I am considering shifting to the "dark side" and aside from the IFS, the Bronco is starting to really appeal to me. I need to see if there is a car rental company around that rents them and drive one for a week or so and my fate would likely be sealed.

I’ve got the 2.7L with 4.7 gear ratio and haven’t had any issues with power whatsoever. Even at an incline cruising up I-70, that sucker boogies. That being said, I noticed a phenomenal improvement in lower end power/torque when I installed the K&N CAI. (Did this to my previous Jeeps too)
It dramatically helped gears 1-3 and turbo lag. And on the highway past Idaho springs/Georgetown/etc… still noticeable gains.

Word of advice, make sure you have a set of hose clamp pliers if doing the install yourself. The hose clamp on the turbo towards the bottom of the engine is a S.O.B to remove lol

 

[Wyo]

Plenty of power. The only time I noticed a brief lag was on the switch backs on Hoosier Pass near the top. If I shifted manually, it would be fine.

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