Jeep Wrangler JL 2018+

This Borne Off-Road Snorkel for the 2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL and 2020+ Jeep Gladiator is now available! Click here to check it out!

There's something about the outdoors that lets us reconnect with our youth. Maybe it's the memories of playing outside with our friends, or the simplicity of nature reminding us of simpler times. Whatever the reason, we could all use a little more time outside. Your Jeep Wrangler JL is marketed as a go anywhere, do anything machine, but sometimes it needs a little help to live up to that persona. Here at Mishimoto, we've been working on parts to help it do just that, including our latest project: the 2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL/2020+ Gladiator snorkel.

In the last post, we began the design process by 3D scanning our JL inside and out. We also discussed our options for routing the snorkel. In the end, we decided on a direct route from the lower airbox through the hood. While this path will require cutting the hood, it will also significantly reduce restriction and

When we were kids, we had Legos, Erector sets, Lincoln Logs, and K'NEX to satisfy our need to tinker. But as we've grown, so have our toys. Modifying cars and trucks is the adult (ish) version of our childhood pastimes, and vehicles like the 2018+ JL Wrangler are as close to Legos as you can get. The latest brick in our JL Wrangler build is a snorkel to help keep the intake clean while you're reconnecting with your youth on the trail.

In the last post, we looked at the stock intake and discussed why you might want to add a snorkel, even if you're not fording four feet of water. To recap, we explained that your JL's intake utilizes a fresh-air inlet in the fender area to pull in cooler outside air and a filter that captures particles as small as 5 microns to clean that air. However, dust on the trail can be as small as 0.2 microns, and that fresh-air inlet is at the perfect height to pull in every ounce of dust your friends kick up on the trail. As your engine air filter becomes saturated

When we last saw our 2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL performance transmission cooler, it was nothing more than a box, constructed from aluminum u-channel, with plastic end tanks glued to it. This time, however, we'll be getting our hands on a fully functioning production sample.

In our last post, we began the design process for our performance transmission cooler and created a prototype. Thanks to the JL's cramped cooling stack, our ability to enlarge the transmission cooler was severely limited in the vertical and horizontal planes. However, we were able to significantly increase the thickness of the core from 19mm to 32mm. This 68% increase in core thickness would give the Mishimoto cooler a big leg up on the stock unit, but we couldn't stop there.

The cramped cooling stack of the JL also means that airflow through the transmission cooler's core is limited. With less airflow through the cooler, a thicker core won't be as efficient as it usually would. To counter this problem and make the most

This 2018+ Jeep Wrangler / 2020+ Jeep Gladiator 3.6L Performance intake is now available! Click here to check it out!

As automotive technology advances and manufacturers try to squeeze more power out of every drop of fuel, forced induction (specifically turbocharging) is becoming increasingly prevalent. But, while forced induction can make a 4-cylinder as powerful as an engine twice its size, nothing compares to a naturally-aspirated engine's linear powerband. Natural aspiration is power in its purest form - a one-to-one connection of right foot and forward motion.

For many Jeep enthusiasts, the simplicity of natural aspiration has kept them loyal to the 3.6L Pentastar V6 in their 2018+ Wrangler JL or 2020+ Gladiator. That simplicity also makes modifying an N/A engine straightforward. Unlike modern turbocharged systems that usually require a tune to gain power from bolt-on modifications, N/A powerplants benefit tremendously from anything that improves airflow to or from the engine. One

As Ye tightened the last bolt on our intake production sample, we breathed a sigh of relief. Over a year of painstaking R&D came to a close with that bolt.

In all our years designing intakes, few have been as complex or demanding as our 2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL 2.0L intake. We've fought check engine lights, tested more variations than we could have imagined, and learned a lot along the way. But the time is finally here to see the product of our efforts in its final form.

Shortly after we finished our final design from the last post, we began production on a sample to test fit. This test fit is the final (and often the most crucial) step in the R&D process. It tells us if our design will work in the real world with repeatable results. With the exacting standards of the 2.0L Hurricane's monitoring systems, any changes at this step could set the project back months. Ye anxiously unpacked our production sample and prepared it for test fitting. The intake certainly looked good, but we couldn't

The last post for our 2018+ Jeep Wrangler 2.0L JL intake ended on a low note. We had worked for months on our high-flowing intake only to find that it made the 2.0T Hurricane engine less powerful in the RPM range that counts the most. Instead of a torquey and responsive engine that made peak power at 3,250 RPM, our intake shifted peak power up to 4,500 RPM, making the JL feel laggy and sluggish. 1,250 RPM isn't a huge gap, but when most of your driving is done below 4,000 RPM, it can make a huge difference.

All was not lost, however. We looked back at the stock intake and found part of our solution. The branch resonators that we previously thought only affected the intake's sound appeared to play a much larger role in performance. A little research combined with our engineer's expertise revealed that the branch resonators on the stock intake tube also functioned as Helmholtz resonators.

If you've ever blown across the top of an empty soda bottle, you've created a Helmholtz resonator. That