Story & photos by Jason Marsden

A V8 engine swap was my first choice for my 2009 four-door JK Wrangler. Unfortunately the bolt-on Hemi kits (complete with ECU to maintain CAN bus and dash functionality) were only available for left hand drive Jeeps. Working some numbers it also looked like such an exercise could potentially be very expensive. 

Other V8 options such as LS (Chev) engines were also considered but the complexity of a non-standard install and loss of dash functionality soon relegated them to the too hard basket.

This just left forced induction.

The primary process of using forced induction to get more power out of an engine is to cram more air and fuel into it.  The more fuel and air in a cylinder then the more work it can do.

Specialist 4WD mechanic, Rick Crosbie, of Summit 4WD in Christchurch had done some preliminary work on the V8 option and when that was abandoned he suggested a RIPP Supercharger kit. 

RIPP Superchargers is a Staten Island, New York-based designer and manufacturer of forced induction products for all Fiat Chrysler (Jeep, Dodge,  Chrysler etc) vehicles.

The RIPP kit we settled on utilises a Vortech brand centrifugal compressor, driven off the serpentine belt which then passes the compressed air through an intercooler.

Big thanks to Rick Crosbie at Summit 4WD and Corey Taylor, owner of Da Vinci Steelworks.

To read the full story in the September 2016 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (August 22) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.