outside316

I would appreciate some input from owners of RIPP systems. I have had one on my 07 Unlimited for about 5 months & have several questions. While Ross at RIPP has been very helpful & helped with running my Jp on a chassis dyno here in town im not impressed at all with the mileage & quesstion the performance.

The dyno figures were on par with there results, i have 5.13's, 35inch BFG KM2's with 32 lbs of air and the best it has gotten is 12.5 mpg that is around town or on a trip yesterday with the cruise set at 70mph. I checked it off the jp computer & calculator.

I drove this exact same setup on three 1000-2000mile trips last summer & got 14-16.8 mpg depending on mountains , hills etc. Frankly while it is obviously more powerful now i still have to floor it to really get up to speed on a on ramp etc, and it still downshifts when hitting a hill with some wind etc. All this while getting worse mileage than it had just stock with a programmer.

I'm not knocking RIPP as the product is obviously a well designed & quality kit im just lost as to what else to try & wishing i had saved my money. In real world experience would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Muffins

There have been quite a few threads on feedback of this setup, if you do a search you'll find tons of good stuff to help with your decision

stlfan06

Way to read the post buddy!!...what decision are you talking about?
(bump)

tpm152

Let me start this off by saying no offense is meant to anyone, I am just trying to get information I feel would be useful for the Jeeping community to use if they want (I have absolutely no affiliation or loyalties to anyone but fellow Jeep owners and no company whatsoever). With that said unfortunately the exact characteristics described regarding the Ripp system is the disadvantage to the centrifugal system and one of the reasons that I have given Ripp all sorts of sh!t for not listening to me for the past few months. I continually tell them that they need to start creating significant boost at 1200 - 1500 RPM rather than 2500 RPM. It is as simple as running the blower at higher RPM (well within the ability of the blower Ripp already uses) and using a blow-off valve to keep the pressure down in the safe region. Yes this is not quite as efficient as their current system, but I would rather lose 3 mpg to gain usable power than lose 2 mpg to gain power I will never use (as described in the post). To combat the "low end knock" they talk about they just need to use a different tune that uses more methanol injection. I am a mechanical engineer AND fuel scientist (and have the degrees to prove it) and know that this not only perfectly feasible and safer for the engine to generate 5 PSI from 1500 RPM up but its also WAY more useful for us Jeepers than building a crap ton of boost at high RPM with no noticeable change in power below 2500 RPMs.

If you want better low-end (usable) power in a ready made package my best advice would be to sell your Ripp (you should be able to get ~$3500 from what I've heard) and then pay the $4500 for the Avenger system. They use a twin-screw (like a roots blower but with the coolness of a centrifugal SC) to not only give us Jeepers what we want (5 PSI from 1500 RPM to redline) so it is usable on the highway and doesn't run a high risk of blowing the engine by having 9 PSI at 5500 RPM like the Ripp kit. Yes it doesn't quite have the fit and finish of the Ripp kit, but once again, my theory is I'll take something ugly that does what I want over something pretty that I'll never use anyday. Also Jack (the owner of Avenger) has worked hand in hand with Chrysler to develop something that Chrysler feels comfortable going on their engines.

Just my thought...your only 2 current options to get significant power boost (40 - 50% over stock) below 2500 RPM are the Avenger kit or swapping in a hemi. One costs $1000 to you and one costs about 10 times that. Hope this helps

SaharaBlackNo1

Until someone actually owns an Avenger SC, any claims about where and how much power they make don't hold much weight. Theoretical HP doesn't do anyone much good. Hopefully though, Jack's kit will deliver and give people another option for the JK, but until someone actually owns one and puts some miles on it...

Back to the topic, I've been really pleased with my RIPP SC, but the one area it doesn't deliver what was originally claimed was MPG. I'm also getting right around 12.5 mainly city miles, but frankly I'm ok with that I didn't buy it for any mpg increase (although it would have been nice). If I can find the time this month I'll finally take a trip up to NY to have the guys at RIPP throw it on their dyno and make sure everything is set up and running properly. I'm pretty sure it is, but considering the belt got put on wrong to start, it sure can't hurt to have the guys who designed the kit make sure I'm squeezing every bit of performance out of it.

mkjeep

Do you have an Avenger?

runit3

Another question for the avenger sc kit would be for those of us running (or planning on running) a Rubi 2dr w/ F&R lockers engaged, 5.38gears, and 37" tires will having that much available low end power actually increase our chances of wreaking havoc in the xfer case, axle, driveshaft, etc. when we are in an off-road situation?

I've seen the RIPP kit on a similar set-up in action off-road and it appears to respond outstandingly well in most situations.

I like the RIPP for the overall simplicity/functionality of the kit. I don't necessarily see the 2.5k RPM "spool up" as a negative. I would like to hear more from owners about their overall MPG rating, it was one of my main factors in considering it. -sorry if i got off topic-

outside316

Thanks SaharaBlack for the info & while i agree didnt buy it for a mileage increase it would be nice to get atleast the same as before. I did have a roots style on my 05 Rubicon & while i undrestand the difference in the systems a similar increase in power was what i was hoping for. I could set cruise on that on the highway driving to Colorado & only on a large grade would it downshift out of overdrive it was wonderful & got great mileage. My jk with the RIPP still downshifts just the same as before on even a small grade & only after you put your foot in it does it really make a difference. Frankly $4500 earlier i had to put my foot in it to climb a grade so i dont feel i gained much. Yes around town if i drive a little aggressive it is a snappy vehicle.

frankie945

IMO. Root style chargers suck.....

tpm152

Nope I don't have an Avenger supercharger. Personally my preference would be a Ripp style kit as far as fit and finish is concerned BUT have a smaller pulley on the SC and couple that with a blow-off valve. This way you get the benefits of a roots/twin screw with increased low-end power but with the nice delivery of a centrifugal SC. A best of both worlds scenario.

Yes, this wouldn't be as efficient when you ran at high RPM because say it is tuned to give 2 - 3 PSI at 1500 RPM and 5 - 6 PSI at 2000 RPM then thereafter limit it to 6 - 9 PSI (whatever Ripp says they're running their current longevity tests at) using a blow-off valve. What this would mean is essentially at 4000 RPM the SC would be trying to pressurize the intake to 12+ PSI (and even higher after 4000 RPM) but the blow-off valve would blow off the extra pressure and maintain 6 - 9 PSI (so you would pressurize more air than you would be delivering to the engine making it less efficient). BUT the reason I say they should do this is how often do you guys keep the engine at over 3000 RPM for an extended period of time with the naturally aspirated engine? For me I almost never hit 3000 RPM and if the SC was tuned to deliver power at low RPM I would probably never hit it unless I was doing something like towing. In that case then I wouldn't be caring about losing that 1 mpg because it would increase drivability so much.

Unfortunately though Ripp in previous posts has been very quick to try to use big and scary words to discredit my perspective on this forum when all I want to do is give those of us on this board interested in more USABLE power on a daily driver a better option. Meanwhile Jack at Avenger actually took my perspective into account and valued my input on his kit design. And personally when I look at getting the "full package" I look at the company that is willing to take criticism from an expert about their kits and not just try to discredit them to not need to change their kit to better suit the market.

They try to give you the story that it's not possible to make reliable and safe power below at 1500 RPM. I say it's not only possible but safer than huge power numbers at high RPM. Why do they do that? Ill tell you exactly why: because under certain circumstances they can claim 2 - 6 MPG improvement over stock (once again a false claim proven wrong by owners posting in this thread). If they made the kit in the fashion that I said I will tell you straight up you will lose mpg compared to stock. But there's no free lunch right?

Its very simple: spark ignited engines need a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio in order to run. More air means more fuel but also more power. Thermodynamic efficiency is thermodynamic efficiency. A spark-ignited (gasoline) engine is generally limited to peak efficiency of 25 - 30% due to compression ratios between 8:1 and 10:1 and a diesel is generally limited to 40% due to higher compression ratios of 18:1 and up. You want MPG, get a diesel. You want power, get a SC or a hemi. MPG improvement should be the very LAST reason you justify getting a supercharger as it will never happen in the real world. Hope this completely unbiased perspective once again helps encourage a best of both worlds kit to be created for the JK. As until that happens I'm not investing in any SC kit.

Thank you for proving exactly what I have been trying to describe