What the 3.6 Pentastar Intake Manifold Upgrade is, and why it matters:
When Chrysler created the latest version of the Pentastar 3.6 - often referred to as the PUG engine(Pentastar Upgrade engine), they made a change to the lower intake manifold, and it is significantly better than the older model. This new manifold is from the 3.6 found in the 2018+ Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram vehicles. You might be surprised to find it can be used on the older 3.6 engines found in vehicles such as the 2012-2018 Jeep Wrangler JK, Charger/Challenger, Ram trucks, and minivans. We figured our Jeep could benefit from improved induction, so this is one of the upgrades we did. While it might be hard to quantify the impact , it's clear that the new manifold has much better port geometry than the old. For reference, the new PUG intake manifold part is Mopar P/N: 05281803AA available in genuine Mopar from Summit Racing here, or aftermarket from Amazon here.
To demonstrate the differences, see the stock JK on port the left vs. the PUG lower intake manifold port on the right:
Installing the 3.6 Pentastar Intake Manifold Upgrade:
The install is very straightforward because it fits just as the original did. In fact, the only modification I made to the manifold was sanding down a little bit of sharp plastic left behind from manufacturing, as this can't be good for flow. Simply follow the instructions in your factory service manual — the upgraded manifold replaces the old like is was the original part. While it was all apart, we upgraded the oil filter housing and fuel injectors too. Those two mods are worthwhile on their own, and bout 90% of the labor is shared with the manifold swap, so it made sense to do them together.
All things considered, this wasn't a very difficult or expensive job, and while we don't have data to prove how good the upgrade really is, we can safely assume it has a positive effect, or they wouldn't have redesigned it.
Driving impressions:
This is the other tough part as we didn't do just this one mod alone. While we were in there, we also upgraded the fuel injectors, exhaust, and intake. Despite the simultaneous mods, we'll place this one in the "worth-it" category as it was super easy, cheap, and very likely to have contributed to the far more peppy feel since the changes. Our Jeep certainly has more power now, and there seems to be a noticeable improvement right off idle too. If you've got work planned in the valley of your 3.6, or you're chasing every last ounce of performance you can get, this is a must-do mod.
To be transparent as possible, I want to add that we did pay full price for this manifold, and we do earn some commission if you buy through one of the provided links. If you found this information helpful, and want to help us out, click a link on this page to buy the lower manifold and we'll earn a couple percent. This does not affect the price you pay, and we greatly appreciate it! In fact, any shopping through our affiliate links, like this one to Amazon.com, and this one for Summit Racing, works the same way. For the full affiliate disclosure and vendor list, click here. I wish you the best of luck with your manifold project - Thanks for visiting!
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