2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo Sport Utility 4-door 4.7l on 2040-cars

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How to tune a car right: Part 3, tuning Mopar with OST Dyno

Not long ago, I wrote a story about a pony car tuned with a supercharger. The blower install had been done properly. Then the car's owner bolted on a set of great looking wheels wrapped in good looking but inexpensive rubber. On my first test drive, I couldn't get any of that supercharged sweetness to the ground. It was the perfect ride for parking in a Burger King parking lot on a Friday night. I tooled around on a Sunday drive, shaking my head that someone had spent five figures to get more power the right way, with a clean install, then wiped out the gains so thoroughly that the stock engine would likely have overwhelmed the tires. This got me thinking about the ways people ruin their quest for horsepower, either on the front end by not insisting on a clean install and paying the money for it, or on the back end with supplemental purchases like cheap tires or cheap gas. So I called three tuners, one focused on GM, one on Mopar, one on Ford, to find out what people should know about how to get the best power for their goals, and how to make sure they are able to use all that power. The first interview in this three-part series was with Blake Leonard at Top Speed Cincy in Cincinnati, Ohio, the second with Brandon Alsept at BA Motorsports in Milford, Ohio. This third and last interview is with Micah Doban at OST Dyno in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, a family business with more than 40 years of Mopar expertise specializing in Gen III Hemis, but tuning everything from land-speed cars and drag racers to Jeeps The interview has been edited for clarity and concision. Do people who come to OST generally know what they want? Probably 80% of the people who come in simply want more power with no particular ET goal [ET is a kind of bracket handicapped drag racing – ed.]. WhatÂ’s the best way to start a Mopar tune? The first thing is what people often skip, and that's to find a tuner or a shop. People will throw parts on their cars that the Internet said to, then go to a tuner who does things a different way, and [the tuner is] like ‘No we don't like to use these injectors, we don't like these parts.Â’ You have to find someone familiar with the parts that are on your car or that you're planning to put on your car. So having a goal and then finding a tuner who can help you with that goal is proper way to start. Exactly. And a lot of tuners have their own formula – and when I say tuner I mean someone that also does work to the cars.

Stellantis earnings rise along with EV sales

AMSTERDAM — Automaker Stellantis on Wednesday reported its earnings grew in 2022 from a year earlier and said its push into electric vehicles led to a jump in sales even as it faces growing competition from an industrywide shift to more climate-friendly offerings. Stellantis, formed in 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and FranceÂ’s PSA Peugeot, said net revenue of 179.6 billion euros ($191 billion) was up 18% from 2021, citing strong pricing and its mix of vehicles. It reported net profit of 16.8 billion euros, up 26% from 2021. Stellantis plans to convert all of its European sales and half of its U.S. sales to battery-electric vehicles by 2030. It said the strategy led to a 41% increase in battery EV sales in 2022, to 288,000 vehicles, compared with the year earlier. The company has “demonstrated the effectiveness of our electrification strategy in Europe,” CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement. “We now have the technology, the products, the raw materials and the full battery ecosystem to lead that same transformative journey in North America, starting with our first fully electric Ram vehicles from 2023 and Jeep from 2024.” The automaker is competing in an increasingly crowded field for a share of the electric vehicle market. Companies are scrambling to roll out environmentally friendly models as they look to hit goals of cutting climate-changing emissions, driven by government pressure. The transformation has gotten a boost from a U.S. law that is rolling out big subsidies for clean technology like EVs but has European governments calling out the harm that they say the funding poses to homegrown industry across the Atlantic. Stellantis' Jeep brand will start selling two fully electric SUVs in North America and another one in Europe over the next two years. It says its Ram brand will roll out an electric pickup truck this year, joining a rush of EV competitors looking to claim a piece of the full-size truck market. The company plans to bring 25 battery-electric models to the U.S. by 2030. As part of that push, it has said it would build two EV battery factories in North America. A $2.5 billion joint venture with Samsung will bring one of those facilities to Indiana, which is expected to employ up to 1,400 workers. The other factory will be in Windsor, Ontario, a collaboration with South KoreaÂ’s LG Energy Solution that aims to create about 2,500 jobs. The EV push comes amid a slowdown in U.S.

Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X finally on the way to dealers

After a brief pause, the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X are on their way to dealers again. While initially reported as a software bug, the issue had nothing to do with the models themselves. According to a statement from FCA US to Autoblog, the "vehicles were built with an atypical Vehicle Identification Number that may not be recognized as valid by some computer systems." That problem has now been fixed. FCA US held the compact crossovers back from dealers until the company could rectify the bug. If the CUVs had been delivered, there would have been difficulty registering the vehicles, according to Automotive News. Before discovering the situation, about 20 of these Renegades were sold to customers. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne originally discussed the predicament in late May. "I'm having a very bad engineering day," he said. "It's a combination of attributes of that vehicle that is making my life horrible." While the boss predicted the problem would be fixed as late as mid-June, the company apparently got things working much quicker than that. Related Video: FCA US Statement A limited number of 2015 Jeep Renegade and 2016 Fiat 500X vehicles were built with an atypical Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) that may not be recognized as valid by some computer systems. This VIN issue has been resolved. FCA US has been working with governmental agencies, insurers and financial institutions with whom customers may interact to ensure successful registration, financing and insurance coverage. Renegade and 500X vehicles are being shipped and are in stock at dealerships for purchase. The VIN issue is entirely separate from the operation of the vehicle.