(Photos courtesy of Dustin Foust and Ryan Hogan) –A few days ago, I was having a conversation with one of my buddies, and he told me about a crazy Turbo Jeep Cherokee 4.7 stroker I6 project he has been following. Now, I’m no stranger to Jeep I6 Turbo builds, having helped my friends build two vehicles employing this underrated engine, but when he told me how much power it was making… well… look at this dyno sheet:
Yes, you are reading that right: Right around 425hp and more than 535 lb. ft. of torque… at the wheels… from a Jeep 4.7L. WOW.
Here’s where the engine lives: in this mundane, sedate-appearing 1994 Jeep Cherokee.
Can you say Sleeper?
This Jeep is owned by a guy named Dustin Foust. Dustin has been working with a tuner named Ryan Hogan, whose specialty is tuning Jeep and Chrysler engines, such as the 4.0L I6, the 90’s Magnum V8’s, and the Hemis of the new millennium. Between the two of them, they have created this monster of a sleeper. We love it!
According to Ryan, here are some details of the build:
-94 chassis, 96 OBD2 PCM and harness
-SCT tuning- 60 lb injectors, SRT4 2 bar map , Walbro 400 pump
-Return fuel system
-4.7 stroker (.060 over , 4.2 12w crank)
-8.2 compression
-218/224 114 turbo cam
-Turbonetics 76mm/.96 turbo, T4 frame
-Hesco Aluminum unicorn cylinder head (along with their porting program)
-99+ manifold with port matching and some light plenum work
-Stock throttle body (yes, really!!!)
-Pretty sure the turbo manifold and downpipe/exhaust was all one-off, with 4″ exhaust
-TKO600R trans
-Air to water intercooled, 15 psi
-2WD- was converted to a 2wd axle up front
-Vehicle is stripped, weighs 2930 w/driver
Six in a row, and it’s not slow!
There’s nothing too exotic on that list, aside from maybe the Hesco aluminum head. Also, Dustin and Ryan have been collaborating on this build together through email correspondence, since Ryan resides in Florida and Dustin is in Pennsylvania, doing a lot of the mods himself. Isn’t technology awesome?
This is still a build in progress, as Ryan and Dustin believe that some of the stock parts left on the engine are leaving some power on the table. They are zeroing in on making more power by porting the stock intake manifold, and possibly upgrading to a custom fabricated sheet metal intake with a larger throttle body. Although power output is impressive now, they believe there could be another 100hp locked up in that intake.
The “business side” of the 4.7L stroker. Note the intercooler hanging out where the stock airbox used to be. Looks pretty clean!
This build makes me want to pick up a Jeep or AMC and build a sick street sleeper myself with a similar 4.7 stroker turbo setup under the hood. This Cherokee is just too cool. If you are interested in the build, or want to check out more of Ryan’s work, search for Flyin’ Ryan Performance on Facebook, where you can find this build and many other Mopar builds he’s worked on. You can also contact him through the Air Ram Performance website.
What do you guys think of this sleepy Cherokee build? Let us know below!
