I have a 1998 Dodge Dakota with a 2.5L engine with a manual transmission. I would like to upgrade the performance of this engine while retaining (or improving) fuel economy. I have installed a throttle body spacer and a cold air intake. Are there any upgrade tips? Thanks.

V8.

Insightful yet not the route I was going for. Although I must admit a V8 would be nice.

A performance chip, maybe a turbocharger off of a Mopar car of the same motor, something like that...

Yeah I've been looking into a turbocharger but I can't find one made for my truck. I guess not many people think a 2.5L is worth the time and effort. Im thinking about getting the Venom 400 to upgrade the dakota. Lookin at a 300 buck deal on that so basically waitin on the cash.

A 2.5 definitely is worth the effort, like it was in the older cars. I'm sure you can take a turbo from a 2.5 from like a Shelby Daytona or something. I think a Dodge Magnum 2.5 engine is very similar to the one used in the older cars.

You can turbo the 2.5L in the truck, everything still fits from a turbo car. If you're lucky, the oiling ports are on your 2.5 too, ifnot, you can get around that with a remote oil filter adaptor and some adaptors.

Do it! It'll be fun to watch. Tell me when it's finished and I'll come and see it run. Might even be fast...

If you need mor info or help post it here and I'll give you other details as to all what you have to do to make more than 200 BHP out of that thing....

Check your poll, I gave you a reply that might suprise you.

There are 153 reasons why not to put that motor in that truck......:)

Slantsixness
From Beautiful Downtown Spotsylvania, VA (HA HA HA)

There are several things you can do to upgrade the 2.5l other than a turbo. One of the greatest items of note on the magnum 2.5l is that it is the same as the jeep 2.5l.

Mopar makes a cat-back system, cam, and valve upgrades

Pacesetter and Borla make headers for the 2.5l jeep, same as the dakota. The pacesetters can be gotten for around 150 while the borlas cost closer to 300

The jeep 4.0l throttle body fits onto our engines, just make sure it is off of a wrangler tj with the MAP sensor on the throttle. Most of the other jeeps have their MAP on the firewall (with spacer, up to $180). You will also need to move your sensors over from your current tb to the new one.

180 degree t-stat (stant #36308 or 65358 at checker/schuck/kragen, www.partsexpress.com, $10)

make your own intake ($50)

could try port and polish (DIY for around 50-100 depending on tools you already have)

jet stage II performance chip ($230)

flowmaster 40 series delta muffler

accel 300+ ignition system ($300)

These are probably the easiest mods to perform on a 2.5l. The throttle, port/polish, intake, and exhaust should probably be done before the jet II because the stage two assumes that the engine's breathing has been opened up. If you want to go with the chip first, you should probably stick to a stage I chip. If you are considering building up the engine to a large extent, I have heard that the crank/rods/pistons for the 2.2l turbo fit into the block and that crank will carry 300 hp no prob while the stock 2.5 will only hold about 200 hp.

for info on port and polishing the head yourself, try the following resources. None of these are specifically for a dakota, but it is similar for most vehicles. Supposedly, summit racing makes a port & polish kit that they sell for about $30.

info resources:
http://www.automotiverebuilder.com/ar/ar39924.htm
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/63200/index1.html
http://www.sa-motorsports.com/diyport.htm
http://www.gtiworld.fsnet.co.uk/porting.htm
http://www.miata.net/hakuna/port2.html

parts resources:
http://www.ruffstuff.com/pages/pindex.html
http://www.carbidebur.com/automotive.html

I want some of what dralin's smokin.....

Dralin states:
"I have heard that the crank/rods/pistons for the 2.2l turbo fit into the block and that crank will carry 300 hp no prob while the stock 2.5 will only hold about 200 hp."

LOL,.... no LOL!!!!

"There are several things you can do to upgrade the 2.5l other than a turbo"

There are several things I can do to run your normally aspirated 110 Hp 2.5L at least 3 seconds behind my whiny little turbo's all day long.


You livin it up dude, I don't know where you bought that stuff, but I'm getting a buzz off it from here.

Slantsixness

Whats the difference between the Jet stage 2 and the Venom 300, wouldn't the Venom 300 be a better bet since it modifies as it sees it, and basically at WOT? Plus the Venom has an off switch which will return my truck to well, the bolt-on stockness of it lol. Plus only lookin at $70 more for the Venom.

The venom will allow you to pass emissions when they get to your county, too. Jet won't.

So there's a thought. I've gotta do emmisions next year with all mine (pain in the A$$).

I wasn't saying that the crank/rods/pistons from the 2.2 was going to make the 2.5 have 300 hp, I was saying that they would be *safe* up to 300 hp. I have also mentioned they had to be from the 2.2 turbo, not just any 2.2.

Just to let you know slant, the 2.5 is 120 hp stock, not 110.

As far as turbo v. normally aspirated, I just don't like the idea of a nifty little turbine spinning anywhere from 15k - 90k rpms with splines that could blow into my engine at any time. Some people like turbos and if they can get it to work safely, more power to them (literally).

I was also saying that you can upgrade the engine without doing a turbo setup, not that you can't turbo it. You may have the money to burn on a turbo, but I don't so I have to make do with what I can.

It's great to know that there's at least one jackass on here who has to comment on everything anyone says about the 4 banger, I'm really glad to see that everyone here understands the concept of a limited budget (= no engine swap).

this is dralin signing off, not to return

Were you actually calling me a donkey?

first,
Turbos are very safe, and they're not expensive, especially considering you'd spend at least $600.00 just in bullsh!T upgrades you could avoid with a $35.00 junkyard turbo and about $100.00 of other small parts. What concept do YOU have of a limited budget?

Second,
what exactly is the difference between 110 and 120 HP... both still crawl... and the old 2.2's were 110hp so, whatever dude.... I suppose you could change the intake temperature sensor to read cold all the time and then you'd gain 20 more HP too, huh...? yeah that's Bullsh!t you hear all right...

Third,
If you can't take the flaming, don't stoke the fire.

Actually Just slapping a turbo on a vehicle not set up for it is a horrible idea unless you plan on running no more than 6 lbs of boost. Any more than that requires forged components unless you want to be rebuilding your motor every 15-20000 miles.

Dralin's approach is much safer for engine components minus scabbing 2.2 componentry in your 2.5.

not fueling the fire just adding level headed 2 cents. 2.5 with a turbo in a jeep is still going to be gutless. Its nature of the beast so all you can do is A: either deal with it, or B: Help by upgrading what you can.

Keith