The 2018 Jeep Wrangler made its long-awaited debut at the 2017 Los Angeles auto show, but one company has already performed the inevitable LS swap.
Bruiser Conversions posted the General Motors 6.2-liter LS3 V-8 powered Wrangler to its Facebook page earlier this month, and when we say the company stuffed the engine in there, we mean it. The big V-8 just barely squeezes under the Wrangler's hood.
According to the company, the off-road SUV now makes a healthy 450 horsepower and an identical amount of torque. We'd say that's more than an enjoyable amount of power for the SUV, which normally gets by with either 285 hp and 260 pound-feet of torque from its 3.6-liter V-6 or 270 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque from its turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 engine.
The company is still rather light on details following the announcement, but the official Facebook post did add that the engine is hooked up to the Wrangler's original 8-speed automatic transmission. Any fuel economy improvements from the extra two gears over the outgoing Wrangler will certainly be lost in the name of power. But, then again, no one does an LS swap in the name of efficiency.
If this kind of project evokes desire, we have good news. Bruiser Conversions said it will offer LS3 V-8 engine kits for owners to perform the swap themselves, or it will happily execute the swap in-house. The company didn't provide a price yet, but we have a feeling more than a few owners will pony up.
