i just bought a 1999 Dakota 4X4 with a 5.2l V8. i am completely happy with the truck as a whole but i am disappointed in the performance. with a big *** V8 like this has it should pull like a mother but i find myself flooring it to get up any large hills. i saw that jet chip dyno'ed the motor at only 185hp peak and i think dodge rates it at like 240. it feels like the transmission kinda dogs the motor, i really wanted a stick shift but they seem impossible to find on a v8 Dakota. so i was thinking some sort of computer upgrade. from what i hear on the forum Jet chip sucks, but i looked into hyper tech and super chips. hyper tech only claims a 4hp gain which i dont think is worth it. superchips doesn't make any claim to actual performance increase and offers no dyno results. what i want is a computer upgrade that will improve my shifting, bump up the horsepower and still run on 87 octane. i also plan on installing a K&N cold air intake kit but i would like to avoid installing an exhaust system. is there a ram air system available for these trucks?

 

"dyno'ed the motor at only 185hp peak and i think dodge rates it at like 240"
Remember, the auto industry rates engine HP coming off the crankshaft. Car dyno's are done at the rear wheels (or, front wheels, in a FWD vehicle), so it loosed power.
If it hasn't had one in a while, (or, looks like it could use one) , do a tune up (spark plugs, plug wires, inspect the distributor cap and rotor).
Also check for trouble codes. (Turn the key to on (but not start)-off-on-off-on. [3 cycles] and count the flashes. It should give you the P#### code)
Other than that, I don't have any experiance with the newer Dakotas, sorry.

 

oh and i forgot to mention that it only has 48k miles on it, the air filter is brand new oil has been changed and the tranny fluid was just flushed. i made the seller do all that as part of the sale. honestly it doesnt feel like its broken and when i do floor it the truck gets up that hill, i guess i just expected more. just because i like them i ordered iridium spark plugs and a new set of nice wires.

 

Autos do eat up a lot of power.

Consider changing your ring and pinion ratio and getting a good torque converter as well. these are pretty heavy little trucks so the engine has to work a bit on the hills. Why don't you want to do any exhaust work? The oem stuff seems quite restrictive to me, so if you are expecting to put more air into the motor, you'll need to be able to get more exhaust out of it to take full advantage of your intake side mods. The stock manifolds aren't too bad, but you can gain ~10-15hp by swapping them out, then custom 2.25" piping into a 3" or so high flow cat and 3" muffler on out the stock location. You can get fairly quiet aftermarket performance mufflers, so it's not like a tradeoff between noise and power.

 

i have a 97 5.2 dakota and i was actually impressed with the power. i got rid of my 5.9 ram and my dakota goes like crazy. i think you might have a power loss issue. definetly do a tune up first before you spend money on the chips and other mods