Tuning Feature: Nissan BR10D Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan BR10D engine!"

We are frequently getting posts inquiring about getting more power from the BR10D and wanting to know what are the best tips on BR10D modifications. So let us look into Nissan BR10D tuning mods and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

Let us outline options for your BR10D tuning and provide tips on the greatest modifications for your car. Nissan BR10D provide a fun base for your project and with carefully chosen tuning parts like remaps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will definitely maximise the drivers pleasure of your car.

The best BR10D tuning parts on an engine are sensibly the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular BR10D tuning parts, they need to be cost effective.

The cam profile plays a big part in the engines power output so cam upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake and exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen cam profile, so large torque gains are on offer for cam upgrades.

NB: Fast road camshafts usually push up the bhp and torque across the rev range, you may lose a little bottom end power but the higher rpm power will improve.

Motorsport and race camshafts, push up the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Race camshaft will just annoy you whilst driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally match your bhp range to your driving style so for a typical daily driver stick with a mild fast road BR10D camshaft

Some BR10D engines respond better to extreme cam durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The map and injectors and fuel pump also will say much on the bhp gains you'll hit.

A longer valve duration can alter the bhp band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

BR10D Tuning Stages

Stage 1 BR10D modifications: Intake headers, Panel air filters, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Fast road camshaft.

Stage 2 BR10D modifications: Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust.

Stage 3 BR10D modifications: Twin charging conversions, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Competition cam.

Remaps should help to to establish the full potential of all the parts you've done to your BR10D.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your results usually differs on the parts you've done and the condition of your engine.

Forcing air and fuel into each cylinder is the main goal to any performance tuning project.

Air Intake manifolds take the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be pulled into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

Shape and flow rate of the Plenum can make a large change to fuel delivery on the BR10D.

I usually find air intake manifolds are begging for aftermarket tuning parts, although some OEM provide fairly well optimized air intake manifolds.

Larger BR10D valves, getting port matching and head flowing will also boost bhp, & importantly will permit an improved bhp increase on other mods.

Turbo upgrades for the BR10D

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your BR10D

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes massive power gains.

If an engine is turbocharged, parts are more reliable and most turbocharged engines already contain harder and stronger components.

However most engines have limits

See where you'll find these restrictions and fit better quality crank and pistons to handle the power.

We see many mechanics spending a fortune on turbocharger upgrades on the BR10D only to see the BR10D go up in smoke on it's first outing after it's used in anger.

Large turbo units often suffer no power at low rpm, and smaller turbo units spool up quickly but do not have the peak rpm torque gains.

We are pleased that the range of turbo units is always developing and we are seeing variable vane turbo units, permitting the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into two channels and flow these at differently profiled vanes in the turbocharger. They also boost the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there's a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the BR10D when loads more air is being fed into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting torque at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp gains, although harder to install. We have this article covering twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating BR10D fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so must uprate the fuelling when you start going beyond 20% of a torque increase.We strongly recommend you to be generous with your injectors flow rate.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% capacity when buying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and provides you some spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best BR10D performance exhausts

You may need to upgrade your exhaust if the current exhaust is creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the flow rate is still fine even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow from the engine but do not go too wide or you could reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches as a rule of thumb.

Usual exhaust restrictions can be located in the emissions filters installed, so adding a faster flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the BR10D

The BR10D engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues. {But if neglected they can cost a small fortune|When neglected they get very expensive to run|They can however be quite expensive if neglected| }

Regular oil changes are vital on the BR10D, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your BR10D engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our BR10D owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Nissan. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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