Tuning Feature: Nissan CR10DE Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Nissan CR10DE engine!"

We are regularly getting emails inquiring about getting more power from the CR10DE and wanting to know what are the best CR10DE power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan CR10DE parts and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

In this article we provide a guide to CR10DE tuning and show the greatest modifications. Nissan CR10DE are fantastic to work on and with carefully chosen sports upgrades like a remap, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will positively maximise the drivers experience of your car.

When talking about the optimum parts for your CR10DE engine, we are going to concentrate on the tuning mods that give the best power gain for you money.

Altering your CR10DE camshaft often will make a dramatic difference to your engines engines power. Choosing a higher performance camshaft profile raises the engines power accordingly

NB: Fast road camshafts normally boost the bhp throughout the rev band, you may lose a little bottom end torque but your high end rpm power will be better.

Motorsport camshafts, boost the high end rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

On a daily driver one, ideally, should ideally to optimize your power band to your preferences.

I would be surprised if you have ever thought a CR10DE Race cam is a pleasure to live with when driving in heavy traffic.

Some CR10DE engines respond better to more aggressive cam durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and fuelling also will say much on the power gains you'll make.

A longer valve duration can alter the power 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.

CR10DE Tuning Stages

Stage 1 CR10DE modifications: Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Intake headers, Drilled & smoothed airbox.

Stage 2 CR10DE modifications: induction kit, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 CR10DE modifications: Twin charging conversions, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

Mapping allows a tuner to fully realize the full potential of all the parts you've done to your CR10DE.

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

Forcing more fuel and air into the CR10DE engine is the whole point to any tuning job.

Intake headers transmit the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be fed into the engine and mixed with fuel.

The size of bore and shape and flow rate of the Intake manifold can make a substantial difference to to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the CR10DE.

Most intake are needing motorsport parts, although a few makers provide reasonably well designed intake.

Increasing the CR10DE valve size, doing some port work and head flowing will also lift performance, and significantly will raise potential for a greater performance increase on other tuning parts.

Turbo upgrades for the CR10DE

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 CR10DE

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

When a car is fitted with a turbocharger modifications are going to make more power and we find turbo charged engines already contain many forged and stronger components.

There are reliable limits for every engine, with some being incredibly solid and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

See where you'll find these limits and upgrade to better quality crank and pistons to survive the power.

It's not unheard of guys spending a loads of money on turbocharger upgrades on the CR10DE only to experience the motor literally blow up soon after it's completed.

Large capacity turbo chargers commonly suffer a bottom end lag, and low capacity turbo chargers spool up more quickly but don't have the peak end power band gains.

Over the last 20 years the selection of turbos is always evolving and we now see variable vane turbos, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.

Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into two channels and direct these at differently profiled vanes in the turbo. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there's a limitation in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the CR10DE when loads more air is being pulled into the engine.

Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped performance at a much lower level.

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

Uprating CR10DE fuel injectors

Don't miss you'll need to ramp up the fuelling when you are increasing the bhp - it makes the car more thirsty. It is important to be generous with your injector capacity.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% when fitting an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and provides some spare capacity should the engine need 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 CR10DE performance exhausts

You should look to boost your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the flow rate is ok 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 generally help improve air flow out of the engine but avoid an exhaust that is too large or you will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.

Common exhaust restrictions can be traced to the catalysts installed, so adding a freer flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the CR10DE

The CR10DE 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 CR10DE, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your CR10DE engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our CR10DE owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help to complete and improve this page, so do give us your feedback in the comments box below.

We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which mods were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our CR10DE guides and tips are kept up to date.

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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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