Tuning Feature: Nissan QG13DE Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan QG13DE engine!"

We are always getting posts asking how to improve the QG13DE from people wanting to know what are the things we recommend when it comes to QG13DE power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan QG13DE mods 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 QG13DE tuning and outline the greatest upgrades. Nissan QG13DE are good project engines and with the optimum performance modifications like ECU maps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will noticeably maximise the drivers fun of your car.

Just because particular mods are are common on QG13DE it doesn't mean you should fit it, instead we will concentrate on the best mods to provide your QG13DE with the biggest power gain return for your cash.

Significant power hikes can be made on engines, and the QG13DE is no exception, with cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the torque and power output.

NB: Fast road cams normally raise the power over the rpm band, you could drop a little bottom end torque but your top end will be higher.

Competition cams, raise the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

On a road car one, ideally, need to optimize your power band to your typical driving style.

I'd be surprised if you have ever thought a QG13DE Motorsport and race cam is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic.

Some QG13DE engines respond better to extreme cam durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and injectors and fuel pump also have an effect on the bhp gains you'll get.

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.

QG13DE Tuning Stages

Stage 1 QG13DE modifications: Fast road camshaft, Intake headers, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Remaps/piggy back ECU.

Stage 2 QG13DE modifications: Ported and polished head, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Fast road cam, induction kit, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 QG13DE modifications: Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression.

Remaps will help to establish the full potential of all the mods you've done to your QG13DE.

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 may depend much on the mods you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Pulling air into the QG13DE engine is vital to any engine tuning job.

Intake transmit the air from the air cleaner and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

The size of bore and shape and flow rate of the Headers can make a big improvement to fuel engine efficiency on the QG13DE.

I usually find air intake manifolds are in dire need of aftermarket parts, although a few OEM provide fairly well optimized air intake manifolds.

Increasing the QG13DE valve size, doing some QG13DE port enlargement and head flowing will also boost performance, this will allow you to get a greater performance increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the QG13DE

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 QG13DE

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

When the engine is turbo charged upgrades are more reliable and most turbocharged engines are built with many forged and stronger components.

However every engines have weakspots

Discover these limitations and install forged components to handle the power.

We see many people spending a fortune on turbo charger upgrades on the QG13DE only to have the engine literally blow up when it's been enthusiastically driven.

Bigger capacity turbochargers tend to experience low end lag, and small turbochargers spool up really quickly but won't have the high rpm engines power gains.

Thanks to progress the selection of turbo chargers is always evolving and we commonly find variable vane turbo chargers, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust gases into two channels and feed these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there's a limitation in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the QG13DE when considerably more air is being sucked into the engine.

You'll see that 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting bhp at a much lower level.

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

Uprating QG13DE fuel injectors

When you boost the power you will need to uprate to the fuel system.

More power needs more fuel. Most tuners we speak with say to be generous with your injectors flow rate.

The rule of thumb is to add another 20% when specifying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and provides 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 QG13DE performance exhausts

You only need to to improve your exhaust if your exhaust is creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your 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 wide or you will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches as a rule of thumb.

Common exhaust restrictions come around the catalysts installed, so adding a faster flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the QG13DE

The QG13DE 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 QG13DE, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your QG13DE engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our QG13DE 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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