Tuning Feature: Nissan RB30S Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan RB30S engine!"

We are frequently getting posts asking about the optimum RB30S power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan RB30S mods and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

We shall examine RB30S tuning and outline the best mods that work. Nissan RB30S make awesome project engines and with carefully picked performance parts like a remap, turbo improvements and camshafts you will greatly maximise the drivers enjoyment of your car.

Just because particular modifications are popular with RB30S owners it doesn't mean it is good, we will focus on the top modifications to provide your RB30S with the biggest power gain return for your cash.

Significant power gains can be made on engines, and the RB30S is no exception, through cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.

NB: Fast road cams tend to boost the torque throughout the rpm band, you could drop a little bottom end torque but your higher rpm power will be higher.

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

A Motorsport camshaft is not great driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally optimize your bhp range to your preferences so for a road car stick with a fast road RB30S camshaft

Some RB30S engines respond better to extreme camshaft durations so view each engine as unique.

The engine timing and fuelling also have an effect on the torque gains you'll get.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the torque 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.

RB30S Tuning Stages

Stage 1 RB30S modifications: Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Intake headers.

Stage 2 RB30S modifications: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, induction kit.

Stage 3 RB30S modifications: Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Twin charging conversions.

Remaps should help to fully realize the full potential of all the mods you've done to your RB30S.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but figures achieved often rely on the mods you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

It is the aim to any engine modification project to get air and fuel into each cylinder

Air Intake manifolds carry the air during the suck phase from the intake filter and allow it to be fed into the engine cylinders.

Design and rate of flow of the Plenum can make a large effect on to fuel mixing and power on the RB30S.

We often see intake headers are crying out for an upgrade, although some manufacturers provide reasonably good intake headers.

Increasing the RB30S valve size, doing some port work and head flowing will also improve torque, and as an added benefit will allow you to get a better torque increase on other mods.

Turbo upgrades for the RB30S

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 RB30S

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

If a car is turbocharged, modifications are going to net you a larger power gain and you'll see that turbocharged engines will have 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 fit better quality components to utilize the power.

We see many tuners spending a lots of money on turbocharger upgrades on the RB30S only to watch the motor literally blow up just after it's used in anger.

Larger turbo units commonly experience a bottom end lag, and little turbo units spool up much more quickly but don't have the peak rpm torque gains.

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

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

You'll commonly see there is a restriction in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the RB30S when considerably more air is being sucked into the engine.

Going up you'll find 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 performance gains, although more complex to configure. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating RB30S fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to increase the fuelling when you start exceeding 20% of a bhp and torque increase.Don't forget to over specify your injectors flow rate.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% to the flow rate when buying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and allows 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 RB30S performance exhausts

You may need to boost your exhaust if your current exhaust is creating a restriction in flow.

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

Note that with the largest exhaust you can find you'll slow the exhaust rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

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

Problems and issues to look out for on the RB30S

The RB30S 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 RB30S, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your RB30S engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our RB30S 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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