Tuning Feature: Nissan TD42T Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Nissan TD42T engine!"

We are regularly getting messages inquiring about getting more power from the TD42T and wanting to know what are the things we recommend when it comes to TD42T power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan TD42T parts and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

The Nissan TD42T are fantastic to work on and with the ultimate sports mods like remapping, turbo improvements and camshafts you will certainly improve your driving pleasure.

In this article we provide a guide to TD42T tuning and summarise the greatest mods that work.

When talking about the best parts for your TD42T engine, we are going to focus on the tuning mods that give the best power gain for you money.

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

NB: Fast road cams normally increase the power through the rev band, you might lose a little low end bhp but high end rpm power will improve.

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

In a typical daily driver one, ideally, need to optimize your torque band to your typical driving style.

I would be surprised if you find a TD42T Competition cam is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.

Some TD42T engines respond better to extreme cam durations than others.

The ECU mapping and injectors and fuel pump also will make differences on the bhp gains you'll achieve.

Longer valve durations 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.

TD42T Tuning Stages

Stage 1 TD42T modifications: Fast road camshaft, Intake headers, Sports exhaust manifold, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 TD42T modifications: Fast road cam, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, induction kit.

Stage 3 TD42T modifications: Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Twin charging conversions, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam.

Remaps helps fully realize the full potential of all the tuning mods you've done to your TD42T.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your mileage may vary depending on the tuning mods you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

Forcing more fuel and air into the TD42T engine is vital to any performance tuning task.

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

The shape and flow rate of the Air Intake manifolds can make a large difference to to fuel engine efficiency on the TD42T.

On popular production engines plenum chambers are in dire need of motorsport parts, although a few manufacturers provide well optimised plenum chambers.

Big valve conversions on the TD42T, getting port matching and head flowing will also lift torque, & more importantly will permit a better torque increase on other tuning parts.

Turbo upgrades for the TD42T

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 TD42T

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

If the engine has a turbo already fitted tuning parts are relatively easy and you'll see that turbocharged engines are built with many forged and stronger components.

However most engines will have power limits

We recommend you find these limitations and fit better quality crank and pistons to survive the power.

It's not unheard of people spending a loads of money on turbocharger upgrades on the TD42T only to have the engine go up in smoke on it's first outing after it's used in anger.

Larger turbochargers often suffer low end lag, and small turbochargers spool up more quickly but won't have the top end bhp gains.

Thanks to progress the choice of turbochargers is always developing and we are seeing variable vane turbochargers, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

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

You'll commonly see there is a restriction in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the TD42T 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 limited bhp at a much lower level.

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

Uprating TD42T fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to ramp up the fuelling when you start extending past 20% of a bhp increase.Don't forget to over specify your injector capacity.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when buying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and gives a bit of 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 TD42T performance exhausts

You may need to improve your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually causing a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll see 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 balance the flow of air through the engine.

But if the exhaust pipe is too big, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose much of your flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

Typically exhaust restrictions can be traced to the emissions filters installed, so adding a freer flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the TD42T

The TD42T 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 TD42T, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your TD42T engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our TD42T 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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We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which upgrades were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our TD42T 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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