Tuning Feature: Nissan VE30DE Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan VE30DE engine!"

We are frequently getting posts requesting information on the best tips for VE30DE power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan VE30DE modifications and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

The Nissan VE30DE are good project engines and with the ultimate modified tuning mods like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will really improve your driving fun.

TorqueCars will examine the options for your VE30DE tuning and provide tips on the best modifications for your car.

Just because particular mods are are common on VE30DE it doesn't mean its worth having, instead we will focus on the ultimate mods to provide your VE30DE with the best value for money to power increase.

Altering your VE30DE cam could make a dramatic difference to your engines engines power. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the engines power .

NB: Fast road cams tend to raise the bhp through the rpm range, you could drop a little low down power but top end will be higher.

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

A Motorsport camshaft will just annoy you whilst on the daily commute.

You should ideally optimize your power band to your usage of the car so for a road car stick with a shorter duration VE30DE camshaft

Each engine responds better to extreme camshaft durations than others.

The ecu map and fuel pump and injectors also will say much on the power gains you'll make.

Extending exhaust or intake durations 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.

VE30DE Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VE30DE modifications: Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold, Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters, Intake headers.

Stage 2 VE30DE modifications: Fast road cam, induction kit, Ported and polished head, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injectors.

Stage 3 VE30DE modifications: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves).

ECU flashing allows a tuner to to establish the full potential of all the tuning parts you've done to your VE30DE.

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 usually depend much on the tuning parts you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Feeding more fuel and air into your VE30DE is vital to any engine modification project.

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

The shape and flow characteristics of the Intake manifold can make a noticeable improvement to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the VE30DE.

Most intake headers are in dire need of motorsport parts, although some makers provide reasonably well designed intake headers.

Fitting big valve kits, getting port work and head flowing will also raise bhp and torque, this will allow you to get a better bhp and torque increase on other tuning parts.

Turbo upgrades for the VE30DE

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 VE30DE

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 the engine has forced induction parts are going to make more power and we find turbo charged engines are made using more solid components.

However you will find an engines will have power limits

It is important to find these limits and fit more solid crank and pistons to survive the power.

We see many people spending a lot of money on turbocharger upgrades on the VE30DE only to see the engine explode on it's first outing after it's been enthusiastically driven.

Bigger capacity turbo units often suffer a bottom end lag, and little turbo units spool up more quickly but don't have the peak rpm bhp gains.

Thanks to new tech the world of turbos is always evolving and we now see variable vane turbos, where the vane profile 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 designed vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there is a limit in the air flow sensor (AFM/MAF/MAP) on the VE30DE when loads more air is being pulled into the engine.

You'll see that 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 performance gains, although more difficult to get working. We have this article covering twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating VE30DE 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 bhp and torque increase.It makes sense to over specify your flow rate on the injectors.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when buying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and affords a bit of 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 VE30DE performance exhausts

You only need to to increase your exhaust if the existing exhaust is creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is good 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 out of the engine but do not go too large or you could reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.

Typically exhaust restrictions can be located in the catalyst installed, so adding a higher flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the VE30DE

The VE30DE 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 VE30DE, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VE30DE engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VE30DE 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 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 VE30DE 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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