Tuning Feature: Nissan VG20ET Modified

"Comprehensive guide to performance tuning the Nissan VG20ET engine!"

We are frequently getting posts asking how to improve the VG20ET from people wanting to know what are the best tips on VG20ET mods that work. So let us look into Nissan VG20ET tuning mods and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some problems along the way.

The Nissan VG20ET offer good returns when tuned and with a few sensible uprated tuning mods like ECU maps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will greatly increase your driving opportunities.

Let us examine VG20ET tuning and summarise the best upgrades.

When talking about the ultimate parts for your VG20ET engine, we are going to focus on the tuning parts that give the best power gain for you money.

Significant power increases can be made on engines, and the VG20ET is no exception, through cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the engines power and power output.

NB: Fast road cams tend to bump the bhp and torque throughout the rev range, you might lose a little bottom end power but the top end will improve.

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

A Motorsport and race cam makes it harder when on the daily commute.

You should ideally match your power band to your typical driving style so for a car driven daily stick with a shorter duration VG20ET cam

Different VG20ET engines respond better to mild cam durations so view each engine as unique.

The engine timing and injectors and fuel pump also have an effect on the power gains you'll hit.

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.

VG20ET Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VG20ET modifications: Fast road camshaft, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, Intake headers, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Drilled & smoothed airbox.

Stage 2 VG20ET modifications: induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 VG20ET modifications: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves).

ECU mapping allows a tuner to unlock the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your VG20ET.

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

It is the aim to any engine performance tuning job to shove more fuel and air into your VG20ET

The intake plenum take the air from the intake filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

The size of bore and shape and flow rate of the Intake headers can make a large improvement to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the VG20ET.

We often see intake are needing an upgrade, although some manufacturers provide reasonably good intake.

Fitting big valve kits, carrying out 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also lift power, and significantly will make space for a better power increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the VG20ET

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 VG20ET

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.

If your car has forced induction upgrades are going to net you a larger power gain and most turbo charged engines already contain better components.

There are practical limits for every engine, with some being incredibly solid and some only able to handle stock power

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

We've seen people spending a lots of money on turbocharger upgrades on the VG20ET only to see the engine block catastrophically fail on it's first outing after it's finished.

Big turbos will usually suffer low end lag, and little turbos spool up quickly but won't have the high rpm bhp gains.

We are pleased that the world of turbos is always developing and we commonly find 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 gases into 2 channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbo charger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there's a limitation in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the VG20ET when considerably more air is being fed into the engine.

We see 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 performance gains, although more challenging to get working. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating VG20ET fuel injectors

When you raise the bhp you will need to look at to the fuel delivery.

More bhp needs more fuel. Most tuners we speak with say to over specify your injector capacity.

The rule of thumb is to add another 20% when fitting an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and gives you 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 VG20ET performance exhausts

You should look to increase your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the 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 widest exhaust you can source you'll slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best 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 can be traced to the emissions filters installed, so adding a faster flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the VG20ET

The VG20ET 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 VG20ET, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VG20ET engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VG20ET 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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