Tuning Feature: Nissan VG30i Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan VG30i engine!"

We are frequently seeing threads requesting information on the things we recommend when it comes to VG30i mods that work. So let us look into Nissan VG30i tuning mods and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

The Nissan VG30i make awesome project engines and with a few sensible upgrades like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will really improve your driving fun.

Let us look into VG30i tuning and outline the best upgrades.

Just because particular mods are are common on VG30i it doesn't mean you should fit it, instead we will focus on the ultimate mods to provide your VG30i with 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 usually boost the torque over the rpm range, you might lose a little bottom end torque but your higher rpm power will improve.

Competition 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 Competition cam will just annoy you whilst in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your bhp range to your driving style so for a car used daily stick with a fast road VG30i cam

Different VG30i engines respond better to different cam durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and fuelling also have a large bearing on the power gains you'll hit.

Altering valve 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.

VG30i Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VG30i modifications: Sports exhaust manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Intake headers, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Fast road camshaft.

Stage 2 VG30i modifications: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors, Fast road cam, induction kit, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 VG30i modifications: Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Twin charging conversions.

ECU flashing should help to release the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your VG30i.

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

Feeding air into each cylinder is the aim to any engine tuning project.

Intake manifold flow the air during the suck phase from the intake filter and allow it to be sucked into the engine and mixed with fuel.

The size of bore and shape and flow characteristics of the Air Intake manifolds can make a big improvement to fuel delivery on the VG30i.

We often see headers are begging for a performance upgrade, although a few OEM provide well optimised headers.

Increasing the VG30i valve size, getting port matching and head flowing will also boost bhp and torque, the fantastic side effect is it will raise potential for raising the bhp and torque increase on other tuning mods.

Turbo upgrades for the VG30i

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 VG30i

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 parts are more reliable and we find turbo engines are built with harder and stronger components.

There are reliable limits for every engine, with some being extremely strong and some only able to handle stock power

See where you'll find these limits and upgrade to more solid crank and pistons to survive the power.

We've seen car owners spending a lot of money on turbocharger upgrades on the VG30i only to suffer the humiliation of seeing the engine literally blow up just after it's been finished.

Larger upgraded turbochargers tend to suffer low end lag, and low capacity turbochargers spool up really quickly but won't have the peak rpm power band gains.

Thanks to progress the choice of turbo chargers is always evolving and we now see variable vane turbo chargers, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust flow into a couple of channels and push these at differently designed vanes in the turbo. 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 VG30i when considerably more air is being pulled into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited power at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp gains, although more difficult to install. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating VG30i fuel injectors

When you raise the torque you will need to pay attention to to the fuelling.

More torque needs more fuel. It is important to be generous with your injector capacity.

As a rule of thumb add 20% to the flow rate when specifying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and provides 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 VG30i performance exhausts

You only need to to boost your exhaust if your exhaust is actually causing 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.

Sports exhausts can help equal out the flow of gases through the engine.

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

Typically exhaust restrictions can be located in the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a faster flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the VG30i

The VG30i 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 VG30i, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VG30i engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VG30i 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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