Tuning Feature: Nissan VQ30DD Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan VQ30DD engine!"

We are always seeing threads asking how to improve the VQ30DD from people wanting to know what are the greatest VQ30DD upgrades. So let us look into Nissan VQ30DD upgrades and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

This V6 engine from Nissan evolved considerably over it's production run and cylinder capacity ranged from two to four litres. Nissan came up with a Race ready version the VQ30DETT showing what this platform is capable of. Some of the 3.5 liter engines have pretty strong internals and can withstand up to 1000hp in ideal conditions, and parts from these high spec engines are often sourced and fitted into others accross the range.

The Nissan VQ30DD really good project engines and with the best tuning tuning mods like ECU maps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will certainly enhance your driving pleasure.

Here we review VQ30DD tuning and show the greatest mods that work.

When talking about the ultimate parts for your VQ30DD engine, we are going to focus on the mods that give the best power gain for you money.

Altering your VQ30DD camshaft will usually make a dramatic difference to your engines engines power. Choosing a higher performance camshaft profile raises the engines power especially at the top end.

NB: Fast road cams commonly increase the bhp and torque through the rpm band, you might lose a little bottom end bhp but the higher rpm power will be better.

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

On a road car one, ideally, need to match your power band to your typical driving style.

I'd be amazed if you have found a VQ30DD Motorsport and race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when on the daily commute.

Different VQ30DD engines respond better to more aggressive camshaft 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.

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.

VQ30DD Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VQ30DD modifications: Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust manifold, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 VQ30DD modifications: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, induction kit, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injectors, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 VQ30DD modifications: Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Twin charging conversions.

ECU flashing will help release the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your VQ30DD.

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 rely on the upgrades you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Pulling air into your VQ30DD is the whole point to any engine upgrade task.

Air Intake manifolds carry the air during the suck phase from the air cleaner and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

The bore size, shape and flow rate of the Intake can make a noticeable improvement to fuel mixing and power on the VQ30DD.

Most plenum chambers are in desperate need of aftermarket parts, although some makers provide reasonably good plenum chambers.

Adding a VQ30DD larger valve kit, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also lift power, and importantly will permit a greater power increase on other parts.

Turbo upgrades for the VQ30DD

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 VQ30DD

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

If the engine is fitted with a turbo upgrades are going to make more power and we find turbo engines are built with strengthened components.

However most engines have weakspots

See where you'll find these limits and fit stronger pistons, crank and engine components to survive the power.

We've seen car owners spending a loads of money on turbocharger upgrades on the VQ30DD only to suffer the indignity of watching the engine block literally blow up just after it's completed.

Larger turbo units commonly experience a bottom end lag, and little turbo units spool up much more quickly but do not have the peak end bhp gains.

Thanks to progress the world of turbos is always increasing and we commonly find variable vane turbos, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp.

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

It is common that there is a limit in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the VQ30DD when loads more air is being sucked into the engine.

We note 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 bhp and torque gains, although more challenging to install. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating VQ30DD fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so should look at the fuelling when you start extending past 20% of a torque increase.We would recommend you to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

As a rule of thumb add 20% capacity when buying an injector, this 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 VQ30DD performance exhausts

Only look to boost your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the 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 increase the flow of gases through the engine.

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

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

Problems and issues to look out for on the VQ30DD

The VQ30DD 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 VQ30DD, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VQ30DD engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VQ30DD 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 mods were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our VQ30DD 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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