Nissan VR38DETT Tuning

"All you need to know about tuning the Nissan VR38DETT engine!"

The Nissan VR38DETT offer good returns when tuned and with carefully picked parts like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will dramatically increase your driving pleasure.

What a fantastic block to tune and play with, origially the VR38DETT offered 485hp from twin IHI RHF55 turbochargers.

Thankfully the block can cope with quite a bit more power and in a few years Nissan had pushed up the power to 545hp.

We shall examine VR38DETT tuning and provide tips on the greatest modifications.

History of the VR38 DETT Engine

Tuning the Nissan VR38DETT and best VR38DETT performance parts.

origially the VR38DETT offered 485hp from twin IHI RHF55 turbochargers.

Thankfully the block can cope with quite a bit more power and in a few years Nissan had pushed up the power to 545hp.

Revised in 2010 the VR38DETT produced 530hp thanks primarily to better flow through the engine thanks to a new intake and larger bore exhaust.

A year later, another set of performance tweaks were introduced namely uprated fuel injectors, a new BOV (blow off valve) and revised ECU map. This pushed the VR38DETT power up to 545hp.

Nismo got to do their stuff and work their magic with the VR38 DETT engine and obtained a 600bhp power figure using revised turbos, fuel pump and ignition system changes.

Best VR38DETT tuning parts

Just because particular parts are popular with VR38DETT owners it doesn't mean it is good, instead we'll concentrate) on the top parts that will give your VR38DETT the best power gain for you spend.

Significant gains on the VR38DETT can be made from cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.

Fast road cams usually boost the bhp and torque through the rev range, you could drop a little bottom end power but the higher rpm power will be better.

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

For a car driven daily must carefully try to optimize your bhp range to your usage of the car.

I'd be shocked if you have ever thought a VR38DETT Competition camshaft is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic.

Different VR38DETT engines respond better to extreme cam durations than others.

The ecu map and injectors and fuel pump also will make differences on the torque gains you'll get.

Altering valve durations can alter the torque 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.

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Guide to the Best Tuning Mods & Upgrades

  1. Mods that Remove a Restriction

    If the intake or exhaust are restricted in any way this will have an impact on your cars performance, so use an induction kit/filter upgrade and better flowing exhaust whenever your tuning creates a flow restriction.

  2. Mods that Improve Handling

    Braking, Suspension and general alignment of the suspension components is vital for any tuning project even before you start increasing power.

  3. Fit Stronger Parts

    Tuned cars will show up weaknesses, typically in the turbochargers, clutch and internal engine components. Whilst most engines can cope with mild tuning mods, TorqueCars recommend that you upgrade the internal components before these weak spots manifest themselves.

  4. ECU Tunes & Remapping

    While some cars can be easily remapped, others may require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project as it fully releases the power from all of your mods and upgrades. Expect 10-20% on NASP engines and 30-40% on turbocharged units.

  5. More Power Needs More Fuel & Air

    Every tuning project will aim to increase the air supply, but fuel supply is just as vital and will need to match the air the engine can utilise. Fuel to Air ratio is vital so upgrade the fuel pump & injectors. Also you can look to perform head mods (flowing and porting), bigger valves, fast road cams and forced induction upgrades to improve fuel.

Stages of Tune

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

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

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

Review your options and then acquire your tuning parts and set yourself a power target to void expensive mistakes.

A  remap  will help fully realize the full potential of all the parts you've fitted to your VR38DETT.(via a replacement ECU)

Remaps will release around 490 to 540 bhp  (at the wheels) with the earlier models benefiting from higher power gains than the better tuned later versions. The later cars, from 2012 onwards, flow better through the intake and boasts a better transmission so you can often see figures nearing the 600bhp mark.

Exhaust and intake mods usually yield around 30 more bhp and they provide a good basis for more extreme tunes offering more headway to work in.

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

Forcing fuel and air into the VR38DETT engine is vital to any tuning job.

The intake plenum carry 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 rate of flow of the Intake manifold can make a noticeable effect on to fuel engine efficiency on the VR38DETT.

I usually find intake headers are improved through performance upgrades, although a few car makers provide reasonably well designed intake headers.

Adding a VR38DETT larger valve kit, doing some port matching and head flowing will also raise torque, the fantastic side effect is it will allow you to get raising the torque increase on other modifications.

Turbo upgrades

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 VR38DETT

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

However you will find VR38DETT engines will have power limits although higher than most others it will still have limits on what you can with stock parts.

It is important to find these restrictions and fit stronger pistons, crank and engine components to handle the power.

There are quite a few VR38DETT turbo upgrades around. Garrett CHRA (2nd Gen) are popular with the following power figures on offer GTX 2860 900bhp, GTX 2867 1000bhp and the GTX 3071 1200bhp.

The Borg Warner EFR's are great turbo upgrades, the 7163 EFR in a twin setup will allow you to reach 1000bhp+ and we see quite a few tuners opting for the twin scroll EFR 7670 thanks to the early spool up and compact size. When watercooled and with a ceramic ball bearing you could see power hit 1200bhp with the EFR 7670.

Stroker kits are often employed when looking for an 800bhp+ engine. Taking the VR38DETT to 4.1 litres or 4.3 allows more headroom and if the engine has been strengthened sufficiently you can build a serious competition car with 1500bhp or more that can still be safely and reliably driven to and from the track.

We've seen people spending a fortune on turbocharger upgrades on the VR38DETT only to have the car catastrophically fail when it's used in anger.

Larger turbochargers commonly suffer no power at low rpm, and low capacity turbochargers spool up much more quickly but won't have the high rpm engines power gains.

Thanks to progress the range of VR38DETT turbo chargers is always improving and we commonly find variable vane turbo chargers, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust flow into a couple of channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbo. They also boost the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there's a limitation in the air flow sensor (AFM/MAF/MAP) on these engines when a lot more air is being drawn into the engine.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped bhp and torque at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large power gains, although more complex to setup. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Fuelling

Don't overlook the need to boost the fuel delivery when you are increasing the VR38DETT bhp - it makes the car more thirsty. Most tuners we speak with say to be generous with your injector capacity.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% when buying an injector, this allows for injector deterioration and provides a little 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.

VR38DETT Exhausts

Only look to boost your exhaust if the existing exhaust is creating a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the 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 generally help improve air flow from the engine but do not go too wide or you may end up will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches as a rule of thumb.

Typically exhaust restrictions are in the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a higher flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Weak spots Issues & problem areas on the VR38DETT

The engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the VR38DETT, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our owners. We also have a more detailed VR38DETT tuning guide on TorqueCars.com. 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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One Response to “Tuning guide for the VR38DETT”

  1. Andrew says:

    Which engine is capable for more power.. 2jz, vr38 or rb26??

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