GTR Tuning

"The supercar beating super saloon car."

The Nissan GTR breaks new ground for performance cars. Clever electronics give physics defying levels of grip, traction and control.

So how can the GTR be improved? We will look at the best tuning mods for this awesome car.

Nissan were under pressure to restrict the power of the car for reasons of economy, responsibility and pressure from road safety lobbyists.

However they pushed the envelope as far as they dare and build into the cars ECU measures to restrict the car to the factory levels of power.

This guarantees a lot of potential gains from the right tuning mods. It also means that impressive gains are to be had from a few simple ECU tweaks and changes.

If the car is, as judged by the onboard GPS, on an approved race track or circuit the speed limiter is removed, but on public roads  the top speed is limited to around 120mph. Further restrictions in the ECU detect unusual cornering forces, additional power modifications and the like the and if it smells "non standard modifications" then the ECU goes into limp home mode, so the remapper has to know his stuff and undo these "restrictions".

It should come as no surprise that to get any power gains from your GTR we have to look at remapping the GTR's ECU. Doing this opens up a lot of additional parameters and permits the removal of the speed restrictions.

We are already seeing a number of performance upgrades on offer that claim power levels of over 1000bhp but most GTR owners will be happy with something around 500 bhp.

Engine mods for the GTR.

The engine is the powerhouse of the GTR and it is here that we can start to see real power gains. Adding a larger turbo will provide more power and after a remap is probably the largest single gain you can see.

For simple power gains then most owners will just get a remap performed. This can give a reliable power gain but it is sensible to cut the service intervals down a little as a precaution.

The next stage of tuning is where owners look for other bolt on parts to enhance the car. The obvious candidates for this are sports exhausts with a high flow sports catalyst and properly flowed headers. The power gains from these are nominal but adding in aggressive cams and a lighter flywheel will push the power levels ever higher. 

An uprated intake manifold and induction kit with a cold air feed will also free up a few more horses. Turbo upgrades and hybrid turbos are also popular but these will often raise the peak power band to a higher RPM range so need to be considered carefully. Getting the exhaust downpipes and intake headers coated can help reduce under bonnet temperatures.

Some enthusiasts complain that the stock turbo and manifolds cause too much heat build up so they go for a complete upgrade kit from a performance part producer. The TD06-20G from Greddy and Garrett GT30R ticks all the boxes for a serious power gain but there are many options out there. It is best to decide where you want the power gain in your rev range and chatting to a turbo specialist for your options.

Inside the engine you can start adding a stroker kit to raise the capacity of the engine, but as with all mods you have to combine it with other mods. A good design of kit will help the engine stay cool and allow you to run higher boost levels safely. We've seen 4.0 stroker kits from JUN that seem to be a solid upgrade. Another benefit of a stroker kit is that it spools up faster and gives you more torque.

Ideally all engine components should be balanced and blueprinted if you are serious about big power gains and still want to have a reliable engine.

Treating the engine to a full strip down and balance along with some stronger pistons, crank and other ancillary components will provide a good basis for your GTR tuning project. 

You can sensibly raise the red line to around 8500rpm if the mapping is spot on and all engine components have been dynamically balanced.

The head should also receive some attention with bigger valves a 5 angle valve job and some flowing and porting.

Fuelling upgrades make sense with larger power gains with fuel pumps and injectors that can match the engines new found thirst. 

Clutches take a real beating, especially if you do lots of full bore launches or you have some serious power gains. Look to get a 16 plate racing clutch, and research your clutch compounds carefully as quality varies enormously.

There are not many aftermarket bodykits on offer for the GTR yet but these will surely hit the streets in numbers as the GTR enters the used car market. We can however find some carbon fibre styling parts like the mirrors and rear wing so we expect to see more over the coming months.

Any performance mods on your Nissan GTR tuning project will require a full remap to be done to fully unlock the power and avoid any potential limp home issues. We cannot stress enough the importance of mapping the engine properly. When running high power figures at high RPM ranges any blips in the mapping or fuel delivery can have serious consequences. We strongly recommend a custom remap on a rolling road if you are serious about power. The generic off the shelf remaps are sufficient on the stock car but will not fully realise the potential any additional tuning parts.

If you want to discuss GTR tuning projects in more detail please join our friendly car forums where you will meet enthusiasts from all around the world.

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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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