Tuning Feature: Nissan MR20DE Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan MR20DE engine!"

We often are getting emails asking about the ultimate MR20DE modifications. So let us look into Nissan MR20DE parts and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some problems along the way.

The Nissan MR20DE offer good returns when tuned and with carefully chosen enhancements like remapping, turbo improvements and camshafts you will certainly increase your driving enjoyment.

Here we review MR20DE tuning and highlight the best modifications.

The greatest MR20DE mods on an engine are in our opinion the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular MR20DE mods, they need to be cost effective.

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 torque gains are on offer for camshaft upgrades.

NB: Fast road camshafts usually boost the bhp and torque through the rev band, you may sacrifice a little low down torque but the high end rpm power will be better.

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

A Motorsport camshaft is not great driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally optimize your bhp range to your typical driving style so for a car used daily stick with a shorter duration MR20DE camshaft

Different MR20DE engines respond better to mild cam durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The map and fuelling also will make differences on the torque gains you'll achieve.

Extending exhaust or intake 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.

MR20DE Tuning Stages

Stage 1 MR20DE modifications: Remaps/piggy back ECU, Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust manifold, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters, Intake headers.

Stage 2 MR20DE modifications: high flow fuel injectors, induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 MR20DE modifications: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves).

ECU flashing will help to establish the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your MR20DE.

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 done and the condition of your engine.

Feeding more air into each cylinder is the aim to any engine modification job.

Air Intake manifolds carry the air from the air cleaner and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

The bore size, shape and flow characteristics of the Intake can make a noticeable improvement to fuel atomisation on the MR20DE.

We often see air intake manifolds are in dire need of an upgrade, although a few car makers provide fairly well optimized air intake manifolds.

Larger MR20DE valves, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also increase bhp and torque, and more importantly will raise potential for a greater bhp and torque increase on other parts.

Turbo upgrades for the MR20DE

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 MR20DE

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

When the engine has forced induction parts are giving better power gains and turbo engines are made using many forged and stronger components.

There are tuning limits for every engine, with some being over specified and some only just able to handle stock power

We recommend you find these limits and fit better quality components to handle the power.

We see many drivers spending a a stack of money on turbo charger upgrades on the MR20DE only to see the motor literally blow up on it's first outing after it's been finished.

Larger capacity turbo units tend to experience a bottom end lag, and small turbo units spool up quickly but do not have the high rpm bhp gains.

Thankfully the market of turbo units is always improving and we commonly find variable vane turbo units, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust gases into two channels and direct these at differently designed vanes in the turbo. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there's a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the MR20DE when a lot 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 limited torque at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more complex to get working. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating MR20DE fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so need to uprate the fuelling when you start going beyond 20% of a performance increase.We strongly recommend you to over specify your injectors flow rate.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when fitting an injector, this allows for injector deterioration and provides 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 MR20DE performance exhausts

You may need to increase your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is still 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 air through the engine.

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

Usual exhaust restrictions are traced to the catalyst installed, so adding a freer flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the MR20DE

The MR20DE 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 MR20DE, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your MR20DE engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our MR20DE 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 upgrades were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our MR20DE 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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