Tuning Feature: Nissan SD33 Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Nissan SD33 engine!"

We are regularly seeing threads requesting information on the best tips on SD33 power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan SD33 modifications and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

Therefore we look at SD33 tuning and outline the greatest upgrades. Nissan SD33 make a good tuning project and with the best sports upgrades like ECU maps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will noticeably maximise the drivers experience of your car.

When talking about the optimum parts for your SD33 engine, we are going to focus on the mods that give the best value for money.

The camshaft profile plays a big part in the engines power output so camshaft upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake and exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen camshaft profile, so large bhp gains are on offer for camshaft upgrades.

NB: Fast road cams normally boost the bhp through the rev band, you may sacrifice a little low down power but your high end rpm power will be lifted.

Competition cams, 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 Competition cam makes it harder when driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally match your torque band to your typical driving style so for a daily driver stick with a mild fast road SD33 cam

Different SD33 engines respond better to less aggressive cam durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The map and injectors and fuel pump also will say much on the torque gains you'll achieve.

A longer valve duration 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.

SD33 Tuning Stages

Stage 1 SD33 modifications: Sports exhaust manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Intake headers, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Fast road camshaft, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 SD33 modifications: fuel pump upgrades, induction kit, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust.

Stage 3 SD33 modifications: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Twin charging conversions.

Remaps allows a tuner to release the full potential of all the mods you've done to your SD33.

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 often vary depending on the mods you've applied and the condition of your engine.

It is the aim to any performance tuning task to force more fuel and air into your SD33

Intake manifold transmit the air from the filter and allow it to be fed into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

The bore size, shape and flow characteristics of the Headers can make a big improvement to fuel engine efficiency on the SD33.

On popular production engines plenum chambers are crying out for performance upgrades, although some OEM provide well optimised plenum chambers.

Larger SD33 valves, carrying out 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also improve power, and more importantly will raise potential for a greater power increase on other mods.

Turbo upgrades for the SD33

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 SD33

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 your car is fitted with a turbocharger upgrades are more reliable and turbo charged engines are made using harder and stronger components.

However you will find an engines will have power limits

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

We see many guys spending a lots of money on turbo upgrades on the SD33 only to experience the motor literally blow up soon after it's been enthusiastically driven.

Large turbochargers commonly suffer a bottom end lag, and low capacity turbochargers spool up quickly but won't have the top end power band gains.

Thanks to progress the range of turbo chargers is always evolving and we commonly find variable vane turbo chargers, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and feed these at differently profiled 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 MAF/MAP on the SD33 when a lot more air is being pulled into the engine.

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

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more difficult to setup. We have this guide to twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating SD33 fuel injectors

When you raise the performance you will need to look at to the fuel system.

More performance needs more fuel. It makes sense to over specify your injectors flow rate.

As a rule of thumb add 20% capacity when buying an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and affords you some 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.

Best SD33 performance exhausts

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

On most factory exhausts you'll find the exhaust flow rate is still ok even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Don't go with the biggest exhaust you can get this will reduce the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Typically exhaust restrictions can be located in the emissions filters installed, so adding a higher flowing performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the SD33

The SD33 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 SD33, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your SD33 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our SD33 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 SD33 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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