Tuning Feature: Nissan VG20DET Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Nissan VG20DET engine!"

We often are seeing threads requesting information on the premier VG20DET modifications. So let us look into Nissan VG20DET tuning mods and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

TorqueCars will outline options for your VG20DET tuning and show the premier modifications. Nissan VG20DET really good project engines and with the optimum motorsport upgrades like ECU maps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will greatly maximize the drivers enjoyment of your car.

The ultimate VG20DET upgrades on an engine are sensibly the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular VG20DET upgrades, they need to be cost effective.

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

NB: Fast road camshafts tend to raise the performance through the rev band, you may sacrifice a little low down bhp but the top end will be lifted.

Motorsport and race camshafts, raise the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

In a car used daily one, ideally, should ideally to match your bhp range to your driving style.

I would be surprised if you have found a VG20DET Competition cam is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.

Different VG20DET engines respond better to more aggressive cam durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and injectors and fuel pump also have an effect on the bhp gains you'll achieve.

Altering valve durations can alter the bhp 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.

VG20DET Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VG20DET modifications: Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters, Intake headers, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold.

Stage 2 VG20DET modifications: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, induction kit, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 VG20DET modifications: Competition cam, Twin charging conversions, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves).

ECU mapping should help to fully realize the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your VG20DET.

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 usually vary depending on the upgrades you've applied and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any engine tuning project to force fuel and air into your VG20DET

Intake flow the air from the air cleaner and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

Structure and rate of flow of the Air Intake manifolds can make a big improvement to fuel delivery on the VG20DET.

Commonly we find the intake headers are in dire need of aftermarket parts, although some manufacturers provide reasonably good intake headers.

Increasing the VG20DET valve size, doing a bit of 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also raise bhp and torque, and significantly will afford you increasing the bhp and torque increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the VG20DET

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 VG20DET

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

When your car is fitted with a turbocharger tuning parts are going to make more power and we find turbo charged engines use uprated components.

However every engines have weakspots

We recommend you find these limits and fit higher quality crank and pistons to utilize the power.

We've seen tuners spending a loads on turbo charger upgrades on the VG20DET only to suffer the humiliation of seeing the whole thing literally blow up when it's used on the roads.

Larger turbos tend to suffer no power at low rpm, and little turbos spool up more quickly but do not have the peak rpm bhp gains.

We are pleased that the range of turbos is always evolving and we commonly find variable vane turbos, permitting the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

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's a limit in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the VG20DET when a lot more air is being sucked into the engine.

Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp and torque at a much lower level.

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

Uprating VG20DET fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so must uprate the fuelling when you start extending past 20% of a torque increase.It makes sense to over specify your injectors flow rate.

As a rule of thumb add 20% when fitting an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and provides 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 VG20DET performance exhausts

You only need to to boost your exhaust if your exhaust is actually causing a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the 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.

Sports exhausts can help increase the flow of air through the engine.

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

Common exhaust restrictions are in the catalyst installed, so adding a faster flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the VG20DET

The VG20DET 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 VG20DET, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VG20DET engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VG20DET 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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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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