Tuning Feature: Nissan VG20E Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan VG20E engine!"

We are always seeing threads requesting information on the best tips on VG20E power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan VG20E upgrades and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

TorqueCars will review and look at VG20E tuning and summarise the greatest modifications for your car. Nissan VG20E have loads of potential and with a few sensible motorsport parts like a remap, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will really maximise the drivers pleasure of your car.

The best VG20E parts on an engine are obviously the ones that give the best value for money.

We won't be swayed by popular VG20E parts, 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 and exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen camshaft profile, so large torque gains are on offer for camshaft upgrades.

NB: Fast road camshafts tend to increase the bhp and torque throughout the rev range, you may lose a little bottom end power but the higher rpm power will improve.

Race camshafts, increase the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

On a car driven daily one, ideally, should ideally to optimize your bhp range to your preferences.

I'd never have ever thought a VG20E Race cam is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic.

Different VG20E engines respond better to mild cam durations than others.

The ECU mapping and fuel pump and injectors also have a large bearing on the bhp gains you'll hit.

A longer valve duration 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.

VG20E Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VG20E modifications: Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold, Intake headers, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 VG20E modifications: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, induction kit, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors.

Stage 3 VG20E modifications: Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing & blueprinting.

Plan your options and then source your upgrades and set yourself a power target to save yourself from expensive mistakes.

A remap will help unlock the full potential of all the tuning mods you've done to your VG20E.

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 depend much on the tuning mods you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

Pulling air into the VG20E engine is the whole point to any engine performance tuning project.

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

Structure and flow characteristics of the Intake can make a noticeable improvement to fuel delivery on the VG20E.

On popular production engines headers are needing aftermarket parts, although a few manufacturers provide reasonably good headers.

Fitting big valve kits, doing some port matching and head flowing will also increase power, the fantastic side effect is it will make space for a greater power increase on other modifications.

Turbo upgrades for the VG20E

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 VG20E

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.

If your car is fitted with a turbo upgrades are going to net you a larger power gain and we find turbo charged engines are made with uprated components.

However you will find an engines will need better parts at higher power limits

See where you'll find these restrictions and install higher quality crank and pistons to cope with the power.

It's not unheard of people spending a fortune on turbo charger upgrades on the VG20E only to see the motor catastrophically fail just after it's finished.

Larger upgraded turbo units often suffer a bottom end lag, and small turbo units spool up quickly but do not have the high rpm bhp gains.

Thanks to new tech the market of turbos is always improving and we are seeing variable vane turbos, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.

Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into a couple of channels and direct these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there is a restriction in the air flow sensor AFM/MAF on the VG20E when considerably more air is being pulled into the engine.

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

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large performance gains, although more complex to install. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Uprating VG20E fuel injectors

When you improve the power you will need to increase to the fuel system.

More power needs more fuel. It makes sense to be generous with your injector capacity.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% when specifying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and affords 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 VG20E performance exhausts

Only look to upgrade your exhaust if your current exhaust is actually creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the exhaust flow rate is still good 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 gases through the engine.

But if your exhaust pipe is too large, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of the exhaust flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

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

Problems and issues to look out for on the VG20E

The VG20E 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 VG20E, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VG20E engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VG20E owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help to complete and improve this page, so do give us your feedback in the comments box below.

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 VG20E guides and tips are kept up to date.

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