Tuning Feature: Nissan VG30S Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Nissan VG30S engine!"

We often are getting posts requesting information on the things we recommend when it comes to VG30S modifications. So let us look into Nissan VG30S mods and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

The Nissan VG30S make a good tuning project and with a few sensible parts like a remap, turbo kits and camshafts you will really enhance your driving opportunities.

This pages aim is review VG30S tuning and summarise the optimum mods that work.

Just because particular parts are are common on VG30S it doesn't mean you should fit it, we shall concentrate on the optimum parts to provide your VG30S with the biggest power gain return for your cash.

Significant power gains can be made on engines, and the VG30S is no exception, by means of camshaft upgrades. Altering the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the engines power and power output.

NB: Fast road cams usually push up the bhp throughout the rpm range, you could sacrifice a little low end bhp but higher rpm power will be better.

Race cams, push up the higher 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 in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your torque band to your driving style so for a car driven daily stick with a fast road VG30S camshaft

Each engine responds better to more or less aggressive camshaft durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ecu map and fuel pump and injectors also have an effect on the torque gains you'll achieve.

Longer valve 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.

VG30S Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VG30S modifications: Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers, Sports exhaust manifold, Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters.

Stage 2 VG30S modifications: Ported and polished head, induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 VG30S modifications: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Twin charging conversions, Competition cam.

ECU mapping will help to establish the full potential of all the parts you've done to your VG30S.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but figures achieved often rely on the parts you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Pulling air and fuel into your VG30S is the aim to any engine tuning task.

Intake carry the air during the suck phase from the air filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Shape and rate of flow of the Air Intake manifolds can make a big change to fuel mixing and power on the VG30S.

On popular production engines intake are in dire need of performance upgrades, although some car makers provide fairly well optimized intake.

Big valve conversions on the VG30S, carrying out port matching and head flowing will also improve bhp and torque, and importantly will afford you an improved bhp and torque increase on other parts.

Turbo upgrades for the VG30S

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 VG30S

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.

When your motor has a turbo already fitted parts are going to net you a larger power gain and you'll see that turbo engines use many forged and stronger components.

There are reliable limits for every engine, with some being very over engineered and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

It is important to find these limits and upgrade to better quality components to utilize the power.

We see many people spending a lot of money on turbo charger upgrades on the VG30S only to experience the motor go up in smoke just after it's finished.

Large upgraded turbo chargers tend to suffer low end lag, and low capacity turbo chargers spool up quickly but won't have the peak rpm torque gains.

Over the last 20 years the choice of turbo units is always increasing and we are seeing variable vane turbo units, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into a couple of channels and direct these at differently designed vanes in the turbo charger. They also improve the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there's a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the VG30S when considerably more air is being drawn into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp at a much lower level.

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

Uprating VG30S fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will have to look at the fuelling when you start exceeding 20% of a performance increase.We would recommend you to over specify your flow rate on the injectors.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% when buying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and allows a bit of 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 VG30S performance exhausts

You should look to upgrade your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually causing a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the exhaust 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.

Do not go with the largest exhaust you can get you'll slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

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

Problems and issues to look out for on the VG30S

The VG30S 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 VG30S, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VG30S engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VG30S 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 VG30S 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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