Tuning Feature: Nissan VK45DE Modified

"Comprehensive guide to performance tuning the Nissan VK45DE engine!"

We are always getting posts inquiring about getting more power from the VK45DE and wanting to know what are the best VK45DE mods that work. So let us look into Nissan VK45DE mods and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some potential pitfalls along the way.

The Nissan VK45DE make awesome project engines and with the optimum uprated modifications like remaps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will substantially improve your driving experience.

Here we examine VK45DE tuning and show the greatest modifications.

When talking about the ultimate parts for your VK45DE engine, we are going to focus on the parts that give the best power gain for you money.

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 commonly bump the bhp and torque through the rpm range, you might lose a little low down power but top end will be higher.

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

A Motorsport and race camshaft is not great in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your bhp range to your preferences so for a daily driver stick with a shorter duration VK45DE camshaft

Each engine responds better to different camshaft durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The map and injectors and fuel pump also will make differences on the power gains you'll achieve.

Longer valve durations can alter the power 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.

VK45DE Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VK45DE modifications: Sports exhaust manifold, Panel air filters, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers.

Stage 2 VK45DE modifications: induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injectors, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 VK45DE modifications: Engine balancing & blueprinting, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Twin charging conversions, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

The VK45DE units make great tuning projects and we note that there are quite a few choices of parts and tuning parts out there.

Mapping helps to establish the full potential of all the modifications you've done to your VK45DE.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your mileage will differs on the modifications you've done and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any engine modification job to get air into the VK45DE engine

The intake plenum take the air from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

The shape and rate of flow of the Intake can make a noticeable improvement to fuel mixing and power on the VK45DE.

Commonly we find the intake are ripe for aftermarket parts, although a few makers provide decently flowing intake.

Adding a VK45DE larger valve kit, doing a bit of VK45DE port enlargement and head flowing will also boost bhp, and significantly will raise potential for increasing the bhp increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the VK45DE

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 VK45DE

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 an engine has a turbocharger upgrades are relatively easy and you will discover turbo charged engines already contain stronger components.

There are tuning 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 limitations and install better quality crank and pistons to cope with the power.

We've seen people spending a loads of money on turbocharger upgrades on the VK45DE only to see the VK45DE go up in smoke on it's first outing after it's used on the roads.

Larger turbo chargers will usually suffer low end lag, and small turbo chargers spool up really quickly but don't have the peak end bhp gains.

Thanks to progress the range of turbo units is always increasing and we now see variable vane turbo units, allowing the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and push these at differently designed vanes in the turbo. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there's a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAF on the VK45DE when a lot 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 sapped bhp and 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 VK45DE 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 bhp and torque increase.It makes sense to over specify your injectors flow rate.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when buying an injector, this allows for injector deterioration and affords a little 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 VK45DE performance exhausts

You only need to to boost 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 ok 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 widest exhaust you can get you'll slow up 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.

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 VK45DE

The VK45DE 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 VK45DE, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VK45DE engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VK45DE 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 tuning 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 VK45DE guides and tips are kept up to date.

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