Tuning guide to the VQ35DE engine

"All you need to know about tuning Nissans VQ35DE"

The VQ35DE power levels ranged from 240hp to 300hp depending on it's application.

It was fitted in sports cars and people carriers, so the engine setups varied quite a lot.

The VQ35DE engine block was similar to the VQ30DE in design and benefitted from variable valve timing and a low friction intake with Mmolybdenum coated pistons.

VQ35DE has won many awards and accolades and each iteration improves.

The VQ35DE is a class leading V6 engine and we'll look at the best tuning options for it..

VQ35DE shares much with the older VQ35AE. We should mention that the VQ35DE-R had slightly more power but lower torque. A VQ35DE was tuned by Nismo to produce 296hp at a higher 7200rp, rev range. This NISMO tuned engine bore the S1 name and was installed in the Fairlady Z S Tune GT - one of my all time favourite cars.

It was revised in 2007 when fitted to the 350Z: ECU was upgraded, the internals were adjusted slightly and benefited from CVVTCS we see on the intake, also working on the exhaust cam. The intake Plenum was revised and improved.

It is possible to get other engines in this range to 300bhp  but it will have a different torque curve and power curve to the 2005 VQ35DE.

The 6MT engine has the rev up on down change feature, which was a great addition to a car, but we quite like to do this ourselves, it's taking the fun and skill out of driving in our opinion.

The CVVTCS system keeps the valve durations shorter at lower engine speeds and can alter both duration and lift making it one of the most flexible valve control systems around. As the RPM increases the valves open for longer durations maximising power but helping economy and torque at lower RPM ranges.

This approach minimises blowback and boosts the velocity of air entering and leaving the engine.

There was a GT-S version released by Nissan, thanks primarily to the addition of a supercharger giving another 100bhp or so over earlier models inspiring many aftermarket tuners to follow suit and add a supercharger kit.

Adjusting the ECU timing and camshaft profile is one of the best mods on all generations of this engine.

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Stages of Tune

Stage 1 mods: Sports exhaust, Remap, Panel air filter

Stage 2 mods: Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 modifications: Engine balancing, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

Exhaust and particularly the catalysts are the weaker area in the OEM setup with improvements offered by most quality aftermarket exhaust system.

Improving the exhaust and intake flow can in some cases yield a 30% higher peak power with other supporting mods. But the standard air intake flows really well to around 350bhp.

The Direct fuel cylinder injection system makes performance tuning easier as the engine is more resistant to detonation and you have more control over fuelling.

The block is pretty strong with many ably handling around 400hp, but if you get stronger connecting rods and crank you should be good for another 300hp on top of this such is the build quality of this engine!

Caution when choosing a head gaskets as they are different. By the third generation we see the water flow channels are spread across the head, whereas first and second generation were located on the left cylinder.

When tuning older blocks you should really make the diverted walls channel wider to aid coolant and flow.

OEM gaskets are not great especially on heavily tuned engines and aftermarket ones from companies like Cosworth really improve things allowing you to run more power reliably.

CAMS will generally increase your peak powerband but if you get a cam with larger lobes you'll need to machine out the head. The C9 cams are a good example of this and the lifter bucket hole and head near the cam need to be ground away to allow clearance.

Problems

The later VQ35DE has oil consumption issues. Dealers have been replacing oil rings in bad cases.

The timing chain tensioner is a possible weakspot, an early symptom of problems is a loud rattle on startup.

Heat build up in the engine can be an issue, so fit an uprated radiator when tuning the engine to avoid this.

Turbo kits on the VQ35DE

The most common high power mod for the VQ35DE invovles adding a turbocharger. This is a major job but the reward is 50-100% more power.

Kits using the Garrett GTX3582R mated to a wastegate, BOV and custom exhaust with a fast road map should provide around 400bhp of power on stock internals.

Carbon build up on the intake can be an issue and is best avoided by fitting an oil catch can to prevent oil particles from reaching the intake.

Engine management is generally best left to an aftermarket ECU, and fuelling and timing is critical when running a turbo so make sure you go to someone with experience in setting these up.

Adding an intercooler is also a good idea on a turbo setup as the intake charge gains quite a bit of heat running through the turbo as it's compressed.

Noting the power limitations of the stock engine, it makes sense to limit boost unless you want to make large power gains on this block. Our preference is for power to come on more quickly at low RPM and build steadily to the redline.

There are quite a few supercharger and turbo kits around and this is a popular conversion.

Going past 500bhp

The fuelling will need to be improved and for this conversion you'll need 600cc injectors which the OEM fuel pump will struggle to feed.

Adding in a 265litre per hour fuel pump will provide enough fuel to these injectors to cope with demand.

If you increase to around 21psi of boost you should hit power figures around 610hp. So you don't actually need that much boost to make significant power gains making large turbos redundant!

Detonation is always a big problem when adding a turbo and this can be minimised with water/methanol injection, and or lower compression pistons or just running a modest level of boost.

Hitting 800 bhp

A twin turbo using smaller GT2871R turbos worked really well with 1000cc injectors,  and the twin turbos helped reduce the low end lag you get with larger single turbos. But this 800 hp version required extensively revised internals (Pistons, Rods Camshafts and heavy duty ARP studs) which gave a lower compression and were stronger.

Please help us to complete this article, use the feedback box below if you spot any errors or have any tips or comments to pass on to other VQ35DE engine tuners

 

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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