Tuning Feature: Nissan VQ35DE Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Nissan VQ35DE engine!"

We often are getting messages inquiring about getting more power from the VQ35DE and wanting to know what are the ultimate VQ35DE modifications. So let us look into Nissan VQ35DE upgrades and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

This Nissan V6 came in many different setups over it's production run and cc ranged from two to four litres. Nissan produced a motorsport version badged as the VQ30DETT showing what this platform is capable of. Some of the 3.5 liter engines have pretty strong internals and can withstand up to 1000hp in ideal conditions, and parts from these high spec engines are often sourced and fitted into others accross the range.

We shall examine the options for your VQ35DE tuning and show the greatest modifications. Nissan VQ35DE are good project engines and with the ultimate enhancements like a remap, turbo improvements and camshafts you will greatly enhance the drivers experience of your car.

The optimum VQ35DE tuning parts on an engine are obviously the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular VQ35DE tuning parts, they need to be cost effective.

Altering your VQ35DE cam will usually make a dramatic difference to your engines power band. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the power band especially at the top end.

NB: Fast road camshafts normally push up the performance across the rev range, you may lose a little low down power but top end will be higher.

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

A Race camshaft is not great driving in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your power band to your typical driving style so for a road car stick with a mild fast road VQ35DE camshaft

Some VQ35DE engines respond better to more aggressive cam durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The ecu map and fuelling also have an effect on the bhp gains you'll get.

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.

VQ35DE Tuning Stages

Stage 1 VQ35DE modifications: Remaps/piggy back ECU, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Fast road camshaft, Intake headers, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold.

Stage 2 VQ35DE modifications: induction kit, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 VQ35DE modifications: Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Competition cam, Twin charging conversions.

Mapping should help to release the full potential of all the mods you've done to your VQ35DE.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but the outcome usually vary depending on the mods you've applied and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any engine tuning job to push air and fuel into each cylinder

Headers transmit the air during the suck phase from the air filter and allow it to be pulled into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

The bore size, shape and rate of flow of the Intake manifold can make a big improvement to fuel atomisation on the VQ35DE.

It's not uncommon that intake manifold are ripe for a performance upgrade, although some car makers provide fairly well optimized intake manifold.

Adding a VQ35DE larger valve kit, carrying out VQ35DE port enlargement and head flowing will also increase torque, and significantly will afford you an improved torque increase on other parts.

Turbo upgrades for the VQ35DE

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 VQ35DE

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

When an engine is turbocharged, parts are giving better power gains and we find turbocharged engines are made with better components.

There are common areas of failure for every engine, with some being over specified and some only able to handle stock power

See where you'll find these limits and install stronger pistons, crank and engine components to handle the power.

There are many people spending a lot of money on turbo charger upgrades on the VQ35DE only to suffer the indignity of watching the car catastrophically fail when it's used in anger.

Bigger upgraded turbo chargers often experience no power at low rpm, and little turbo chargers spool up much more quickly but do not have the peak end power band gains.

Thankfully the selection of turbo units is always evolving and we commonly find variable vane turbo units, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into two channels and feed these at differently profiled vanes in the turbocharger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there's a limitation in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the VQ35DE when a lot more air is being sucked into the engine.

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

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp and torque gains, although more difficult to configure. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Uprating VQ35DE fuel injectors

When you increase the performance you will need to ramp up to the fuelling.

More performance needs more fuel. It makes sense to over specify your injectors flow rate.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% capacity when specifying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and allows 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 VQ35DE performance exhausts

You may need to boost your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your 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.

Don't go with the widest exhaust you can buy this will reduce 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 can be located in the filters installed, so adding a better flowing performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the VQ35DE

The VQ35DE 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 VQ35DE, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your VQ35DE engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our VQ35DE 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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