VQ37HR block limitations?

Orphan

Hey guys,

Well after checking out some of the TT threads I was wondering if anyone knows the limitations of the stock VQ37HR block? From what i've seen up to 12psi has been run on at least one so far. Its really too bad that its an open deck block That said considering that 12psi TT set up I saw put out around the 500rwhp mark I guess its no limitation for most people. So standard internals and block seem to be alright for 12psi+ and 500rwhp though I imagine a safer number would be around the 450rwhp mark.

Has anyone got water injection set up on their VQ37 yet? FI + 11.0:1 CR and water injection would work quite nicely for a bit of safety margin.

EDIT: I just found some pictures of the stock block that I had on my computer, it looks pretty good even though its a open deck design. A guy I know is currently building a high CR turbo engine so it will be interesting to see how it does, he is using a closed deck v8 with 11.5:1 CR and hoping for 12-14.7psi though he hasn't mentioned if he has chosen single or twin yet.

David

KingDavid

Size of turbo matters more than lbs of boost.

Orphan

I knew someone would mention that haha :P I guess it would be better to ask what kind of combustion pressure can the stock block handle. I haven't really had much experience with open deck blocks but closed deck seem more than happy to pack in quite a lot of air without any issue any idea what the limits of the VQ37 are?

mrmixitup

It's all in the tuning. Plan to go all out when I turbo my car inlcuding an wideband and likely a standalone.

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2009 370Z Sport/6M

KingDavid

Well from what the vendors have been saying, it's not a good idea to go beyond 550whp. Although they have taken it past 600whp just fine.

Orphan

mrmixitup by all out do you mean just a stand alone ecu and wideband etc or do you mean a full bottom end build? If the bottom end build will you be keeping the 11.0:1 CR? Honestly from what i've seen if you can tune the factory ECU its better as you can retain factory features and past Nissan ECU's have been very easily tuned so I guess we will just have to see what comes out to tune it with. I'm sure NisRom or whatever will have a set up for the VQ37HR soon enough. Stand alone starts to get ahead when it comes to additional sensors or extra maps etc as most factory ECU's haven't been designed to expand on what they come with stock. I can't see any reason why the factory ECU wouldn't be fine for most builds not to mention save you the $2k for a good stand alone unit. I know older nissan ECU's can be made to work with a wideband so I would assume it should be possible with the VQ37HR as well.

Based on the internals from previous Nissan engines I would say 500rwhp would be about the safe maximum which is still pretty impressive, it means that 95% of people will be able to get their goals on the stock block.

I wonder what results will be had once people start fooling around with the VVEL on the intake cams, its a shame they didn't bother to put any valve control system on the exhaust side, I can see reason for it but I guess the cost/benifit wasn't in it by Nissans thinking or penny counting.

KingDavid

The safe maximum is 550whp as per GTM and some vendors.

400hp N/A on a stock block seems very, very possible, lol. People are hitting 340-350whp with just I/H/E and a tune...CAn't wait for some more mods to come in and take it to that 400hp mark. ^_^

Orphan

I am quite impressed with the easy N/A performance out of them so far. Once a bit more time is spent on them I don't doubt 400whp N/A will be possible without going to extreme lengths.

Has anyone started working on the VVEL yet? Seems like once people can tune the VVEL there is an easy 5-10% more power on top of the basic mods.

edeeZee

Some of the sponsors/vendors on this site, not to vilify them, don't give a sh&t if you get a TT set up from them, and shortly thereafter you blow the motor despite them tuning it to "safe" levels of boost. They're here to make money.

They say 500hp is "safe." These vendors are gonna tell you anything you wanna hear. I honestly don't think 500hp streetable is realistic, more like 400hp. C'mon, a VQ motor is a corporate motor in a truck, passenger car, minivan and whatever Nissan makes. On the other hand, a Ferrari motor is engineered to take 12:1 compression ratio, use certain alloys for its block, etc. to get their motors to pump out 500hp all motor, they're high-performance motors per se whereas VQ's aren't.

But the caveat is that you know that building your motor aftermarket is risky despite anything vendors say is "safe."

Orphan

I think that is a good point that you can't trust vendors to give the most accurate information. From all the pictures i've seen the VQ37 is quite a bit beefier than the VQ35 which seemed to be good to around 400-450hp before breaking stuff. If you just bought a brand new G37/370z are you really going to risk loosing an engine over 50hp or take it a bit easier and be safe.

FYI the VQ30DET is good for 500rwhp standard but that was an engine engineered for forced induction from factory. As there isn't much actual experience with the VQ37 yet I'd assume the safe limit is in the 400-500whp range.

KingDavid

Whoa 400Whp is not what I said, lol. 400 at the crank. 400 to the wheels though? Maaannnnnn...That's crazy. That's V8 territory.

KingDavid

Not exactly the vendors. It's the company that makes the kit themselves. GTM has said that 550whp is just where you want to be safe with this block.

I don't know why I said vendors. Pardon the stupidity.

**** if it were me, I'd do full bolt-ons, tune, and a 100shot.

!xoible

i am very ignorant when it comes to tuning and so forth, but from a 330hp @ crank to 400 @ wheel without FI sounds like a joke to me. could you entertain me a bit and explain how anyone could reach 400 @ wheel without FI?

For the lack of better things to do I have been following M3's FI section on m3post.com. the engine puts over 350 hp at the wheel (414 at crank) and everyone finds it a stretch to even reach 400 hp without FI on that car...

edumacation, please!

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welcome to the internet. now ur out of ur ******* mind if you get offended at this **** ^^^

KingDavid

Well I cleared myself up earlier. I meant 400 to the crank, not to the wheel.

People are hitting 340-350 whp (if drivetrain loss is %15 it's about 391-403 to the crank) with just I/H/E and a tune. Stock intake manifold, stock throttle bodies, a few other stock things that MIGHT bump the power to 400 CRANK hp or get very close. At least I would think so.

It comes with 336 hp and the intakes and exhausts on the 370 are extremely restricted. This VQ is different from all of the other ones. It's bigger. Comes with a bottom end that, according to paper, lol, can handle 1000whp. Has a different type of valve control unlike what I've ever seen in a vehicle.

But here's the specifics on the motor and where that 1000whp claim came from. http://www.370 z.com/MagazineArticles/tabid/57/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/14/370Z-Engine-VQ37VHR.aspx (take out the space after "370")

KingDavid

Crank HP doesn't really mean **** in the end though. Power under the curve > *