After having my car parked for years, I've been driving it straight for the past month. The suspension, brakes, steering, CAI and Don's VB mod still sounds or feel as good as it did when they were installed many years ago. The only thing that's lacking (in todays V6 standard) is the HP. 190hp from a V6 was considered pretty good back in 92-94. But in today's standard, 190hp is in the 4cyl range. And we know the VE was never known for it's torque.

I understand there are ways of getting that 100hp. But without doing some major mods, it would be great if the HP fairy just came along and PUFF, 100 more HP. Most of us would agree the shape of our 3rd gen is timeless, and if we could get that magical 100hp, it would be the prefect car once again.

 

Why dont u do a budget turbo build or some spray for when u get the urge

 

I actually like the ol VE the way it is. It's my DD, the 5.5th is the highway ride for trips and stuff and the Z31 is going to be my torque machine . So what we have here is 190, 255 and 400+ HP.

 

Wow man, so you finally put it all back together? I remember when you got it completely repainted a few years ago and then didn't have time to put it all back together.

When are you gonna post some pics?

 

VE power band is extremely impractical, I can see where you might want a little more "umph" from the get go.

 

VQ35 swap?

Honestly that's why I went with a G35 as an upgrade to my 3rd gen. Not that the 3rd gen is lacking, as it still feels quick to me and outpaces most traffic, but the extra 70 hp and 70 lb-ft, plus the rear wheel drive and rigid chassis gives it that extra boost both in power and handling.

I still find the 3rd gen VE, especially the 5 speed to be competitive with a lot newer cars on the road. In terms of mid sized V6 even though the power ratings of a lot of other cars surpassed the VE some time ago, the 0-60, 1/4 mile, handling, and even butt dyno feel is still pretty good considering, as a lot of the competition such as Accord and Camry has grown both in size and weight, and isn't as performance minded. As for the 4 cylinders there aren't too many except for the more highly tuned ones such as the Sentra SER, RSX Type S, Civic Si that are going to keep up.

 

i still prefer power to handling balance, the light power mods with all the suspension work i had on the 3rd gen made it beautifully balanced. same with the Supra, as balanced as it can be. although it needs more power than handling lol. RWD just helps the balance

 

I understand where your coming from, but on top end, I still haven't found a V6 with even close to 300hp that passes my friend's lightly modded VE5. Seriously. Hes not walking these people, but they aren't passing him. He even starts to pull in the 125mph+ range. Maybe you guys aren't pushing your VE's but you would be surprised with the competition the VE has handled on top end in just the past year alone. My 225hp 330xi and my other friends 255hp 330i (honestly they are like the same car powerwise) and neither can pass the VE. He actually walks me at around 120mph. The new VQ's are just on the bumper the whole time and can't pass either.

If only it had better low-end but I think a 15.2 sec 1/4 mile isn't bad either compared to todays FWD V6 cars.

 

Try wrapping your mind around the fact that some (VE) are better than others. I'm not feeling like I need extra HP when I'm launching mine. That's why it gets way more street time than the 5.5th which only has 60K on the motor by the way.

 

Augustus is right. My old black VE from flyry was definitely a 'factory freak' - it could run circles around my current blue VE. I've never been able to figure out why my current blue VE just isn't quite as powerful as it should be - especially considering it's the most modded VE 5 I've ever had. Hell, my bone-stock-aside-from-a-cone-filter current black VE 5 feels much more powerful than my blue VE half the time. It's really frustrating.

 

i would love to have 100+ more hp in my VE

 

Compression test both engines? Does your current black VE have good injectors/coils/plugs compared to your blue one?

Similarly my stock 92 (the one for sale) feels like it has more pull and torque in the lower mid-range rpm accelerating around side streets than my original 92 does (the one i just restored/modded/JDM swap) But yet its a beast at high rpms. And yes i know i still have to post up all the pictures from the work i did, but im not selling the car or going anywhere so dont worry

Somehow i want to say you may be right but there has to be a reason why one may be better than the next. Maybe the workers at the assembly plant who built your black VE drank more coffee in the morning and maybe your blue VE was built at 4:55pm on a friday

 

I drove it briefly after I got it painted. Last summer the heater core started to leak so I parked it. Several weeks ago I finally replaced the heater core and I did your dash repair procedure, and I've been driving it ever since.

I do have some interior pics to post. I reupholstered the seats with black swede, back cloth material and a red strip going down the middle. And I installed two adjustable head rest in the rear seat by cutting out the molded head rest portion. I going for a black on black interior. I also need to change my headliner, but since I have an aftermarket sunroof, it's not going to be a simple R&R procedure.

 

 

absolutely positively.


haha oh man I thought I was the only one who used that term, Idk what they were smoking when they built your motor and mine James' but theres something secret there..(shaved cyl head ? )

If Veevolution and I were to tell the 3rd gen section let alone the whole org what kind of high profile cars i've kept up with and or walked from...top end that is, we'd either be percieved as newbs and we dont know what were tlken about or we're irresponsibly racing which result in a here. Im just gona say there are def higher performaning Ve's then others out there.

 

Try wrapping your mind around the fact that I'm talking about something that is backed up by official specifications. You can check it out in this thread which someone conveniently bumped: http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...30de-swap.html

There's nothing wrong with the power the VE puts down under high RPM, therefore the OP is seemingly referring to the car feeling sluggish around town, which is due to the lack of low torque, not HP.

 

Hey man, we take it to the track each and everytime

 

Atleast you guys start from the 190 range with your VE's, I'm in the 160-170 range from the factory. I could most definately use a 100 more HP but I have to say that mid range to top end is very competitive. My 89' VG still holds her own on the LIE with a 160 thou on the odo. You know what ride was really impressive for her time? The Volvo 850 T-5, Platinum or R model. A 5cylinder 2.3L 20valve DOHC with 225-245HP from the factory and handles excellent as a Sedan or Wagon. Of course I own a 96' 850 GLT with Turbo and I can tell you first hand that she can do a buck twenty with plenty of throttle left for 20 more mph. Back to topic at hand...I'm very happy with my 3rdgen but from the dwindling threads/post in the 3rdgen forum i can tell that most are loosing interest in the 3G. I come on here just for this forum and rarely check out any of the other gens. I like the 5.5gen and thats it really...nobody could deny that the new Max is bad **** but she's not my first pick when it comes to new rides. Was it Candi man that started this thread?. Thanks bro, good topic and your 3G is Bad **** Bro!! Your 3G is one of the reasons I've never given up on my Baby. I own 2 other rides but my 3G is still number 1 to me. The quest for an added 100HP continues.

 

I would have to disagree on that, since I was a VG owner at one point. The VG's biggest strength is in it's low end.

 

yep VG have the most power in the low end

 

We all have the right to our own opinions. As far as my VG is concerned she has power from the middle to the end. She is A/T, if you had a VG with a 5M/T then maybe i could see your points. She really jumps while riding at high way speeds.

 

either way they have more low end power no matter if its 5spd or auto. theyre low revving low end power engines.

 

When I had my VG auto, I got my butt kicked by anything with 6 cylinders and 24 valves on top end

And hold on, did you just say an A/T owns a 5spd at highway speeds? Sorry if I misunderstood.

 

only way autos have a advantage is if youre going into a straight line, you can power shift without having to let off the throttle and press down the clutch so theyre faster. otherwise 5spd is better all the way around

 

True, but on street cars, a manual gives you so much more direct power.. The auto is like a dull knife. That half second you lose with the manual upshift really doesn't give the auto any kind of real world advantage over the manual. Drag cars are a different story though.

 

yeah on the 3rd gen there were many times when it would gear down when it didnt need to and i was stuck slowly accelerating, manual at least you can choose yourself. Supra is even funner since the tranny is blown and ive got 2 spares coming so i can have fun til i lose the gears synchros in 2nd are GONE and 3rds going

i guess you can floor a manual on a drag strip and slam the clutch down and shift but youre gonna go through trannies like crazy, like that guy in the 5th gen section a few months ago "why are 5th gen trannies like glass? they suck" and he was flooring it and shifting without letting off the throttle

 

Maybe you guys are misunderstanding my use of mid-midhigh end. Since she's A/T she's dead off the line. I guess I should have said mid throttle to mid high throttle. I never said an A/T would own an 5M/T, just that the manual has so much more off the line. An auto doesn't really get going til about 3500rpm's. My Max is by no means a fast car, especially by todays standards. She can move for what she is and at 60-65mph she can still jump. I'm not here to battle, I'll lose the argument everytime with a VE owner or m/t owner. You guys would really be all over me if I was to even try to argue what I just tried to clear up. I almost bought a mint 93 VE Max with 68,000 miles on her but they sold her for like nothing cause they just wanted to get rid of it. Now this chick that doesn't even know what she has is going to destroy a beautiful example of the "4DSC"!! 1100.00 for some that they originally wanted 2700.00 for. Really it nothing wrong with it that I could find and I checked her out like ten times. As OP stated these are by no means high revving motors like my 5G Lude. I associate low end with off the line or from a dead stop. Since were on the subject, what are some of the top speeds some of you guys have reached in your 3G??

 

Thing is, shes strongest off the line. Auto or Manual. Thats how that motor and tranny is designed. Thats what me and chrome are trying to tell you. It's not just that an auto trans is dead from a stand still. It's dead at highway speeds as well because thats how the gearing is set up on those automatics. You have one less gear don't forget. And just the whole design of the automatic trans is not made to fully utilize what motors have to offer. Guys with the VG 5spds have reported speeds of 135+. On my VG Auto, it would get stuck at 123. Everything past mid-range on that car is weak by even standards of those days. Anything past maybe 50mph and I had V6 Hondas pull away from me each and everytime.

Well since you asked, I've been to 142 with the VE and it was still pulling. Suspension felt horrible at those speeds though. Loose like a goose.

 

i never got the chance to take the 3rd gen that fast, i think the fastest i got it to was only 140km/h. swayed a bit too much at that speed for me. Supra feels much more stable at high speeds, but the speedo maxes out at 140km/h and the owner told me to not do over 110 by next summer i should be able to take it faster after working on it

however on a crazy twisty touge road i did it to 110km/h, felt crazy lol. lots of people have eaten guardrail on the road

and yeah as Vevolution said, 5spd you have a extra gear because 5th is the overdrive gear and theres less HP loss through a manual vs a automatic.

 

Yeah the VE is still bad ****!!

 

ive only driven one VE though, it was a old lady's automatic VE that she dropped off at work

it was funny though one time a 3rd gen came in and the guy said the shifter didnt feel right, right away theres me ITS TEH SHIFTER BUSHING!!11!!11!! even got the part number from here that i posted lol

 

I really hope that shifter bushing me and BklynsmoeVE are currently replacing on his car will fix all of his shifting issues. This job turned into a bit of a pain.

 

mine was completely gone, i had to wiggle the shifter down in D for drive to engage, the shifter felt sloppy, and the last step was it wouldnt recognize the car was in park and nothing would happen when you tried to turn the key. you would have to rock the car back and forth then it would start, then one day that didnt even work lol

its a easy fix, remove the heat shield and youre there

 

This guy knows not all VE30s are slouches Along with everyone else in the 3.0 category at Maxus 2010

This is very true when they are running well, but you better be good at changing coils and injectors. I always take a few extra coils and injectors with me when I am going out of town. Luckily I have never had to change them on the road but you never know

I get this feeling sometimes too with mine, but it normally turns out to be a coil/injector/vacuum leak/sticking brake problem.....just the usuals

 

I love my VE. Just need to change the injectors. I have been to lazy to get around to it. The brake master cylinder as well. :|

 

O yours was an auto? Thats pretty funny that you had to rock it to start. My friends is the 5spd. It's not really a hard job like you said, except it's these little things that kept popping up here and there, like we needed to drill out rusted mounting bolts for the bracket, but had no drill or the right drill bits, once we got it all back together, the shifter assembly spring popped out and we weren't sure how it goes back. But from the looks of it, and looked at the FSM, it could only go in one way.. Except when we put it in, he could barely select his gears and the spring inside chewed up the white ball. Apparently that spring was pressed in somehow before it popped out accidentally. Now we are waiting on a new assembly

 

yeah i had to rock it, that went on for about a year and then one day rocking didnt work, got it towed out of the garage and then it started so i got it looked at and they said it was the starter, went through 3 starters since the problem persisted and of course then they listened to me saying it was the shifter bushing and that was it lol

yeah it was a auto with the crappy RF GXE tranny, surprised it lasted how long it did lol. started to lose 1st and a week later the engine cooked a bearing and started knocking so i figured it was time to move on. i actually couldnt drive stick before i bought the Supra so i had a couple weeks to learn lol

 

I don't see where the whole "VE's have no low end" thing is coming from, my old 92 SE 5spd would pull on my friend's old 89 SE 5spd at any point in the powerband, not to mention he had to shift 1000rpm sooner at which point it was game over.

Even with mine modded to hell and back, Fidanza, ported upper and lower intake manifolds and matched heads, ported exhaust headers, y-pipe, UDP, SAFC-II tuning, etc. I still pulled on Brasky's car from an idle, the only time it was matched was when we loaded my car up with four people and he was alone, and then as soon as he ran out of first gear it was game over for him.

Between VTCs, VI and distributorless ignition, VG's don't stand a chance against a VE in good running order.

yeah, 190hp out of a V6 isn't much anymore. I wouldn't compare them to a 4cyl motor though, the power is all different. Also a 5spd VE with a Fidanza is a different animal than a modded automatic :-/ but yeah, they will soon be 20 years old

Case in point the 2.5L I6 in my BMW makes more power than my VE and its my winter car

 

Also it depends what kind of power you want. Personally I'd go with a smaller Garrett GT to help keep spooling to a minimum, but I can't stand waiting for boost. Nitrous is fun but its downright violent on the drivetrain and I don't think a 100shot would be terribly useful for what you are talking about.

Since there are no twin screws available I would probably go with a smaller turbo setup and a 35-50 shot to get things going. But then you're spending more than the car is worth :-/

 

When you're racing and launching at 2500, the game's over, the VG will never see its peak torque. Nobody has ever claimed otherwise.

Now if you have a VG and a VE lined up at a red light and both drivers are driving normally, "launching" at 1200, shifting at 3000, and staying between 2k and 2500 while maintaining speed, the VG is better equipped and the more enjoyable car to drive because of this IMO. VE just begs you to push it to the limit. It's fun when you can, but when you can't (most of the time) it's just kind of boring to drive.