I know this is a hypothetical question, but how much power will a stock VQ handle? If one were to say run say a 3.48 pulley w/ a 50 shot, would the engine survive? Not that the NOS would be used all the time, but if one were to take the car to the track on occasion. Also, just how much power will the auto tranny handle. Assuming that the tranny had a VB mod and tranny cooler.

Not that I'd ever do this... My car is all show and no go. Or is it?

My tranny is holding up fine.

I heard a while back, that the auto trans will only hold about 300hp MAX and the VQ can withstand lots of power along with the VE and VG. Depending on your internals it could handle up to 475hp easy.

the VQ is alot more fragile than the 300ZX engines, I'm sure you could run that much power, but to maintain any amount of streetability I'd say keep it around 350hp

VQ30DE is an open deck design. I'm not an expert, but I would be worried above 12psi or so. You'd probably be ok with 15psi... I just wouldn't recommend it for daily use.

Heck the SR20DE guys can do up to 20psi or so, but they have a marginally stronger motor and LOTS more development done for them.

It's the tranny I'd worry about. Might want to talk to Level10 or another good local shop about getting a heavy-duty rebuild a la StealthMax.

I heard it handled 190hp quite well.

Sorry guys, Im having DBM witdrawels. his is something he would have said

for sure

You can't host sig pics off your HD. MY guess would be about 14 PSI.

C:\My Documents\My Pictures\white max.jpg [/img]

i figure with the proper fuel upgrades/managment a healthy max should be able to handle a s/c and 50 shot nos. i would upgrade the injectors and put in a SAFC along with a high flow fuel pump. you would lots of dyno time to make sure everything is running right. i have never done any of that stuff but from what i gather that set up would be streetable. dont know much about the auto tranny though.

Give me a few months and I will be running a 3.25" pulley, wich gets me 8.5psi at redline, and a 40shot. If you use an 8:1 FMU disc adding the nitrous is no problem. With the 8:1 disc I was getting ~720c EGT's at the 1/4 mile mark. The VQ can handle 820c EGT's, mabye just a bit higher too, bur 820c EGT's is a safe limit. I think Mathel blew a head gasket at ~880c EGT's. So with the 8:1 FMU disc you have some room for extra power. Dont try it with out a good EGT gauge. The APEXi Electronic EGT Gauge has a warning point that you can set. It has a triger wire that you can use to turn the nitrous off if the EGT's get too high.

I may even go with a 3.125 like Keving to see how that effects EGT's with an 8:1 FMU disc.

I dont think larger fuel injectors are necessary until you go over 100psi of fuel pressure at full boost. At that point IMHO its a good idea. That will happen with a 8:1 FMU disk at ~10.5psi of boost.
(baseFP/2)+(DiscRatio*Boost)=max fuel pressure
(33/2)+(8*10.5)=100.5

You can use an adjustable FMU to get a little more out of the boost, but that requires a day at the dyno to tune.

As for total HP a stock VQ can take. I think some of the nitrous boys have shown 125-150hp shot is ok. But remember that with nitrous you get a bunch more torque than power, look at Thomas. Nitrous power comes on at lower RPMs because of cylinder filling. SC boost comes on stronger the higher the RPM's rise. So with the best of both worlds I bet 350-400hp with propper tuning is feasble from 3500rpm's to redline.

Now, if we could only get a few degrees of timing retard out of this dam motor... (forcefed where are you...)

I think 350 is fairly safe and the 4's would be a max. yes, I am pulling these numbers out of my a$$.

http://www.techstation.com/maxima/engine.htm <---this guy is running a S/C and a 70 shot and has had very few problems. I'd say 300-350 HP considering the S/C is 120HP minus the 30-50 HP it eats and the 70 shot, well that's self-explainatory.

the 300 motor is definately much more durable, but the most heavy duty nissan powerplant would have to be the Q45. The first level S/C kit for it boosts it to ~400HP and you don't need to change anything in the car, not even plugs. maybe you guys have heard of 300zx tuners using parts from salvaged Q's, especially for TT with more boost/NOS, etc...

The Q45's are crazy but it is a whole different game withthem. Once you throw that V8 in there you can go more power anyhow without as much worry.

SuDZ

My dad has one and I will likely get it when he gets a newer one or a different car altogether. It's a little slower than the my max but it is an extra ~800 pounds or so. Hopefully I'll have some money then and I plan on putting on some nice looking rims (17x7.5 in front and 18x8 in back) and maybe going for the S/C and Torque converter upgrade. Then my Max becomes my winter-beater

I already got him a JWT intake for his birthday. Now there's a killer growl at 2500-4000rpm that neither of us has heard before. The second he nailed it on the highway we both went WHOA.

but I digress...

Good info Matt,
ive heard that you begin to melt pistons and blow head gaskets with repeated exposures above 850 degrees celcius. I blew my head gasket around 880C. I think stoiciometry(sp) is about 777C so thats what id shoot for when tuning. A timing retard feature would help...oh well, too bad..
Tuning is the key, you can blow a improperly tuned motor at around 300hp levels yet you can have have a 350hp tuned motor that is pretty realible.

So has anyone actually pushed the engine to the breaking point? I mean a well tuned engine, not an engine blowing up because of a fuel pump failure or something. On stock internals since there aren't a whole lot of aftermarket internals for the engine.

This little project I'm working on is closer to completion and it involves a 3.33 pulley. Just trying to figure out how much nitrous I can run without destroying things. I am already looking into new injectors since I have connections on those. All the necessary gauges/safety precautions will be used. I guess I'm just looking for a ceiling. The car is daily driven so I guess that's a consideration.

What kind of 1/4 times would that produce?
Low 12s?

I was going to say, talk to Mardi but he alreayd replied.

The most power i have heard any maxima putting donw to the wheels was Thomas (sx7r) with 295fwhp & 385lbs.

Good info guys. I don't think the really big hp will come until someone finds a way to adjust the ignition timing.