4 banger in a 4th gen?
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
4 banger in a 4th gen?
I love my maxima to death, but I do a **** ton of driving every year for my job. I pay more every month in fuel then I do for rent, so its my greatest expenditure. That being said, even if the swap were to cost me a good chunk of change at first, it would definitely be worth it in the long run for me. I searched for about half an hour, and couldn't find anything on a 4 banger in a 4th gen car. I feel like someone should have done a swap like this already... if there is a thread about this already please let me know which one it is. Otherwise... I was thinking a qg18de lean burn with a 5 speed manual from a 5th gen sentra... the weight difference between the two cars is only about 300 pounds, and after the swap and cutting out some unnecessary weight from my car, I bet it would be less then 100 pounds... what do you guys think?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
Normally thats what I would do, but my car has 220k on it and I wouldn't get nearly as much as I'd want for it. By the time I sell my car, buy the much newer one which will cost a lot more, pay for registration, pay for plates, pay higher insurance because its much newer, and any repairs it may possibly need... I might as well just pick up a cheap engine and trans that I can swap into my car. Plus, I'm looking for a fun little project in my free time 
. I found an engine and trans at a local salvage yard that I can pick up for about $600, which seems very reasonable to me.
. I found an engine and trans at a local salvage yard that I can pick up for about $600, which seems very reasonable to me.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
There have been a few threads discussing it but it's really not worth it. A sr20 wouldnt get much better mpg than a well maintained vq30 in a 3100lbs car
plus the only sr20 A32's are from overseas and have ODB1, although it wouldnt be an impossible wiring swap, it would certainly take a while to mix and match all the right wires to work with our stuff.
an equivalent year sentra/altima would be a better bet, should get over 30mpg
plus the only sr20 A32's are from overseas and have ODB1, although it wouldnt be an impossible wiring swap, it would certainly take a while to mix and match all the right wires to work with our stuff.
an equivalent year sentra/altima would be a better bet, should get over 30mpg
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
There have been a few threads discussing it but it's really not worth it. A sr20 wouldnt get much better mpg than a well maintained vq30 in a 3100lbs car
plus the only sr20 A32's are from overseas and have ODB1, although it wouldnt be an impossible wiring swap, it would certainly take a while to mix and match all the right wires to work with our stuff.
an equivalent year sentra/altima would be a better bet, should get over 30mpg
plus the only sr20 A32's are from overseas and have ODB1, although it wouldnt be an impossible wiring swap, it would certainly take a while to mix and match all the right wires to work with our stuff.
an equivalent year sentra/altima would be a better bet, should get over 30mpg
I love my maxima to death, but I do a **** ton of driving every year for my job. I pay more every month in fuel then I do for rent, so its my greatest expenditure. That being said, even if the swap were to cost me a good chunk of change at first, it would definitely be worth it in the long run for me. I searched for about half an hour, and couldn't find anything on a 4 banger in a 4th gen car. I feel like someone should have done a swap like this already... if there is a thread about this already please let me know which one it is. Otherwise... I was thinking a qg18de lean burn with a 5 speed manual from a 5th gen sentra... the weight difference between the two cars is only about 300 pounds, and after the swap and cutting out some unnecessary weight from my car, I bet it would be less then 100 pounds... what do you guys think?
Simple, his 6th gear lowered his rpms on the highway quite a bit. Less revs at the same speed=moAr mpgs. Of course if he tuned the car and leaned it out as much as he could that would also effect his mileage.
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 122
From: Marysville, WA
There have been a few threads discussing it but it's really not worth it. A sr20 wouldnt get much better mpg than a well maintained vq30 in a 3100lbs car
plus the only sr20 A32's are from overseas and have ODB1, although it wouldnt be an impossible wiring swap, it would certainly take a while to mix and match all the right wires to work with our stuff.
an equivalent year sentra/altima would be a better bet, should get over 30mpg
plus the only sr20 A32's are from overseas and have ODB1, although it wouldnt be an impossible wiring swap, it would certainly take a while to mix and match all the right wires to work with our stuff.
an equivalent year sentra/altima would be a better bet, should get over 30mpg
^
Personally, i wouldnt lean out my motor too much because those cylinder temps are going to become sky high especially considering when you are driving around on the highway etc. you are on the gas for long periods of time.
Personally, i wouldnt lean out my motor too much because those cylinder temps are going to become sky high especially considering when you are driving around on the highway etc. you are on the gas for long periods of time.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
well, before i started this thread, i assumed the weight of a sr20de was going to be a lot less then that of a vq30de... I've done some research and it turns out the sr20 only weighs about 10-15 lbs less then a vq30 depending on how you measure it... lol. The transmission out of a sentra weighs almost the same as that of our maxima too. so scratch the 4 cylinder swap. I'll just get a civic hatchback haha.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
While searching for those engine weights though, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a vq30de and a vq35de weigh just about the same... I'd be willing to bet that if you swapped in a vq35de with a 6 speed manual you'd see a lot better fuel economy then with the vq30de with the 4 speed automatic. Of course you'd have the manual which is a given that you'd achieve better fuel economy with that, but also because the vq35de has about 75 more hp and was meant to move a maxima thats about 500 pounds heavier. I'm seriously considering a vq35de swap now... not just for the fuel economy, but for the great power boost and the fun project it'll be haha.
Last edited by Timm80; Apr 2, 2012 at 10:19 PM.
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,095
From: Salt Lake City, UT
While searching for those engine weights though, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a vq30de and a vq35de weigh just about the same... I'd be willing to bet that if you swapped in a vq35de with a 6 speed manual you'd see a lot better fuel economy then with the vq30de with the 4 speed automatic. Of course you'd have the manual which is a given that you'd achieve better fuel economy with that, but also because the vq35de has about 75 more hp and was meant to move a maxima thats about 500 pounds heavier. I'm seriously considering a vq35de swap now... not just for the fuel economy, but for the great power boost and the fun project it'll be haha.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 119
From: St. Charles, IL
If you want to stay in the Maxima family, get the 1995-99 Sentra 5 speed with the 1.6 motor,the GA16DE, and not the famous SR20DE. Don't get me wrong, the SR20DE is badass, and if you were to stay with the SR20, then you may as well stay with the VQ. Gas mileage of the SR20 is not siginificantly better than the VQ.
The GA16DE is no slouch and gets great gas mileage to boot. If you put headers on it, that little DOHC sucker really wakes up. 28-30 mpg on regaulr 87 octane with enthusiastic driving was what I got on my 5-speed.
The 95-99 Sentra literally is a smaller maxima, 4 door sedan with multi-link rear beam. Just as much fun, if not more, in a smaller package. That Sentra is also the Infiniti G20 by the way. Of course the G20 has the SR20DE motor. So if you want leather seats in your sentra, get the seats from the G20.
Or just get the G20 to have the very best version of that genration Sentra.
DW
The GA16DE is no slouch and gets great gas mileage to boot. If you put headers on it, that little DOHC sucker really wakes up. 28-30 mpg on regaulr 87 octane with enthusiastic driving was what I got on my 5-speed.
The 95-99 Sentra literally is a smaller maxima, 4 door sedan with multi-link rear beam. Just as much fun, if not more, in a smaller package. That Sentra is also the Infiniti G20 by the way. Of course the G20 has the SR20DE motor. So if you want leather seats in your sentra, get the seats from the G20.
Or just get the G20 to have the very best version of that genration Sentra.
DW
spend a bunch of unrecoverable money doing a bunch of custom crap to a car that is already darn near worthless, and in the process make it unreliable, and completely worthless to anyone but yourself. doesn't really sound like the best way to save money.
If you want to stay in the Maxima family, get the 1995-99 Sentra 5 speed with the 1.6 motor,the GA16DE, and not the famous SR20DE. Don't get me wrong, the SR20DE is badass, and if you were to stay with the SR20, then you may as well stay with the VQ. Gas mileage of the SR20 is not siginificantly better than the VQ.
The GA16DE is no slouch and gets great gas mileage to boot. If you put headers on it, that little DOHC sucker really wakes up. 28-30 mpg on regaulr 87 octane with enthusiastic driving was what I got on my 5-speed.
The 95-99 Sentra literally is a smaller maxima, 4 door sedan with multi-link rear beam. Just as much fun, if not more, in a smaller package. That Sentra is also the Infiniti G20 by the way. Of course the G20 has the SR20DE motor. So if you want leather seats in your sentra, get the seats from the G20.
Or just get the G20 to have the very best version of that genration Sentra.
DW
The GA16DE is no slouch and gets great gas mileage to boot. If you put headers on it, that little DOHC sucker really wakes up. 28-30 mpg on regaulr 87 octane with enthusiastic driving was what I got on my 5-speed.
The 95-99 Sentra literally is a smaller maxima, 4 door sedan with multi-link rear beam. Just as much fun, if not more, in a smaller package. That Sentra is also the Infiniti G20 by the way. Of course the G20 has the SR20DE motor. So if you want leather seats in your sentra, get the seats from the G20.
Or just get the G20 to have the very best version of that genration Sentra.
DW
If you want a sentra, BUY A SENTRA. You are going to waste a lot of time and money to find out swapping in a 1.6L motor will not improve any mpgs and or performance. It will be massively more sluggish and mpgs will not change because you will be revving the ***** off it to accelerate like it use to.
