well me and my friend were having a conversation and I mentioned our VQ30DE/VQ35DE engines..he asked me if I knew what I was talkin about cause hes only heard of the VG30DE..he thought I meant VG instead of VQ..anyone know the difference between the two??

 

VG is the older design... I'm not sure here (definitely somebody here would know for sure, maybe Jeff92se?) but I think VG was the original platform the VG/VE/VQ was based on?
From the VG it was enhanced as the VE, then finally the VQ... you could think of the VQ as a more advanced descendent of the VG.

The VE was only used in the 3rd gen Maximas... all other Nissan V6-powered vehicles at the time used the VG, e.g. the 300ZX and pickup trucks. The VQ is now used in more than just the Maxima, and I don't know if Nissan has any production vehicles as of 2k3 that use the VG anymore. I think the Xterra used a supercharged VG not too long ago...

Please correct me if I'm missing something (or talking shyt here and don't know it )

 

Difference is block composition i believe. VQ being all aluminum and VG iron. Correct me if im wrong.

The J30 my dad owns is a VG30DE motor, the 300zx is a variant of that with twin turbos thus VG30DETT

 

The VG and VQ are *completely* different engine designs. The VQ is a ground-up "1st gen" engine (for 1995) whereas the VE was actually based off of the older VG series dating back from the mid-80's. There are way more differences than just block composition, but yes, that is one difference of many.

The VQ30DE-K from the 00-01 Max's are 2nd gen VQ designs, and "most" (not all) of the VQ35 engines are 3rd generation VQ designs.

 

Please clarify this last statement. I thought the VQ35 was the same in all the platforms it now appears in but the power differences came from different intakes/exhausts and computer management systems.

Thanks

 

OK, so I was wrong that the VQ was an "advanced descendent" of the VG... they have nothing in common. Nissan decided to start from scratch and blow everyone away

BTW, what were the V6 platforms before the VG...? (i.e. 70s-80s)

 

There was no V6 platform before the VG ('84 300ZX). There was an I6 platform based off the original L24 in the '70 240Z that lasted to '83 in the 280ZX and a little later in the Maxima. The VG series is the longest lasting Nissan engine series to my knowledge.

 

SAE documentation published by Nissan on these engines states that the 240-horse VQ35's are "2nd generation" VQ engines (Altima, Pathfinder, and the "255 horse" Maxima ) and that the 260-280+ hp VQ35's (G35s, G35c, FX35, 04 Max, etc) are "3rd generation" VQ engines. Differences between the 2nd/3rd gen VQ35 include:

- Vastly improved top-end power
- modified intake manifold design
- modified head port (3rd gen uses a higher angled port)
- modifications to the block to improve engine stiffness and reduce vibrations
- revised timing chain for quieter operation

Ref docs:

SAE 2002-01-0450: Third Generation of High-Response and High-Output 3.5L V-6 Engine
SAE 2000-01-0668: Second Generation of High-Response V6 Engine Series (3.0 and 3.5 Liters)

 

thanx all for the clarification...good topic to discuss anyway