I'm trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Please keep in mind that the process in obtaining the info set forth below was quite elementary. I just used a little common sense and a lot of time...

NZ Max is correct (obvious since he's from New Zealand), the A32 Nissan Maxima never had a variable intake manifold for NZ's market. However their country imports a lot of used A32s from Japan (Cefiro). The Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) A32 Cefiros came with 3 VQs. 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0, the latter being very rare. All three motors have variable intake manifolds.

The 3.0 came out of the "Cefiro 30 Excimo G", which was rated at 217HP@6400rpm JIS-- 214HP SAE. Please note the RPM peak HP is reached at.
--------------------------------------------------
All A33 (5th gen Maximas) are equipped with a variable intake manifold.
US Maximas 3.0 engines are rated 222HP@6400rpm.
New Zealand Maximas 3.0 engines are rated at 157kW@6400rpm, which is 210HP SAE.
UK Maximas 3.0 engines are rated at 200PS@6400rpm, which is 197HP SAE.
Japan's Cefiro's top offering is a 2.5ltr Direct Injection engine which is rated at 210PS@6400rpm (207HP SAE), and does not offer a 3.0.

All peak HP are reached at the upper end of the RPM spectrum- suprisingly, all are reached at 6400rpm.

For reference, our non VI-equipped 3.0 VQs reach peak HP at 5600rpm, same as the New Zealand Market A32/4th gen Maxima 3.0s.

(Yes, the VQ35DEs peak at 5800rpm but the power doesn't drop like a falling brick like our non-VI 3.0s)


-------------------------------------------------
The A32/4th gen UK Maxima. All A32 UK maximas are equipped with a variable intake manifold. They have the 2.0 VQ and 3.0 VQ

Take a look at this UK website:
http://www.bignissans.org.uk/

It lists the A32 VQs HP rating as follows:
3.0: 193PS@6400rpm, which is 190HP SAE. (Confirmed on Nissan UK's website, which has a PDF file of their Maxima's Technical Specification that had both 4th and 5th gen power/torque ratings)
2.0: 140hp@6400rpm, which is 138HP SAE.

Again, Both are equipped with variable intakes. Their HP peaks are achieved at the same RPM; which is well above our 5600rpm peak.

Is it possible that the UK VQs uses the same variable intake as the 2.0 and 2.5, which explains the lower output when compared to the rest of the world??? The torque is lower as well, with the 3.0's torque rated at 255Nm (184lb-ft). Even their A33 3.0 VQ is rated much lower than the rest of the world. Hmm...

I posted a question on a UK maxima board to have the owners take a look at their intake manifold stamping. Their forum does not generate the traffic this board does, so I pray that someone will see it and kindly respond.

Regarding the "New Zealand" intake manifolds, we are more likely to get the 2.0/2.5 intake manifolds than the 3.0 intake manifolds. However the VQ engine is modular. The guy guarantees that it'll fit too, so It is a good bet that it'll fit. I'm worried about the torque drop though. Hopefully the British A32 3.0 owners read my post and let us know which of the two stampings is on their intake manifolds.

Sources: Nissan website from each respective countries, Automobile Mag 1/95 which had an article of the Cefiro (thank goodness I remembered that article), various commercial websites (too many to list), other personal websites, etc.

Moderators: If you or someone else notices an an error please edit my post.

 

Sticky

 

Man, there are like 5 VI threads going! Mucho hot topic! I Would stay away from a VQ 2.5 variable intake manifold. It may be variable, but it's bound to be smaller since it's probably tuned for a 500cc smaller V-6. It'll probably choke our VQ30DE up top.

DW