Below is an article on the VQ engine taken from Wards:

By Bill Visnic
WardsAuto.com, Jan 4 2005

Nissan’s dominating 3.5L DOHC V-6 wins its unparalleled eleventh consecutive Ward’s 10 Best Engines award.

It’s 11 consecutive years of Ward’s 10 Best Engines awards for Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and its 3.5L “VQ” DOHC V-6. No other engine has as many wins, and no other engine has won a 10 Best Engines award every year since the competition’s inception in 1995.

The VQ V-6 family, which comprises several displacements in other markets, started in the U.S. as a gem-like 3L that instantly caused a commotion in the powertrain sector with its scintillatingly low levels of noise, vibration and harshness, spectacular flexibility and high specific output.

Nissan’s VQ V-6 for North America now displaces 3.5L, but has sacrificed little of its superb engineering, build quality and driveability attributes. Powertrain developers the world over almost invariably still name Nissan’s VQ V-6 as the single most benchmarked engine in V-6 development programs. It’s remarkable that more than 11 years after its introduction, the VQ remains atop the heap.

Judges continue to be enthralled with the VQ’s thunderous power and torque, and Nissan engineers have a curious talent for perpetually upping the ante with the VQ’s output – or displacement – just when the competition begins to creep close. And despite the startling power now being generated by Nissan’s 3.5L V-6 in several of its multifarious states of tune, the VQ’s sophistication and driveability remain.

For ’05, engineers drummed up another substantial dose of horsepower for the 3.5L DOHC V-6, raising output from 280 hp to 298 hp for Infiniti G35 coupes and sedans with a 6-speed manual transmission. And versions of the 3.5L V-6 that formerly made 260 hp and 260 lb.-ft. (353 Nm) of torque now develop 280 hp and 270 lb.-ft. (366 Nm) of torque. Anniversary editions of Nissan’s 350Z coupe enjoy the highest-spec version of the 3.5L VQ, at an even 300 hp.

These new power levels are well-timed, because there seems to be an expanding list of increasingly power-dense V-6s working into several auto makers’ product cycles, including the new 300-hp variant of Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s own 3.5L SOHC V-6, which also wins a 10 Best Engines spot for 2005. A decade ago, Nissan’s 3L VQ V-6 was a benchmark with 190 hp. Now, with just a half-liter more displacement, a V-6 must be pushing the 300-hp mark to be fully competitive.

Meanwhile, the VQ’s impact in all world markets borders on incredible. Nissan says it’s made more than 3.6 million of the modular VQs since its launch. Late in 2004, Nissan announced it will build a second assembly plant in Iwaki, Japan, to hike VQ capacity from 396,000 units to 560,000.

Nissan needs more VQ V-6s because it’s an engineering and manufacturing masterpiece. And with the new upgrades for 2005, Nissan once again proves there’s not a better-developed or more technically proficient V-6 anywhere in the industry.

{At this point the article has a graph of horsepower and torque. This site would not allow me to paste that here. So I will describe the graph:

Torque: The torque is quite flat, at or above 250 lb-ft from 3K to 6K RPM. The maximum torque is 260 lb-ft at 4,800 RPM. Torque falls off quite sharply above 6K RPM. The graph starts at 1K RPM with about 180 lb-ft of torque, the next point at 2K RPM shows about 235 lb-ft. At 3K RPM torque is 250 lb-ft.

HP: The graph is almost a straight line from 50 HP at 1K RPM up to about 255 HP at 5K RPM. The increase in HP is less from 5K RPM up to maximum HP of 298 HP at 6,400 RPM.

This information follows in the article: SilverMax_04}

3.5L DOHC V-6

Engine type = 3.5L DOHC 60° V-6

Displacement (cc) = 3,498

Block/head material = aluminum/aluminum

Bore x stroke (mm) = 95.5 x 81.4

Horsepower (SAE net) = 298 @ 6,400 rpm

Torque = 260 lb.-ft. (353 Nm) @ 4,800 rpm

Specific output = 85 hp/L

Compression ratio = 10.3:1

Application tested = Infiniti G35 Coupe (6-speed MT)

Fuel economy for tested vehicle (EPA city/highway mpg) = 19/26
bvisnic@primediabusiness.com

 

thats why I own one..................

 

I love reading stuff like that! I also like to push down on that gas pedal!

 

sounds great !! the vq is a great thing

 

Did you really expect anything less?? Damn right we have the best.

 

I am on my 2nd VQ35DE. Best damn engine on the planet!

 

I still get compliments from people I give rides to. I usually get the "Damn this thing smooth as hell!"

 

I'm so proud. No one can talk bad about the VQ, Nissan just knows how to make their engines.



if only they could get the tranny right

 

Looking at this the max toque is 260ft-lb and producing 250-260 HP @4800 rpm. Too bad we don't have a variable tranny that can opperate at that point at all times. That would be fun!

 

Thats why I own two.

 

That's why I own two too!!

Mine

Wifey's SE

 

I just went outside and kissed my motor after reading that...
Good stuff...

 

That is what I am talking about

 

glad i gave up honda love for nissans lol

 

Is there a tranny award? I don't see any awards for our manual trannies...

 

I wonder what mods were done to the 300Z anniversary edition to get 300 hp

 

It is scrumptious! I am most pleased with the upgrade from my 94 and so glad I got an 02 instead of an 00-01.

 

plz post link to the original article. i want to save it

 

This article was sent to me by a friend. He did not provide the link.
Suggest you go to wardsauto.com and search for it.

 

AE Corolla

 

Hell yea, our engines rock!
I felt exceptionally proud when i had to jump-start this girl's wrangler yesterday. As soon as i popped my hood to hook her up, she said: "Wow! That thing (engine) is huge!"

 

http://www.wardsauto.com
It's on the top of the main page

 

I agree! And since this thread had fallen to the middle of the third page, I thought I'd bump it back on the first page so more readers can see what really great cars we drive.

 

Everyone can talk about the TL's Etc But you know when it comes down to it we have a beast living inside our hoods

 

....

 

Sound sexual to me....lol

 

She was most likely referring to the hood emblem (aka hamburger).

(Get your mind outta the gutter...)

 

 

I'm surprised it took this long for someone to make that comment about my previous statement.

 

Gotta love those kind of comments...and hate some others.... when I bought my MAX I was comparing it with an Acura TSX, and I told that to the salesman. He said hey, here you can fit two 6-feet tall men on you back (referring to the backseat). Not a very smart comment. I replied "HEY, I don't plan on getting men on the backseat..." Needless to say, I bought my car somewhere else...

 

....and that's the reason I want to get my paws on another Max with a 3.5L.

 

Apparently they added VVT to the exhaust cam also. Before it was intake side only VVT. There may have been a few other small changes as well.

 

Prinz, we gotta find you a car. This spring we'll go car shopping with you.

It'll make our detailing meets a lot more fun, i'm sure.

 

Wonderful engine, but does it work for Maxima? They evaluated 3.5 VQ in a G35 Sedan. No mention of Maxima. I'm puzzled... do they not think the VQ and Maxima are an appropriate match?
Jae

 

That is what they claimed. Although I have found no evidence of it at all in the ESMs.

 

I rep the VQ everyday. My plate says VQPWR!

No other V6 comes close to Nissans V6!!

 

On the writeup on www.nissannews.com they mentioned a "new exhaust valve timing mechanism" so I assume it's variable on both now but

Of course they said for the writeup on the 1999 Maxima when it was up that it had a variable valve lift system so information there can be a little suspect at times.

 

Welcome back Steve. I've missed you on this site for a number of months.

 

That torque curve is awsome. This will be the last time I bump this thread up to the top from the 3rd page. Hope most on this site have gotten a chance to read it.