Vash350Z

iTrader: (9)

How much can you get an RB for Jason?

aaronlosey

iTrader: (1)

rb26s are silly heavy. once you get rid of the front diff in the oil pan they get a little better, but they are still very heavy. they are very cool motors though, a friend of mine has one that he never installed in his 240z. i have an rb25 in a car thats putting out 378whp with the boost not holding, so it should be a good bit over 4 at the wheels. its a fun engine, but the off boost performance is super lame. if your not in boost, such as cruising on the freeway, and get caught at the wrong rpm, your not accellerating at all unless you change gears. ( maybe accellerating a little, but not much, i exagerate a little sometimes )

as for the price of the swap, for 3500 dollars, your going to have a pretty crappy motor, putting out stock hp if lucky, with poor craftsmanship for everything else. the final product will suck. don't do it.

the vq motor is very cool, and like someone else said in this thread already, holds just as much power on the stock block as most nissan motors you can swap other than the rb26. dollar for dollar the vq motor is going to be better in your 350z than an rb26. the rb26 would only be better dollar for dollar if it came stock in the z, then it would kick ***. swapping an rb26 into anything though, then extracting hp from it isn't cheap.

illphil

iTrader: (1)

I don't disagree with that, parts are limited here and somewhat expensive for the RB. I've searched through 240 forums trying to find some info on how much weight was gained over the stock KA or SR motor but no avail. So then I'm just left to guessing- according to this post and forsberg the SR saved 200-300 lbs. So if the RB is that much heavier than the SR or 100-200 more than the KA it should be right around the VQ weight. Just guesstimates though wouldn't mind a solid number to toy around with.

aaronlosey

iTrader: (1)

um, the rb weights quite a bit more than the vq i would guess. that freaking thing is heavy! i would guess the rb weights a good 200 pounds more than the vq with everything on it. the thing is made of iron, the vq is aluminum. also, don't let displacement fool you, those things are beasts. and, you have to take into consideration all the extra piping, intercooler, turbo, ect. there is probably no good swap for the 350z, since the stock motor is so good. maybe an ls1 or something, as those have excellent dollar for hp qualities. engine swaps into street cars aren't always a great thing. you will be very lucky to get you ac, dash, and everything else to work with it.

just buy a turbo kit for your z, and if you want huge hp, internals as well. the vq is a kick *** engine.

aaronlosey

iTrader: (1)

thats funny, when i type ***, it makes little *******

Ryder32

iTrader: (29)

wow, this got a lot of attention...okay, here is the deal. I have seen the shops work they have a 2JZ in a nissan 240sx, LS1 engine in a nissan 240sx, sr20det in a nissan hardbody. Their work is grade A. I haver personally seen all the car mention above run and are crazy fast. I wouldn't just throw my car to the sharks without reseaching and making sure this is a legit deal. The motor that is going into the car is my own personal S14 SR20DET with a HKS Turbine. I know this is a good motor because i drove the car before the SR20 was pulled out of the car in japan. I thought about doing a RB25/26 but I like the idea of how light the sr20 is. However, I already drop the car off and put half the money down for the swap. I pick up the VQ saturday so...I have a VQ for sell with only 9000 miles. This is not my show 350z. I picked up another one for this swap. So, my show 350z is still for sell if anyone is interested.

nissansource

iTrader: (10)

Coming from heavy experiance of sr20 motors You can get more power out of a semi built VQ then a SR20 at diffrent ranges in the RPM band. Plus you have to keep that little sr20 together with higher octane. you can run lower oct and obtain more power on a vq motor. RB is a great turbo motor. you can make a VQ an excellent boosted motor. do research its not as bad as you think. Personally sr20 in a z is stupied grab a bare z block they are cheap

illphil

iTrader: (1)

Found a few numbers for the RB, but the only numbers I've been able to find (and these are not concrete- just found them on a cross post) have the KA at 540 and RB25det at 720lbs (rb25 same block etc, less turbo etc). So theoretically that would put the RB slightly heavier that the VQ but with the swap you would lose components like AC etc.... may even out or be pretty close but you can adjust the angle and mounting for better handling since its all custom. TopSecret has had lots of success with their RB powered Z33's.

I like threads like this, to just toss around ideas. I'm sure many think it would be stupid to yank out the VQ, but I think RB would be ideal for a heavily tracked car that the engine takes steady abuse and can handle good amounts of power. I agree that even a built VQ or possibly even the VK45 would be great for the car.

And to the original poster- good luck with the swap, keep us posted and let us know how it turns out. I'm curious how they are going to go about all the wiring and ECU/ dash/ cluster controls.

aaronlosey

iTrader: (1)

since you already started the swap, good luck! its neat to have a unique car, and turbo cars have a very fun feel to them because of the power delivery hitting you all at once. i would suggest trying to cut as much weight out the car as possible, since its going to be the main problem. 200 pounds isn't that much, its just a passenger. your going to need to knock off more like 400-500 pounds to make it a mean machine. depends what you want.

good luck and enjoy your car, and don't worry about what other people think. sr20s are cool little engines.

when your done and driving the car around, we would love for you to come back and repost in this thread. give us a run down of how you like the car.

Resolute

iTrader: (2)

Absolutely. I think a lot of people would love to see pics of your little frankenstein when it is done, and know whether you thought it was worth anything in the end or if you wish you'd have kept the VQ and modded it. I hope it all goes well for you.
Will

Ryder32

iTrader: (29)

of course i will do a repost of the car after it's done. the shop said 2 weeks but, we all know how that goes. I will let you guys know how it turns out. thanks again for all your post and feedback.

Methane

iTrader: (1)

Sorry guys but I think but more power can be made with a VQ than an sr20 anyday. Just because it comes turbo does not mean its better than the VQ.

Resolute

iTrader: (2)

Of course. You're absolutely right, but I don't think that's really come into question. If all-out power is what you want, then it wouldn't make any sense to swap the VQ. But for 330-400 whp, the SR will certainly suffice, with some added benefits that the VQ can't offer like weight savings, higher redline, and sheer exclusivity. I don't think anyone can argue that it's a better or worse option, but a unique and capable one.
Will