My friend says that it will be cheaper, more reliable, and easier to tune if he was to swap in a skyline engine, skyline transmission and new drivetrain in to a 350Z than it would be to install an APS Twin Turbo (or any comparible Twin Turbo kit) and to have forged internals installed into the 350Z VQ engine.

This is assuming that he would be pulling out the 350Z motor and installing the new motor mounts, engine, transmission and drivetrain himself, and having someone else do the tuning.

He says doing the swap would easily net him 500 hp whereas with the 350Z VQ engine it would take quite a bit more money to safely get to 500hp.

I say the TT+internals and VQ is still a much better option.

Thanks for any words of wisdom!

 

It may be true

 

I'd definetly say your assumption here is correct.. First and foremost, you'd be looking at swapping a V6 for an inline 6. Correct positioning of the motor/tranny are critical if you care anything about balance, hence the need for extensive customization. Secondly, you're talking about swapping in a motor that's only sold in vehicles in Japan, thus any replacement parts will have to come from there. Thirdly, the tuning potential of this motor is awesome!! So, you'd definetly need to be looking at numbers A LOT higher than 500HP considering the time, effort and real cost of this kinda swap..

My opinion: Give it some time bro!!! There are bound to be guys that'll test the VQ's limits. This motor is all too new right now.. Just to give an example, when I first bought my Supra in '99 there were only a few "pioneers" pushing a max of about 600rwhp (maybe 3 or 4). 2.5 to 3 years later, dudes are pushing 800-900 rwhp ... Now the s**t's even crazier and numbers over 1000 seem to be popping up everywhere. Just a matter of time before the VQ will start seeing some impressive numbers.. If demand is not there neither will the supply. We gotta keep pressing these manufactures for what we need..

 

Is this a older skyline engine(RB series) or the newer VQ series to go in the new gtr.

 

i'm going to vote turbo for several reasons

1. The initial cost of the motor swap is actually not the total cost. Things WILL go wrong and down the line you are going to be paying anywhere up to and beyond double the initial cost

2. Stuff WILL go wrong be it installation, compatibility issues, etc. Its a big headache

3. It is illegal and you will not be able to drive the car on public roads if you get slapped with a citation

4. Why change the motor on a basically new car?

And yes I have experienced first hand points 1-3 and yes I can no longer drive my previous car on public roads. And this was for a 92 civic hatch with a JDM b16 motor. Which is like the easiest most common swap out there. I can only imagine the issues with a RB motor in a 350z to be MUCH more complex and costly.

 

I've never heard of it being illegal to swap motors. Is that just a state thing for you? I see you have a JDM motor so maybe it didn't meet inspections laws here in the US?

 

well not sure about nationwide but the car laws in Cali are pretty strict. But I think the general rule of thumb is that you can change the motor from a same year or newer model car from the same automanufacturer into your car. So I guess if you get a skyline motor from the same year or newer then the Z that meets that requirement. However all skyline motors are JDM and JDM motors dont have the same emissions equipment as USDM motors. If you actually wanted to make this swap legal you would have to take it to the state ref where they do a full check on it. You might pass the smog check although i doubt it but you probably won't past the visual check. Also the ecu would probably have to be remapped or swapped out and thats already a big no no. It's nearly impossible to legalize a JDM motor swap. 99% of the people with motor swaps just do it and hope johnny law never gets to them. I had my motor swap for about 4 years before the incident and my car is JDM styled, no flashy kits or wheels or graphics. If your car looks like it was in the fast and the furious you ARE going to get pulled over and eventually get busted. Before you commit to something like a motor swap you should check out your state laws and all the pros and cons before doing it.