Nissan Rogue Performance Options

[Black B15]

I am somewhat new to the forum, I already did an "intro" post as well.

Anyway, let's talk performance. Even though I am new to the rogue I am quite familiar with the qr25de engine. So other than a CAI or a SRI I don't really see any performance mods available.

A few things popped in my head. For example I would think any lightweight crank pulley for the spec-v would work for us. Also (for manual transmission) there is a lightweight flywheel available. What about lightweight/racing rims?

I know there has been talk about fitment of a spec-v header, which I understand is able to work for the rogue, is that right. I would assume an exhaust shop could modify the rest to make it work.

I live in Phoenix and had bypassed the coolant to the throttle body on my sentra. This helps reduce unnecessary heat soak. I wouldn't recommend that for you guys in colder climates though.

Anyway, this is me rambling about cars on a Saturday morning. Any thoughts?

[ImStricken06]

Sorry but an underdrive pulley is beyond worthless and more often going to destroy your engine. And a light weight flywheel for the stick shift cars is worthless if you have no other work done. It's a waste of money to separate the engine and transmission to see 1 horsepower at most.

This car isn't for molding. Our jatco transmission is almost at it's max TQ threshold.

If you wanna mod, mod cams, intake, brakes, wheels, looks. You got the wrong car buddy lol

[Black B15]

People say the same thing about the sentra....that it is not worth modding. I am of the mindset that it is your car and you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

I didn't get the wrong car, I got the RIGHT car because this is the one I wanted. I am not trying to make it a race car, I am just curious why there is no one modifying these things. If it is truly a transmission limitation than so be it. God forbid someone talked about a mod OTHER than intake or H&R springs.

Thanks for the "half empty glass" type response. Lol

[Rogue One]

Dude, when ImStricken gets cut, he bleeds motor oil! So I'm inclined to take his word as Gospel when it comes to anything regarding our engines. Here's the link for discussions for the QR Series engine qr-series.html. Perhaps someone there may be able to assist you.

[kerrton]

Hey guys this is a good topic, ImStricken is not a God (sorry buddy, but that's going a little far!!), the Rogue may not be the perfect car for performance mods but its been a while since I've checked on this and there may be some action in the afternmarket world. If nothing else its a fun topic to think about and toss around some ideas.

I'd recommend first going to the Altima forum, the 4-cylinder models have the same engine and trans that our Rogue has so there will be ideas there. When I have more time I'm gonig to check in and see if anyone has modded the QR25DE....from what I read a few years ago the CVT transmission is actually more resilient than we have given it credit for - who knows what will happen in future years and if the transmission will ultimately die an early death but in the short term there is definately some fun to be had.

This topic has been discussed and some Rogue have done some performance mods, here's a good start:

faq-rogue-performance-parts-t342461.html

Don't be discouraged, good topic my man, thanks for posting and lets keep the ideas going!!

[ImStricken06]

People say the same thing about the sentra....that it is not worth modding. I am of the mindset that it is your car and you can do whatever the hell you want with it.

I didn't get the wrong car, I got the RIGHT car because this is the one I wanted. I am not trying to make it a race car, I am just curious why there is no one modifying these things. If it is truly a transmission limitation than so be it. God forbid someone talked about a mod OTHER than intake or H&R springs.

Thanks for the "half empty glass" type response. Lol

People say the same thing about the sentra -
the only sentra worth modding is the SE-R Spec V. That specific model (unlike the SE-R & Rogue) comes with a 6-speed manual transmission. [and this is what made me tell you that modding the rogue is worthless and a waste of time]
the tuner society realizes whats worth modding, and whats not. based upon that, is what the aftermarket industry produces.
i didnt make the call, the general tuner society does. there is a reason why no one modded certain cars, and did others.
trying to invest tuner money into a car with a CVT transmission is like trying to build a turbo washing machine. ya its cool - but at the end of the day worthless, and the floorboards/machine frame/etc isnt going to hold up well. does that make sense to you?

I am of the mindset that it is your car and you can do whatever the hell you want with it. -
well you must deal with reality. yes your car - do whatever you want. but when you ask questions, or make comments on a forum, expect people with better knowledge to reply with criticism to your idea's.

IF THE ENGINE MAKES 500HP, BUT THE TRANSMISSION IS ONLY RATED AT 200HP, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN? you probably guessed it, the transmission is going to die from heat damage, ruin its torque converter, fry the clutch pack, etc.

I didn't get the wrong car, I got the RIGHT car because this is the one I wanted. I am just curious why there is no one modifying these things.
so this is what brought me to tell you that you bought the wrong car. if you wanted to mod the engine and build up horsepower, unfortunately for you the Rogue & SE-R has a CVT. - THE SE-R SPEC V HAS A MANUAL TRANSMISSION.
so that makes the rogue and SE-R not worth modding, because its going to blow the transmission.
the SE-R Spec V can have its clutch upgraded into a stage2, or even a stage3 which can handle the increased torque & horsepower. - so that makes that car WORTH MODDING.

[ImStricken06]

and i just want to clarify why i criticized an underdrive pulley.

Poorly designed pulleys can have severe side effects because of too much underdrive of the alternator, power steering, and/or air conditioning units, which are not spinning fast enough. These lead to dips in alternator voltage, power assist, and air conditioning effectiveness that may be noticeable, especially at idle. The headlights may dim when coming to a stop, or the stereo may lower in volume, for instance. Too much underdrive for a race car is not much of a concern, but for a daily driven vehicle it can be a major annoyance.

Changing the original crankshaft pulley can have negative effects if the replacement pulley is not manufactured properly. A crankshaft or accessory pulley that is not machined or balanced properly can cause severe damage.

Many cars have a harmonic balancer on the pulley and require that part to dampen the vibrations caused by the crankshaft. aftermarket light weight pulleys remove that heavy harmonic balancer. thats fine for short drag bursts, but absolute death for daily commuters.

[Black B15]

I had a lightweight flywheel on my sentra for nearly 100k miles with zero issues. I had a lightweight AND under driven crank pulley for probably 120k miles with zero charging, cooling, power steering or a/c problems.

I understand cars quite well and certainly don't require an education on what engines came with what transmission (specifically referring to sentras).

And for the record, I expected replies (which is why I started the thread). I just didn't realize that i was going to have someone "attempt" to talk down to me for bringing up performance related ideas. From the moderator of one car site to another, I am a little taken aback by your responses.

[Black B15]

Hey guys this is a good topic, ImStricken is not a God (sorry buddy, but that's going a little far!!), the Rogue may not be the perfect car for performance mods but its been a while since I've checked on this and there may be some action in the afternmarket world. If nothing else its a fun topic to think about and toss around some ideas.

I'd recommend first going to the Altima forum, the 4-cylinder models have the same engine and trans that our Rogue has so there will be ideas there. When I have more time I'm gonig to check in and see if anyone has modded the QR25DE....from what I read a few years ago the CVT transmission is actually more resilient than we have given it credit for - who knows what will happen in future years and if the transmission will ultimately die an early death but in the short term there is definately some fun to be had.

This topic has been discussed and some Rogue have done some performance mods, here's a good start:

faq-rogue-performance-parts-t342461.html

Don't be discouraged, good topic my man, thanks for posting and lets keep the ideas going!!

Thanks man, I appreciate that response.

I was really just trying to put some ideas out there. I figured a different perspective wouldn't hurt. I am not saying that I or anyone else should throw thousands of dollars at performance, I was just saying.

[ImStricken06]

And trust me I was not trying to put you down.
And I never said a light weight flywheel would cause problems. I simply said, with the limited amount of other possibilities, throwing money at a fly wheel isn't worth it.

Consider yourself lucky that you got an under drive pulley that didn't give you issues. Its possible it was the same diameter as stock.

Trust me, if there was something worth while, I'd be all over it.
I'm a gear head like you and anyone else.

[Black B15]

Trust me, if there was something worth while, I'd be all over it.
I'm a gear head like you and anyone else.

Fair enough.

[ImStricken06]

have you ever thought about reducing the tire size? the thought has crossed my mind many times for the warmer months.
it would save a lot on fuel. (it would throw the speedo off tho)

[Rogue One]

Hey guys this is a good topic, ImStricken is not a God (sorry buddy, but that's going a little far!!) snip...

Wait...what? Not even a demi-God? Guess I'll have to remove his icon from the krasny ugol.

To the OP, did you find anything of interest in the QR engine forum?

[Jostudly]

Does the Rogue S have disc brakes in the front and rear? I want all disc brakes for better stopping power and they will look better when I upgrade to alloy rims.

[ImStricken06]

Guess I'll have to remove his icon from the krasny ugol.

dont you even come near that red corner! lol

[ImStricken06]

Does the Rogue S have disc brakes in the front and rear? I want all disc brakes for better stopping power and they will look better when I upgrade to alloy rims.

yes, the Nissan Rogue uses disk brakes for all 4 corners.

[Black B15]

To the OP, did you find anything of interest in the QR engine forum?

Haven't had a chance to yet, but I will definitely look.

To I'mStricken....I never really contemplated smaller rims so much as just lighter rims. Heck I wouldn't even mind going to a 17" rim if I could stay at the same weight as the stock rims.

[ImStricken06]

To the OP, did you find anything of interest in the QR engine forum?

Haven't had a chance to yet, but I will definitely look.

To I'mStricken....I never really contemplated smaller rims so much as just lighter rims. Heck I wouldn't even mind going to a 17" rim if I could stay at the same weight as the stock rims.

my stock ones, are 17 (i have the 08) not gonna lie, was contemplating reducing the side-wall size of the tire for summer times.
that would certainly increase my MPG's

[2SSick]

just stumbled across this thread... this transmission thing sucks. This is going to be a looooooooooong 39 months! Don't get me wrong, I like the rogue for many things but speed definitely isn't one of them. I bought the car to have a low payment until i hit top pay with my job and pay off some bills in the mean time, but man...I was hoping i could do something to get a lil more go out of this thing. I'm coming from a 426hp/420tq 6speed manual camaro and driving this rogue is torturous sometimes. I miss my camaro

[ImStricken06]

just stumbled across this thread... this transmission thing sucks. This is going to be a looooooooooong 39 months! Don't get me wrong, I like the rogue for many things but speed definitely isn't one of them. I bought the car to have a low payment until i hit top pay with my job and pay off some bills in the mean time, but man...I was hoping i could do something to get a lil more go out of this thing. I'm coming from a 426hp/420tq 6speed manual camaro and driving this rogue is torturous sometimes. I miss my camaro

you lost 100hp to gain awd
you lost another 100hp to gain more room
you lost another 100 or so hp to gain height/ground clearance
;p

[darylzero]

I feel some of your pain. I didn't have car like yours at all. I had a V6 in my previous car and it took about a year to get used to the rogue. When getting onto highways I could just gun it and bam lots more power, but I still love my Rogue

[audtatious]

Another aspect of lightweight/underdrive pulleys is that in some vehicles the factory pulleys add damping for the crank itself. Without this damping the motor can and will eventually self destruct. There have been cases of this happening with VQ motors in the G where most people no longer wish to go that direction because it's not worth the tiny performance gains. Not sure if this is the case with the Rogue motor or not.

Lightweight flywheels are know to chatter quite a bit in current Nissan vehicles as well. Again, G/Z folks either live with it or don't get the "ultimate" in light weight products.

Food for thought.

[rickrogue]

im just confuse why those manufacturer's dont make performance parts and custom exterior parts on nissan rogue. there's tonnes of rogue owner looking for custom parts but why aren't making them. in my opinion this car is a badass looking car and needs some more attention.

[2SSick]

just stumbled across this thread... this transmission thing sucks. This is going to be a looooooooooong 39 months! Don't get me wrong, I like the rogue for many things but speed definitely isn't one of them. I bought the car to have a low payment until i hit top pay with my job and pay off some bills in the mean time, but man...I was hoping i could do something to get a lil more go out of this thing. I'm coming from a 426hp/420tq 6speed manual camaro and driving this rogue is torturous sometimes. I miss my camaro

you lost 100hp to gain awd
you lost another 100hp to gain more room
you lost another 100 or so hp to gain height/ground clearance
;p

i hope we are adding all those hundreds together lol... awd is awesome i must admit. I will NEVER drive pure FWD... i cant take the torque steer and there is NOTHING like swinging out the back end of your car out or just doing a simple burnouts/donuts that you can do in a RWD... but like all the things u said sticken, i got the rogue for those things and its a smart move...i feel like i made a big boy decision and did what was right for my situation. But in 39 months when im in a better financial situation im going for then next gen camaro, c7 vette or audi s5...well see when the time comes. lol hopefully it feels sooner then later

[ImStricken06]

i got the rogue for those things and its a smart move...i feel like i made a big boy decision and did what was right for my situation. But in 39 months when im in a better financial situation im going for then next gen camaro, c7 vette or audi s5...well see when the time comes. lol hopefully it feels sooner then later

it was a very smart move. low monthly payments, great quality, good fuel economy(at least while standing in city traffic), and low maintenance. i too wanted all of the aforementioned. i think everyone here made a 'big-boy' move. its not easy passing up a "hot" car for a more family oriented SUV. but we all must do what we must. at least we didnt get a mazda/hyundai/or the hideous CRV lol

[2SSick]

yea if im going japanese its nissan all the way

[kilogram]

I've thought about what I would do when the warranty is up in 2017. If I was really crazy, I would swap in an ST205 celica drivetrain (3SGTE engine, E153 gearbox, rear diff w/custom driveshaft). Then I'd have a manual (bulletproof) gearbox, fulltime AWD and up to 320whp depending on the turbo. Throw in some H&R springs, big brakes (the setup I designed for our 350Z but never built would work on the Rogue too), and wide tires and I think I'd have a pretty fun SUV.

That's if I were crazy. I guess what I'm saying is that if you're crazy, and actually want performance out of a Rogue, the first part you need to change is the entire drivetrain. There's probably a transverse AWD gearbox/engine combo that one could swap in place of the QR. Wasn't there a transverse AWD SR20DET in the Sunny or Bluebird or something like that? That's where I'd start. I wouldn't even bother with the original drivetrain. Suspension? Build your own coilovers, it's not that hard. Brakes? A set of Porsche 996C4 calipers on 350z track rotors up front would actually work well with the stock rear brakes without affecting bias. The smaller piston area of the calipers balances out the larger rotor lever arm.

Then again, you'd probably be better off just selling your rogue and looking at an SRT Jeep.

[ImStricken06]

I've thought about what I would do when the warranty is up in 2017. If I was really crazy, I would swap in an ST205 celica drivetrain (3SGTE engine, E153 gearbox, rear diff w/custom driveshaft). Then I'd have a manual (bulletproof) gearbox, fulltime AWD and up to 320whp depending on the turbo. Throw in some H&R springs, big brakes (the setup I designed for our 350Z but never built would work on the Rogue too), and wide tires and I think I'd have a pretty fun SUV.

That's if I were crazy. I guess what I'm saying is that if you're crazy, and actually want performance out of a Rogue, the first part you need to change is the entire drivetrain. There's probably a transverse AWD gearbox/engine combo that one could swap in place of the QR. Wasn't there a transverse AWD SR20DET in the Sunny or Bluebird or something like that? That's where I'd start. I wouldn't even bother with the original drivetrain. Suspension? Build your own coilovers, it's not that hard. Brakes? A set of Porsche 996C4 calipers on 350z track rotors up front would actually work well with the stock rear brakes without affecting bias. The smaller piston area of the calipers balances out the larger rotor lever arm.

Then again, you'd probably be better off just selling your rogue and looking at an SRT Jeep.

if i was gonna do a drivetrain swap = id choose the Renault 1.X liter diesel from the euro version of the rogue

[kilogram]

Actually, here we go:
http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/the-fi ... ?imageNo=1

If it can be done to a Juke, I would think it could be done to a Rogue.

[JMed]

Actually, here we go:
http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/the-fi ... ?imageNo=1

If it can be done to a Juke, I would think it could be done to a Rogue.

Did you read the article? £400,000?

I don't think the GT-R is that expensive, someone correct me if I'm wrong...