q45 needs more power

[deener99]

hey guys just bought a 96 q45t and wondering what i can do to get more power. read that cold air intakes are a waste of money. any suggestions

[maxnix]

Absolutely nothing for the 1996 OBD II VH45DE without the variable intake cam.

Restore it, maintain it, and enjoy it.

[deener99]

no turbo or anything

[qship96]

Turbo, even a good set of headers and exhaust will get you additional power- but still really not enough to be competitive with todays vehicles due to weight of car and the transmission- most modern v6 with 5-6-7 speed transmission will still beat you.

[Infinitiguy19]

Turbos require a modified ECU if I recall correctly.

Headers are not worth the money for the power, unless you really want the power. And the OEM exhaust is only worth touching if the OEM one is rotted out.

And it really up to the driver of the car that determines who wins the race...

[qship96]

yup,enjoy it for what it is,a great long distance cruiser! Want a more speed and performance oriented car,buy a g35/37,and give up the ride,space,and isolation for more speed.

[deener99]

ok thanx guys and if i do decide to get a turbo and possibly a short ram air intake where would u suggest i look

[deener99]

ya i do wanna put some exhaust on it. anyone no what kind sounds good

[Infinitiguy19]

ok thanx guys and if i do decide to get a turbo and possibly a short ram air intake where would u suggest i look

Ram Air is a Pontiac design and sadly they went under...

Have you priced up a Turbo and the cost of a Engine Control Unit re-tune? Trust me I am not trying to discourage you but I know where your coming from... Use the Q for what it is...

[qship96]

Taking an old,higher mile vehicle and trying to add serious power to it is a recipe for early death- every mechanical component is already somewhat worn and tired......kind of asking a old retired race horse to step it up and compete in the Kentucky Derby again.......just doesnt work very well for very long!

[paranoidjack]

You bought the wrong car buddy!

Seriously, 25% of your power is probably lost through worn rubber bushings, a tired transmission, and a filthy engine and intake.

Spend half of the 10k you would spend on a turbo/headers/exhaust (that would destroy your car within 20k) on simply restoring it, and BOOM you'll get probably 50+ horsepower.

These guys aren't trying to dissuade you - they're just being truthful.

[deener99]

ok thanks guys and it doesnt have high miles it only has 87xxx

[qship96]

ok thanks guys and it doesnt have high miles it only has 87xxx

Yes, but how many previous owners,and how diligent was each of them in their maintenance practices????? 87,000 miles can be just getting broken in to just near breaking down depending on how aggressive each previous owner was with spending on maintenance- and unfortunately history tends to show each successive owner of a used car {especially an expensive to maintain and repair model} is less willing or able to spend preventative dollars on the vehicle, until finally it becomes a 1000-3000 dollar car that is purchased by a younger person who wants to "soup it up"....they are generally the LAST person to ever own the car before it meets the junkyard.

[Unnatural1]

...yeah, mine too.

Take a look through the VH/VK Engine Forums for ideas on building power with the VH45DE. Lots of these engines have been swapped into other Nissans and have had more power extracted. The same tricks work in a Q45. The Q is no lightweight, but then again neither are a lot of new modern performance cars; the Charger SRT-8, Mustang GT/Shelby, etc....

[maxnix]

http://vh45det.com/

All pertains to OBD I VH45DE though.

[StevieRaySTL]

--Have you checked to see if your injectors are working properly?