VG-30dett or Rb-25det

[bri96se]

Want do guys think would be more practical? Has anyone tried the swap with the vg-30det on an s14 before? I was thinking that the parts for the vg-30dett would be easier to get than the rb-25det if something happened. Also how do you think the performance would be affected? Thanks for any insight.

[Nismos14]

either way its not going to be easy its gonna be ALOT of down time in trying to get everything to fit and all....

[bri96se]

I thought that the engine bay was bigger than a 300zx

[Nismos14]

there are still a million things that would have to be done if u have the time and money #### YEAH!! do it!! <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[bri96se]

But what engine would be the best choice?

[J300z28]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from bri96se on 8:24 pm on Jan. 30, 2002
But what engine would be the best choice?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

for weight, price, and over all fitment....neither. &nbsp; &nbsp;Get an SR <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[bri96se]

But those engines have much more horsepower potental. I don't want to just have 215 hp.

[Nismos14]

i'd say the rb but im not sure

[Tuck&Poke]

well lets see....3 liters vs 2.5 liters?<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>?

[zephyr]

ha...theres no replacement for displacement except good engineering...i say rb all the way despite its half a litre shortcoming. of course this is assuming money isn't an option.
vg30dett would be more practical seeing that its an american (available)motor tho

(Edited by zephyr at 10:29 pm on Jan. 30, 2002)

[wherezmytofu]

i have a great site for this <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>
http://www.motorzone.com.au/300ZXvsGTST_1.htm
hope it helps.

[Drift Style S14]

Think of it this way the vg30dett will be easier to maintain then the rb because of the supply of parts that are here.

[MK]

Theres a few things to think about here, unless of course your just throwing money at others to think for you.

The RB20 and 25 are good choices for a really high powed engine swapout, but like the other fellas said, if your stuck with the ol' KA then an SR20DET is a good motor choice as well, for a number of reasons-
Its supposed to have a CA18 or SR20 motor in it and hence it wont affect the nice balance Silvias have, besides both the CA18 and SR20 Dets are good for about 400hp- costing about 3-5thou US$ to get that reliably. (as a rough guess, I know what it costs here, dunno about where you are)

Now, lets look at the RB motors.
Much bigger animal and you have to move a lot around the engine bay to pack one in, bigger radiator, place to put the IC and the battery usually ends up in the boot.
Of all the RB motors the RB20 is the best choice because it costs a lot less, easy enough to find anywhere and they really do crank when you tune them up. They also dont have the huge weight problem of the RB25 and VG30 engines.
Heck, if you where serious about horsies you'd get an RB26, anyway, you could always change the heads on them later or stroke them out.

VG30DETT, its a lovely motor yes. But its a proverbial &quot;Boat anchor&quot; for weight but they are quite compact lengthwise which makes them appealing and you still have to find room for-
Bigger radiator, a place to put some FMIC in there and the battery still ends up in the boot.
Also- where are you going to run the exhausts out of the VG, shes a V6 remember and its pretty squeezy to find room to run either a twin system exhaust or a 2-1 exhaust, especially if your car is lowered, even if it isnt lowered finding room to run 3' or 3.5' tube isnt easy.

Now, if you want to be able to dirive the car daily then a SR20DET or RB20DET is still the way to go, you think its a tailhappy slut in the wet now then your in for a big surprise when the 50-50 Front-Rear ratio becomes 55-45 or 60-40!
Traction? = bad and you wont get the power down when you need it, like comming out of the last third of a corner or something and end up being roadkilled by a truck.

Unless your building a specific race or drag car then you will find the time, effort and expence of an RB25 or VG30 way too much bother.
Besides, if your not used to owning a turbo then the SR20 or CA18 is a good way to hone your skills before leaping in with the big engines.

cheers
MK

[jskim9]

i'd go with the VG... a lot easier to find parts...

but then again, the RB takes up less room in your engine bay, and it is lighter IIRC... but when parts start need replacing, ie chain, belts, gaskets I'd rather have the VG. you could get parts at a dealer as well. also, general mechanics have FSM's for the VG as well.

[jskim9]

i'd go with the VG... a lot easier to find parts...

but then again, the RB takes up less room in your engine bay, and it is lighter IIRC... but when parts start need replacing, ie chain, belts, gaskets I'd rather have the VG. you could get parts at a dealer as well. also, general mechanics have FSM's for the VG as well.

[drift freaq]

RB more interesting <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[s15dude]

Not to mention that in cali the VG will smog adn the RB, SR, and the CA won't.

[Jeff240sx]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from MK on 1:37 am on Jan. 31, 2002
Now, if you want to be able to dirive the car daily then a SR20DET or RB20DET is still the way to go, you think its a tailhappy slut in the wet now then your in for a big surprise when the 50-50 Front-Rear ratio becomes 55-45 or 60-40!
Traction? = bad and you wont get the power down when you need it, like comming out of the last third of a corner or something and end up being roadkilled by a truck.
cheers
MK
</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

All I really wanted to say was that the 240sx doesn't have, according to about 15 websites I've looked across, a 50/50 weight distribution. &nbsp;Right now it is 53/47. &nbsp;And the 300zx engine sits further back, and the transmission is further back, so it shifts it &quot;anchorweight&quot; further back, helping to near the weight distribution. &nbsp;And a sr20det will really near that 50/50 mark, as they have 50.7 / 49.3 in japan.
-Jeff

[MK]

Ive got a JDM S13 K's Silvia with an SR20DET so I was just assuming it was 50-50 in the 240SX as well, my bad.
Still, you dont want to diddle the weight too much otherwise you get a lot of handling problems. Guess one way to get it back to a 53-47 might be to get a big custom made drop tank sitting back there around 80-90L (keep it full as much as possible) and move the battery back into the boot, sit it in a nice marine battery box and she should start tipping back toward the rear.

[Tuck&Poke]

your making it sound like if you put either one of those engines your gonna be spinning out all the time wich is not true. &nbsp;its not rediculously overweight in the front and the vg is all that heavy. &nbsp;we're still talkin about a v6 here. &nbsp;the rb would probably mess with the weight distribution more because it wont sit as far back as the vg. &nbsp;unless your gonna be auto x racing i wouldnt worry about weight distribution. &nbsp;go with the vg simply because its availability of parts and mechanics. &nbsp;trust me when you have an engine that isnt normaly service. &nbsp;its gonna be rediculously expensive to fix. &nbsp;not worth it even more so if its gonna be a daily driver.

[S13 Passion]

VG because its more practical

[MK]

Ok, maybe your car wont be spinning all the time but I'd put even money its not going to have the same feel to it once you hop in it. Most of the RB and VG motors easily put down 350-400hp at the flywheel with very basic mods to them and you will spin.

Unless of course we take those 15' pizza cutters that pass for tires and tub the guards out to accept 18's, hard as fuck suspension to keep it from tramping, then your going to probably have to shorten the driveshaft so that it fits with the bigger gearbox, mate that up to a heavy duty dif, oh and lets not forget brakes because sure as shit after some heavy runs those POS standard ones are going to fade on you- going fast often means stopping fast, so they'll probably need a 300zx or R33 brake kit thrown in as well.

So Im saying what people dont want to hear.
What I am saying is that, you dont go throwing a huge big motor in a car, have lots more horsepower and think &quot;thats it, I dont need to do anything else&quot;.
Its not the case, its just that the case involves a whole lot of other things as well we havent even touched on.

I just wouldnt want to live with the idea that I told someone that it would be &quot;ok chuck the engine in, it'll fit sweet&quot; and have them get hurt, write the car off because they got shite advice. That would just make me feel like an arsehole for not giving the right advice and I dont want to live with the BS of making someone dead.
It happens a lot, backyard jobs with half an idea done badly that ends in tears so if your going to do a job, do it properly and do it right, none of this half arse &quot;she'll be right 'cause it fits shit.&quot;
Its not 'practical' and its never 'easy', anyone thinking that is in for a real surprise.

Thats as much as Im going to say on the matter because people arent listening.


(Edited by MK at 2:54 am on Feb. 1, 2002)

[AceInHole]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from s15dude on 1<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'>3 am on Jan. 31, 2002
Not to mention that in cali the VG will smog adn the RB, SR, and the CA won't.
</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Wait... Motorex went through all the trouble to legalize skylines... so doesn't that mean their engines are also legal too??? Just a thought....

IIRC, both blocks are iron... the VG is shorter and could possibly acheive better weight placement... the RB being inline will be much more balanced and will have less piping to deal with.... and I've seen more power from RB's than VG's.

(Edited by AceInHole at 10:25 pm on Jan. 31, 2002)

[misnomer]

hehehe, MK :-)

No engine is going to be plug n play. Have a shitload of money on hand if you're going to be trying something different. And, like MK said, do it right or you're screwed. All in all, unless you're #### good, or will pay somebody #### good to do it, stick with the more common swaps. The VG is a #### fine motor, no doubt about it, but keep in mind it was designed for a different car. The SR and the CA were designed for your car.

Or, wanna do something really unique? Build and turbo your KA, it's a #### fine motor as well :-)