Potential of USDM VH41DE?

[ReEducation]

I'm ready for something more than a 4 cylinder, and I found a VH41 out of a 98 Q45 on CL for dirt cheap, fully dressed w/ wiring harness. I did some research, but I didn't really find what I'm looking for. I wanna know what a stock US vh41 can handle in terms of hp/tq and what parts can be interchanged from a vh45 to make the vh41 better/stronger if I ever decided to go boosted down the road. Thanks!

[Chaluska]

totally not worth it, due to size.

if you want more cylinders, go LS1 / 302

a VH4XDE engine is so disappointing, for the cost. No swaybar, no AC. I got rid of mine to go KA-T.. and i couldnt be happier now

[JSimpson]

^obviously thats a biased opinion, but certainly a valid one. On the flip side I went the exact opposite route and couldn't be happier. I've also made a TON of wiring harnesses for the VHs into S chassis and know a lot of the owners. General opinion is that the V8 is far more driveable and is different. People say they are too big? psh, try angling an inline 6 into an S chassis with the trans on it and not bashing the tunnell or rad support...
The VH is wide but it fits. The VH is cheap and EXTREMELY reliable. The VH is exceptional for drifting because it turns such high RPMs and has a very wide power band. For drifting on a budget it is the way to go. 7500rpm stock from a V8 is nice.

Any iron block american motor is a waste, they weigh a shitton and make the car handle like crap, also they typically don't rev out enough for drifting unless you pour a TON of money into them. Also the LS is very elaborate to get into an S chassis, whereas the VH carries the same sensors, trans fits, cheap wiring, has a far superior oiling system to the LS and has no sloshing or starvation issues, and has forged internals stock. VHs will take 650whp turbod or supercharged on stock internals reliably. Good luck pulling that off with an LS. Also, with the VH, you can chip the stock ecu and get an instant 40whp gain with everything else bone stock. Pretty nice, considering you can have a 350+whp stock motor that has more tq than an SR right above idle haha.

Having said that if you want to spend bookoo bucks on a race built chevy, it will beat anything out there. Our sprint car engines are 850hp NA with tq around 800ftlbs, its an absolute monster, but not really what you are looking for in a road-going 240.

VH41<VH45 for many reasons, but nonetheless its all up to you!

[Slims]

why not go VK?

[rawgarage]

^obviously thats a biased opinion, but certainly a valid one. On the flip side I went the exact opposite route and couldn't be happier. I've also made a TON of wiring harnesses for the VHs into S chassis and know a lot of the owners. General opinion is that the V8 is far more driveable and is different. People say they are too big? psh, try angling an inline 6 into an S chassis with the trans on it and not bashing the tunnell or rad support...
The VH is wide but it fits. The VH is cheap and EXTREMELY reliable. The VH is exceptional for drifting because it turns such high RPMs and has a very wide power band. For drifting on a budget it is the way to go. 7500rpm stock from a V8 is nice.

Any iron block american motor is a waste, they weigh a shitton and make the car handle like crap, also they typically don't rev out enough for drifting unless you pour a TON of money into them. Also the LS is very elaborate to get into an S chassis, whereas the VH carries the same sensors, trans fits, cheap wiring, has a far superior oiling system to the LS and has no sloshing or starvation issues, and has forged internals stock. VHs will take 650whp turbod or supercharged on stock internals reliably. Good luck pulling that off with an LS. Also, with the VH, you can chip the stock ecu and get an instant 40whp gain with everything else bone stock. Pretty nice, considering you can have a 350+whp stock motor that has more tq than an SR right above idle haha.

Having said that if you want to spend bookoo bucks on a race built chevy, it will beat anything out there. Our sprint car engines are 850hp NA with tq around 800ftlbs, its an absolute monster, but not really what you are looking for in a road-going 240.

VH41<VH45 for many reasons, but nonetheless its all up to you!

Some damn good Info

[simmode1]

Hold up. Wait. Please show proof of a stock VH45DE hitting 350whp with just a tune. Probably the best VH swap I've seen was GSRacer's and he only hit about 280whp on the stock motor before he supercharged it to around 400+ something or rather...

[simmode1]

Shit... Nevermind.The 4.5 L VH45DE featured variable valve timing, also known as VTC, from 1990 until 1995. This was due to the "Gentleman's Agreement", requiring all imports to produce no more than 280 hp. Nissan got around this by publishing the hp rating without VTC, meaning its actual power rating is closer to 310 hp and 330 lb·ft. of torqueWith this added, I'm looking at the VH45 in a whole new light:http://q45.org/vhpower/parts.shtml

[OBEEWON]

More info on the chipping of the VH41 ecu?? I am strongly considering manual swapping my q45. Most of the suspension stuff, actually all of it was from an S14, coils and arms.

[Matej]

Any iron block american motor is a waste, they weigh a shitton and make the car handle like crap,...
How is the VH better? It weighs over 500lbs (closer to 600lbs with all accessories) and has no aftermarket support.

[2muchboost]

JSimpson...I will have to disagree with you politely obviously.

Depending on which Iron Block LS you go with the weight difference between the GM-LS compared to the stock KA is not that big of a difference. The weight difference between most Iron Block LS motors versus the aluminum is between 80-100 lbs....at least thats the consensus on LS1tech.

Swaps into our chassis have become much easier due to companies like Fueled Racing and Wiring Specialties. Most things are plug and play now.

As far as the power, any gen4 or 05+ LS based motor can make the 650rwhp mark without an issue. There is a thread going on now with a mustang using a 200+k mile 4.8 with a completely stock block besides cam making 920rwhp. This isnt a fluke these motors have exceeded the 700rwhp mark many times in stock form. The 4.8 seems to fair well due to the short stroke which allows for higher revving. There is another thread with a gen 3 LQ4 (6.0) making over 800rwhp stock.....the list goes on.

As far as the VH facts....no input there dont know much at all just stating that the LS based swaps are not a bad option.

[simmode1]

Actually, now that I think about it, yeah, I call bullshit on the stock VH45DE hitting 350hp with just a tune. Maybe at the crank, but I have trouble believing that it will put that amount to the wheels. 350whp almost puts it in the same league as BMW's ultra modern S65... A JDM 4.5L from the early 90's? Yeah right. I have more respect for this motor now than I did before though. If I had to worry about SR legality, I might consider it as it's a cheaper motor than most LSx swaps and it appeals to the purist in me. But it beats the dog shit out of the VQ35, thats for sure.

[JSimpson]

JSimpson...I will have to disagree with you politely obviously.

Depending on which Iron Block LS you go with the weight difference between the GM-LS compared to the stock KA is not that big of a difference. The weight difference between most Iron Block LS motors versus the aluminum is between 80-100 lbs....at least thats the consensus on LS1tech.

Swaps into our chassis have become much easier due to companies like Fueled Racing and Wiring Specialties. Most things are plug and play now.

As far as the power, any gen4 or 05+ LS based motor can make the 650rwhp mark without an issue. There is a thread going on now with a mustang using a 200+k mile 4.8 with a completely stock block besides cam making 920rwhp. This isnt a fluke these motors have exceeded the 700rwhp mark many times in stock form. The 4.8 seems to fair well due to the short stroke which allows for higher revving. There is another thread with a gen 3 LQ4 (6.0) making over 800rwhp stock.....the list goes on.

As far as the VH facts....no input there dont know much at all just stating that the LS based swaps are not a bad option.

Haha indeed, I was simply meaning if you were standing with a wad of $100s looking at the iron block vs an aluminum block, it seems to be the general consensus that aluminum is more desirable for the free ~90lbs. Also, was more so referring to the 302 comment above, referring to older, non LS technology, with worse valvetrain and either early FI or carbs, yikes!

The chevy swaps are a hell of a lot easier now, but in comparison, its nice to slide a VH in and hook up the exact same slave cylinder, throttle cable, dash functions (RPM/SPEEDO), trans sensors, etc that you ran with your SR or KA previously. The chevy route is a bit more hands on by contrast.

The chevy is a damn good motor and as the old adage goes "no replacement for displacement", however for the money the VH is still a good option. Taking a hypothetical craigslist or junkyard ~190k mile LS1 from a camaro or any VH with the same mileage, I think most would trust the dual-valvesprings and dohc more tapping it off the limiter with a turbo in a drift application. The extra 1500RPMs is really nice for wheel speed while drifting. Now for drag, I think we would all take each end every precious CI we could get haha.

Shit... Nevermind.With this added, I'm looking at the VH45 in a whole new light:http://q45.org/vhpower/parts.shtml
Exactly. Guys bitch on here all the time about how lame the VH is, without ever being around a good running one. They are much better than people give them credit for.

More info on the chipping of the VH41 ecu?? I am strongly considering manual swapping my q45. Most of the suspension stuff, actually all of it was from an S14, coils and arms. See the link in the quote above. A guy named Wes chips the ecus. Must be the earlier ecu (90-93)

How is the VH better? It weighs over 500lbs (closer to 600lbs with all accessories) and has no aftermarket support.
Rev range and durability. Obviously the VH is very heavy due to how massive the heads are, but in STOCK form it is quite robust and is seemingly more reliable than a Chevy simply due to valvetrain.

[ReEducation]

:picardfp:
Can we get back on topic guys. I don't want an LSx... Like at all. I want a Nissan engine in my Nissan, and LSx swaps are commonplace now anyway. I like to follow the path less traveled. JSimpson thank you for your insight. If anyone knows, I'd like realistic numbers though on what the US VH41 can handle in terms of reliable power in stock form. I only need/want around 350-400whp.

[iRONDONkey]

stock for stock, it's a waste of time and money.

[2muchboost]

Can't hate on that....Niassan power for Nissan chassis. I have slored my baby out so I can't turn back now but I can respect the ideology. OP I have nothing more since I have zero knowledge if the VH family. I am subbed though always good to learn something new.

[jr_ss]

Vk50ve is the new hotness.

[JSimpson]

stock for stock, it's a waste of time and money.
Amen, the stock VH41 is junk. No where near the motor for the money.

Vk50ve is the new hotness.

^^^So true, don't those make 390hp stock? The new VK56VD is the cats meow, 420hp stock, direct injected. Cannot wait to see these start going into S chassis

[ryan15]

Recently went from a built 340whp SR w/gtx2863r turbo to a VH to be a little different. Don't think it was a bad idea, so much power and torque at all RPMs with great response.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dZHvIZIrf7o/VIHiylDZ5JI/AAAAAAAAGv4/awnQUYsQE1U/w532-h709-no/IMG_20140522_203043-MIX.jpg

[jr_ss]

^^^So true, don't those make 390hp stock? The new VK56VD is the cats meow, 420hp stock, direct injected. Cannot wait to see these start going into S chassis

Yes, rated at 390hp out of the 5liter. That's some damn good power. I've looked all over for a motorset as I'm personally interested in swapping one into an S14. When the time does come, it should be a great "factory" option.

[OBEEWON]

I can vouch that the VH45 is a pretty good motor. I can definitely see it making 350 plus

[wiring specialties]

VH45 is becoming a more popular swap. We got quite a few inquiries about it in 2014.

Plug and Play Pro Series harness is being released shortly.

[simmode1]

^^^Great to know!

This thread has been keeping me up at night considering the vh45 swap. Have you guys seen GSRacer's front facing intake manifold swap???
HasMGPMXmno
Dear god. I need that in my life. I wonder if we can talk Mazworx into producing an adapter for the Porsche or Mustang manifold...

[OBEEWON]

^^ Yes. that was so sick but a ton of work. He used a Porsche Cayenne manifold and had to machine an adapter. It sounds so good though.

[jr_ss]

I believe there is a company that produces those spacers/adapters for the porsche swap if I'm not mistaken.

His motor had quite a bit of work into it.

[Matej]

Good thing Porsche Cayenne manifolds are everywhere.