G35s are cheap. Making a VQ fast is pretty expensive because it comes high compression from factory and is open deck. For a racecar, dropping a 2jz in a rotsun would make more sense.

 

Why would someone buy a G platform if it wasn't for the looks and luxury when the Z has a shorter wheelbase, lighter and the exact same car.

 

A twin turbo build, properly done, is about $20K including labor and one of the $10K kits out there which aren't complete. You'll end up adding suspension, brakes, driveline work, tuning, proper fuel kit and all of them require the engine to come out except for the Gamma kit. Now if you have an auto, add another $5K. And then have $10K in reserve for a full engine rebuild if/when your stock motor blows. Everyone who's done it on the 370z forum says it'll run $20K complete with the stock engine, more for a build engine.

The Stillen isn't any cheaper and a whole lot less reliable as delivered. The new whipple charger system is still vaporware and will require a hood be fabricated for it to work.

I've pondered this issue heavily for weeks and months on end and it makes me nauseous.

 

buy the cheapest G37 you can find: 13-16K, + a 20K tt build is still cheap, you can build the engine to output power similar to the more expensive vehicles with smilar performance that cost around 50-60K brand new.

A fully built twin turbo G37 could cost you about 33K total plus or minus 5k. if you are so worried about a built engine blowing out, go to the junkyard and buy another VQ engine as a back up or project engine.

 

I look at my personal situation and what I paid for my car, plus $20K for just the basic setup and it doesn't make sense. Even with 500hp and a stock motor, I'll get schooled by lighter cars with less hp that are simply dialed in by engineers with untold resources. Traction will always be an issue and the car will, ultimately, always be a compromise.

If I planned on keeping the car long term, it'd make more sense. Plus you're shelling that out in cash, up front, with unforeseen hurdles. Yes, speed costs. And it's never easy when modding a car like ours to such a high level. I've done it before and spent far more so I speak from experience.

Ironically, if I'd purchased a Z, I might have gone TT from the start. I could never stand the NVH of the Z nor the interior. Makes more sense with that car for the reasons Yella pointed out.

 

33k for a modded 500-650hp vehicle is NOT cheap lol

 

What you do get though is bragging rights for pushing that much power in such an expensive platform. Spend 33k on a b or k series honda motor and see how much power you can push out in a chassy that weighs practically nothing. Heck, 33k is more than enough for a rb26tt build. People that shell out that much money for power on a G37 have clearly fell in love with the looks and luxury of the car to sacrifice so much.

 

Just like Ape said, you need 20k just to have the Vq37 boosted on low psi for 500 or so hp. Then you have to get forged internals to push out anymore cause these motors were never made for boost from the factory. Not to mention sacrificing alot of reliability and replacing parts often. The cost is astronomical compared to buying a shell and throwing in a tuner motor with tons of cheap aftermarket support. So no, I would never put the G37 in the class of a race/drag car. Looks/stance/show yes, but full blown street monster? Naw.

 

ok fine then just swap out the VQ for the VR38DETT or VR30DDTT, which is the VQ's successor anyway and shares components with it, but is built for twin turbo or forced induction boost. that'll save you the 20K needed to boost ready the VQ.

So swapping with the VR is basically getting the VQ's twin turbo build straight from the Nissan factory, instead of you doing it yourself via aftermarket...unless you absolutely love your VQ and can't part ways with it or something.


Because it is built to be NA, not force induction. spend the rest on suspension and weight reduction.

 

I wonder what kind of nightmares it would be to swap a VR series....Sounds great in theory

 

No, you don't need 20k to have a boosted VQ - a turn key BP Single turbo kit for a 6MT is $8k and can be DIY installed on jack stands. Many BP Single turbo kitted cars are doing 600+ whp on the stock block.

The old mantra of sacrificing a lot of reliability is diminishing as evident with so many stock block VQs hitting 600+ whp. There are many people pushing towards 11:1 compression boosted motors with E85 being the fuel of choice in recent times.

"Cheap" will always be a relative term. Buying a VQ for said 13-16k and boosting it for 8-20+k may not be as "cheap" to you as putting 21-36k into a Honda, but it will be "cheap" compared to buying an R35 for 60k and putting 8-30+k into it (since VR motors and transmissions also need to be built to go past 600wtq).

I would think that none of this matters because most of us do not initially involve ourselves in any platform with the sole purpose of pushing it to the edge. It's usually a gradual process where we start with what what we like most that is within our budget at the time and mod until we reach the decision point of pushing it to the edge or moving to another platform.

 

Never heard of it. How much power can it push out? I wasn't talking about engine reliability. I was talking about other parts in the G. And that's on E85. I was talking about pump gas. Anything over 600whp you would have to start building the block.

 

The BP kit isn't complete either and there's a lot of supporting mods necessary to have a long-term reliable setup. One would still want to do the brakes, suspension, wheels/tires and differential. All of that alone can easily cost around $7K to do it properly.

To run E85, you'll need an E85 specific fuel kit. There's actually the potential to do more damage with OEM internals on E85 vs. pump due to the increase in torque.

And the BP kit won't install on a 7AT car sadly. I don't think it comes with injectors, rails and a new pump nor an oil cooler. Then you'll need a tune.

I also made the assumption there would be labor involved in the installation and tuning. Not everyone is capable of installing a turbo kit and tuning on their own. Gamma's TT kit can apparently be installed without engine removal too but you're still looking at $10K.

Add it all up and it comes out well north of $8K.

Honestly all of this makes my rotary days seem cheap. A decent turbo kit capable of 600rwhp was around $4K and a stand alone ECU was a hair over a grand. A fully-built race motor was $5K with all the bells and whistles, minus ceramic seals but you could get away with spending half that.

But yeah, there's always ways to do things less expensively, especially if you have the skills. That guy installing GTR turbos on his 370z for instance. Pretty damn cool.

I guess it boils down to what camp you're in. If it's a long-term commitment with the car, it makes more sense. If it's going to be a shorter commitment, I would just save money to use on a more mod-friendly car.

 

people have done it to the Silvias: S13, S15 etc

 

dump all that money into power mods into a G, but you'll never see it when you go to sell it .... don't forget about resale value.

personally, i would never buy a "modded to the ragged edge" car, because you know its been driven "very enthusiastically". any performance car i buy is bone stock. who knows what kind of nitwit installed the parts? i don't want to take the risk someone cut corners and didn't do things properly.