I'm just wondering when the first swap of one of the new turbo engines will happen? I would love to have that motor in my 37 sedan, I'm sure it is possible considering there were no chassis modifications to the q50 for the vr30 to fit. Can't wait to see what the potential is for these motors. I know the question of why not just turbo the vhr is going to be asked, reason being that this motor is based on the vr38 that powers the gtr, and we all know what that motor can do. I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud, anyone else tossing this idea around in their head? I want to keep my g for a long time, in 4-5 years there should be a healthy aftermarket for these engines and quite a few in junkyards, might be a good alternative to buying a new car.

 

Price wise I don't think you'd ever reach the point of breaking even vs just working with your current engine.

 

Probably, but having an engine already built for boost is a positive. Who knows what the cost will be 4-5 years from now, if it's a direct swap there may not be as much cost involved in comparison to building a vhr for boost and purchasing the turbo kit. Also yet to be seen, is the vr30 has an updated vvel system with faster responding electronics. Maybe that could be a positive thing , who knows. Just throwing out some ideas, you know someone is going to try it. This is just to spark some conversation.

 

Starting with a motor built for boost is always better than boosting one that wasn't. It would be cool if it was a direct swap.
If you assume 10k for FI vs that or less for a motor swap, I know what I'd pick.

 

That 10k would be for the turbo kit only, then your looking at building the bottom end and install of everything, vs buying and installing a motor that is factory built for turbo. then there is also the weight savings, the vr30 weighs less than 100 lbs more than the vhr and already has the turbo system in place. I think I read that it only weighs about 40lbs more than the vhr.

 

another thought, I'm not sure if the 7at is the same or not but, if this trans can handle the torque and horsepower of the 400 horse vr30, there may be an option for people going fi with their g to not build their current 7at. in years to come, when some of these cars are wrecked, there will be trans available that could possibly be more stout than our current 7at. does anyone know if they are using the same jatco 7at as the g?

 

Could it be done? Certainly. Almost anything can. Will it be remotely practical to try it? No. Not unless you have a lot of money, a lot of time and patience, and a lot of technical skill.

$10K for this swap is a fantasy IMO.

 

This is what I was thinking, you could buy another G37 for the price of putting the VR30 engine in one. The mechanical swap isn't that hard, but getting everything to work nicely together would be.

 

Buying a 2nd g37 doesn't make the first one twice as fast..

 

Yes, because I was saying that having another G37 makes the first one faster.

 

I think some peeps are missing my point, I know it will be stupid expensive right now, but some years down the line it won't be as expensive as the market will be flooded with these parts. I for one would be happy with the base vr30 and build from there. if you can get the engine, trans, ecu, it really shouldn't be that bad to do this swap. if all the drive train can fit in the q50 then it should easily be transplanted into a g37.

 

Have you even considered how expensive the VR30 motor is going to be to modify? The motor uses a plasma coating in the cylinder linings instead of an iron block or sleeves - read: expensive to modify. Also, the exhaust manifold is built into the head which means swapping things out even more complex and expensive.

Even if the swap is done what will you get out of it? 400 hp and 360 tq (~350 whp and ~315wtq) on an expensive swap for an expensive platform to modify?

On the other hand, you can easily buy a turn key Boosted Performance Single Turbo kit which are making 550+ WHP and 400+ WTQ for $7300 and install yourself or with ~15 hours of labor cost.

 

We'll it's a completely irrelevant statement. If the original discussion is about making the car faster via an engine swap or FI, stating that you could buy another G37 has nothing to do with that.
You could also buy 9000 bottles of iced tea, 45k Sq Ft of sod or 1500 tickets to Disneyland. So what?

 

Jatco makes two 7-speed automatics. The JR710E is good for 400Nm (295 lb ft) and the JR711E is good for 600Nm (443 lb ft). I'm guessing the 711 is used in the V8-powered models. It may be used in the turbocharged applications, too.

Myles

 

Well I I'm willing to bet it won't happen until after vehicles equipped with them hit showrooms......