R32 GTST RB20DET Advice

connorqueen

connorqueen

Member
Looking for some advice for power mods for my R32 I purchased earlier this year. Currently it's pretty standard other than a 3" down pipe back exhaust and FMIC. It's recently produced 238bhp on the dyno. It's a daily drifter so keeping reliability is important but aiming for 350bhp if possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
 
Connor. For 350 a hybrid turbo will suffice :) and you won't stress the engine at all at this power level

Your also within the limit of the OEM maf. But a fuel pump is essential as the OEM one will tire at those power levels and upgraded injectors from a GTR and ballast resistor

Oh and an FCTuningNistune ECU solution

See an example here

http://fctuning.com/tuning-the-nissan-rb20det-gtst-3/
 
Because you say reliability is important then what have you done about your cooling? Are you running an external oil cooler? How's the clutch?

You're talking about increasing power by 50%, so temperature-related things like coolant, oil & coilpacks may start giving you trouble

I'm not saying go ahead and upgrade these bits straight away, moreso just to expect that you may need to make some non-performance based upgrades to help reliability. Fitting good gauges to keep an eye on vitals is a good idea. That way you're not guessing off crap factory gauges or you're catching issues before they turn catastrophic.

If it starts running too hot then an alloy radiator is the first port of call, then an external oil cooler via a sandwich plate with a thermostat (seeing as though it's daily driven).

A 5 or 6 puck sprung centre clutch and > 2500lb clamp will see you right if your current clutch gives up the ghost

I'm of the opinion "hope for the best, plan for the worst" - there's no point spending the money if they current parts are up to the job. But if they do fail, know your options and have the budget there.

Nothing sucks more than dropping a bunch of money on performance parts, and then having the car sit in the shed while you have to save up for non-performance stuff that it now needs
 
steve_fctuning said:
Connor. For 350 a hybrid turbo will suffice :) and you won't stress the engine at all at this power level

Your also within the limit of the OEM maf. But a fuel pump is essential as the OEM one will tire at those power levels and upgraded injectors from a GTR and ballast resistor

Oh and an FCTuningNistune ECU solution

See an example here

http://fctuning.com/tuning-the-nissan-rb20det-gtst-3/
Click to expand...

Do you know any specific turbos? This is my first time playing with a turbo engine so it's all a learning curve. Plans were to upgrade the fuel pump anyway and fit a FPR.

BenRice said:
Because you say reliability is important then what have you done about your cooling? Are you running an external oil cooler? How's the clutch?

You're talking about increasing power by 50%, so temperature-related things like coolant, oil & coilpacks may start giving you trouble

I'm not saying go ahead and upgrade these bits straight away, moreso just to expect that you may need to make some non-performance based upgrades to help reliability. Fitting good gauges to keep an eye on vitals is a good idea. That way you're not guessing off crap factory gauges or you're catching issues before they turn catastrophic.

If it starts running too hot then an alloy radiator is the first port of call, then an external oil cooler via a sandwich plate with a thermostat (seeing as though it's daily driven).

A 5 or 6 puck sprung centre clutch and > 2500lb clamp will see you right if your current clutch gives up the ghost

I'm of the opinion "hope for the best, plan for the worst" - there's no point spending the money if they current parts are up to the job. But if they do fail, know your options and have the budget there.

Nothing sucks more than dropping a bunch of money on performance parts, and then having the car sit in the shed while you have to save up for non-performance stuff that it now needs
Click to expand...

Sorry I only mentioned "power" related mods in my initial post.

I have already fitted a japspeed alloy rad, mishimoto cool running thermostat, new hoses, water pump (when I done the timing belt) and a digital water temp gauge. I see a normal running temp of 65-70 degrees and peaks around 110 degrees on a hot track day.

As for oil cooling the plan over winter is to fit an oil cooler as suggested with oil temp and pressure gauges. It's also given an oil service after every couple drift days using millers nanotec 10W-50

The clutch seems to hold but it's never felt great. Can't seem to get a good bleed on it. The master cylinder is fine, no air bubbles at all but the slave cylinder is always more like foam when bleeding. Don't know if maybe the seals are done in it and it's just holding in there and no more. Would I see much benefit from a lightened flywheel?

I'm of the same mind preventative maintanence is always better than reactive. What sort of power is the standard timing belt good for?
 
Couple of photos of the car. Pretty clean and no rust
IMG_0936.JPG
IMG_0951.JPG
 
Connor there as so many turbo options mate. List goes on

OEM hybrid
RB25 hybrid - common option
Garret GT Spec
Garret GTX spec
Garret GTX Gen II (fav of mine)
Borg Warner EFR series (fav of mine)
Precision

You would need a MAF upgrade with them. I'm assuming you've addressed things like your drivetrain (clutch) your Rad, thermostat, cooling, oil cooling etc
 
For 350hp, id look into a bolt on turbo, ROM tune on stock ECU, and fuel pump. (maybe injectors) That's what I have seen done with the rb20s. They are super reliable if you keep em simple. Alexi Smith and Stewy Bryant's cars are prime examples.

Bolt on turbos for stock rb20 manifolds are kinda hard to find though.

To be honest though, just turn the boost up a little with a upgraded fuel pump, 3" exhaust" and FMIC is all you need. You can bang the shit out of rb20s. Seat time > car sitting in garage.
 
The only true bolt-on turbo for RB's were the HKS GT series turbos (with the exception of the even rarer Apexi units). They were expensive back in the day, and when new still are now. In secondhand form people tend avoid unless they happen upon a minter as they are expensive to rebuild.

High flow recored standard turbos are an option that is getting more and more common. Getting your hands on a 0.63 OP6 turbine housing and getting it recored with something akin to 3071/HX32 internals and utilising a machined standard compressor housing would be ideal. It would flow enough for 350hp and beyond, bolt up to factory manifold, dump pipe, intercooler piping and intake piping and only need a new set of oil & water lines and potentially a stronger internal wastegate

While you're getting into 500 GBP territory for a unit like this there should be very minimal hidden costs with the swap. Going to something like a Kinugawa TD05 is another option but many would argue the Holset/Garrett internals are better quality, and you have the add expense of a new dump pipe and intercooler / intake piping
 
Nice car man!
I've got an RB20 too with a few tweaks. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet :(
 
If you go for a standard fitment turbo you might be interested in a HKS Turbo elbow I'm selling, best bolt on turbo elbow you can get.
20170712_114441.jpg
 
If it's useful, my setup is currently 360bhp (flywheel) with the following:
Apexi AX53B70 turbo @18PSI
Deatschwerks 550cc injectors
Walbro 255lph fuel pump
Nistune board with remap
Full stainless straight through exhaust
Front mount intercooler
Z32 MAF sensor
ORC clutch

It's a good idea to consider other supporting mods to keep everything happy:
Oil cooler
Thicker radiator
Spitfires or other uprated coilpacks
Uprated timing belt from Nismo, HKS, Greddy etc

The only other potential reliability issue I've found is the under bonnet temps are getting quite high when stuck in traffic or in situations where there's not a lot of airflow to the front. I'll probably move to a vented bonnet to try and keep these down.
 
Buddy of mine has a hx35 with an 8cm bullseye exhaust housing for sale. Spooled well on his stock sr20, did 375hp @1.5 bar. Mild cams would've had it up over 400 no problems.
 
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