Nismo 400R #29 of 44 Update Project

[962 kid]

Hey all, just sifting through some pictures and thought I'd share. Over the past couple months I've been fortunate enough to work with the owner of this pretty special Nissan to do some minor style and performance updates.

All changes performed were as reversible as possible and meant to keep the original style of the car intact.

Upon first inspection the car is very good condition. Trunk, floorplan, shock towers all completely rust free. The car was fully serviced with the exception of timing belt and valve lash.



After the general health of the car was verified, we decided to do a Power check to verify boost and air fuel ratios.



Power down, boost too high, AFRs not as expected. Time to look a bit deeper.

Oh jeez


The unscrewed fitting is the boost signal line to the wastegates


At this time, the owner decided he wanted to have a little fun with the car. Nismo have come out with some interesting parts for these cars in the past few years, many involving retrofitting various R35 components. They have also developed some RB specific parts for models like the Nismo Clubman Race Spec.

First piece to arrive was the Nismo carbon y-pipe kit


Next up was the Nismo surge tank. This was a real pita to install in-situ.

[962 kid]

While we were waiting for the rest of the parts, the car came out to the I'll motion show:


Rest of the parts:


Midori Siebi R35 MAF kit
Midori Siebi R35 fuel injector kit
Nismo FPR
Midori Siebi digital G-sensor
Midori Siebi fuel pump kit
Jura tech R35 ignition coil kit w/direct power harness
Tomei titanium cat delete pipe
Power FC + boost control kit

Most of the parts are not meant to increase power but rather to provide a more responsive drive.

MAFs installed. Strain relief elbow was transferred from the original plug.


R35 coils installed


Injector ballast resistor bypassed internally to maintain stock appearance


Midori pump fitted to stock hangar


Relay for direct battery power added


New pins for Denso injectors


Pretty much complete here. We also replaced the M's intake with a factory R34 airbox. The Map sensor for the apexi was mounted on the underside of an existing bracket near the brake booster. Harnesses were run through the driver fender well grommet so no piercing of metal or rubber took place. A few brackets were made to accommodate the new surge tank and fuel rail which made for a much tidier look. Nismo specific TPS and ITB set up was performed then it went back to the dyno.



Mission accomplished. At factory 1.1 bar this 400R is up approximately 10% output over factory numbers. Of course there is more on the table but for the sake of keeping the stock turbos alive boost was capped there. At the end of the day the car has noticeably improved midrange and response and there are 0 drawbacks over the stock setup - it truly drives like a stock car. This is probably as far as it makes sense to go with a car as rare as this, but I thought it was pretty interesting. Thanks for reading!

[Sentry]

Awesome, good sensible upgrades. First I've seen of R35 MAFs on one.

And yes intake manifolds suck dick to do on those. Worst I've done is the monstrous 2 piece GReddy race plenum.


What were the dyno numbers? 350ish whp?

[962 kid]

Thanks! Greddy install is next:


The Nismo unit proved its worth though, all 6 plugs were visibly identical after a half day of flogging on the dyno with 0 cylinder trim.

Exact power numbers are not mine to share, however I will say that you are close but a bit shy. There is absolutely room for more power but there is a strong bias for safety on an engine as irreplaceable as the original RBX-GT2

[BerserkerCatSplat]

That's pretty sweet! What's the advantage of the R35 coils over the earlier design?

[nismodrifter]

Love it. Did not know only 44 were produced.

[962 kid]

^^ I did not know they were so rare either haha. Sure learned a lot about the car in the past year.

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That's pretty sweet! What's the advantage of the R35 coils over the earlier design?

Reportedly higher output although I haven't tested this personally - they are also happy with a Higher dwell time. They are also smart coils so the ignitor is bypassed. Not R35 coil specific but they have also been wired directly to battery power for a more stable voltage supply.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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Reportedly higher output although I haven't tested this personally - they are also happy with a Higher dwell time. They are also smart coils so the ignitor is bypassed. Not R35 coil specific but they have also been wired directly to battery power for a more stable voltage supply.

Nice, handy to have a (more or less) bolt-in upgrade like that. Did you run a more aggressive spark timing with the upgraded coils?

[Skrilla]

Is the RB-X just a RB26 with increased displacement? Never seen one before...gorgeous car

[infamous]

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Is the RB-X just a RB26 with increased displacement? Never seen one before...gorgeous car

copied from wiki...

The RB-X GT2 (designed and built by REINIK) is an engine specially made for the NISMO 400R. The difference between this engine and a RB26DETT is that the engine is bored and stroked (87.0 × 77.7 mm) which results in 2771 cc. Engine produces 450 PS (331 kW or 443 HP) at 6800 rpm and 47.8 kgf·m (469 N·m or 347 lb·ft) at 4400 rpm.[10]

This engine was manufactured with a reinforced cylinder block and cylinder head, metal head gasket, pistons with cooling channels, forged crank shaft, forged connecting rods, N1 turbine with reinforced actuator, high flow air cleaner, stainless down pipe, and low air resistance sport catalyzer, most of which were not offered for the RB26DETT. RB-X GT2 engines competed in LeMans 24hr race, Pikes Peak, and other forms of motorsports. GT500 and Z-tune engines are also based on REINIK's design although later built by NISMO's Omori Factory.

[msommers]

This is siiiick!!

[Hallowed_point]

What a beauty!

[gretz]

That top pic is deadly... I wonder if I could talk to Mike / the owner to do a 3D machined rendering of it, or if you wouldn't mind asking...

Awesome project, the only R33 that looks the part lol

[msommers]

Has this car been at any of the shows?

[Maxx Mazda]

Amazing build thanks for sharing

[eglove]

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Has this car been at any of the shows?

It was at all of the big ones last year, driven, illmotion etc etc

[962 kid]

^^ thanks guys. The car has been out at a couple shows locally and the owner even drove it to Vancouver Driven.

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That top pic is deadly... I wonder if I could talk to Mike / the owner to do a 3D machined rendering of it, or if you wouldn't mind asking...

Awesome project, the only R33 that looks the part lol

Shoot me a PM with what you have in mind

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Nice, handy to have a (more or less) bolt-in upgrade like that. Did you run a more aggressive spark timing with the upgraded coils?

I don't know how the timing map compares to the original, that is stored on the original 400R ECU and I don't have the maps off of it.