Looking For More Power!

[ermi]

Hey guys, i recently bought a series 2 r33 gts running a RB20E.

I'm looking for some more power from the car while still keeping it as a non turbo as i am on my P's.

I was wondering weather it would be worth doing an engine swap to something with more power that can be turboed later on, or should i just sell and buy a GTR when i get my full license??

I was thinking something like a RB25DE and turboing it later??

I'm realtively new to this so any help or better ideas would be greatly appreceated.

cheers

[Kinks]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nati...r-1225870334712

I strongly suggest you get used to what your car has, and allow yourself some experience before you make a temporary lapse of judgement in a car with a lot of power.

[sssc]

yeah if it was me i would do suspension and brakes and normal maitance and appearance first. what i did when i was on my ps was i bought a engine put it on a engine stand learnt bout it build it down rebuilt it then when i got my fulls i then did the engine swap

[ermi]

right o thanks, will leave the swap for a while, ani ideas on a engine to rebuild??

[TwoCents]

right o thanks, will leave the swap for a while, ani ideas on a engine to rebuild??

rb26dett only engine thats worth building for afew years lol

[HtwCHACtkh]

right o thanks, will leave the swap for a while, ani ideas on a engine to rebuild??

Pretext: Don't be afraid to rev your RB20, but please as Kinks suggested be responsible. Like don't go fooling about on wet roads or speeding with a car full of people. It's surprisingly easy to die or kill people; you do not have air bags.

Okay now. I say don't bother rebuilding until your engine's really stuffed. An engine rebuild is nothing minor, anything engine related is not minor - I say don't bother right now. An engine swap will require you to get an engineers certificate for it to be street legal - not simple. Try keep your car completely street legal, you don't want to get in trouble with the police on your P's at all otherwise you'll be left burning ring on your backside.

Get everything else brought back to its former glory - your car is about 15-20 years old now, get everything else other than the engine like new or better. Get after market braided brake/clutch lines - there's a group buy and a business selling these on the forums for less than $200 and they're perfectly street legal. This will make your brakes feel really nice and tight, it will make your ride feel more exciting. High quality engine oils can also really free up an engine. Get your car generally serviced every 5000km. Change your fuel filter, it's cheap to replace. Also change your spark plugs to NGK iridium or platinum (but check with the NA guys here first =P). Get all this done in one go.

Then maybe get the pros to tighten up your suspension little and buy some GOOD tyres. It will make the car a lot more enjoyable and feel really quick and responsive. Tyres provide the greatest performance boost/dollar. Personally, I think stock rims look better than buying some other non Japanese rims so I wouldn't bother sinking money there until later, just nice beefy tyres to fit your rims would look mean.

Buy a high flow panel filter too, it's inexpensive and will give you more torque/power. Don't get a pod filter it's not always street legal, you'll just end up in more trouble and there's no benefit you actually lose power. Try not to add too much weight to your car either: Drive with 3/4 of a tank of fuel, don't get a massive sound system, don't buy 20" rims, remove the toolkit (I hope you have roadside assist, a P platers best friend), have less friends etc... You can get your tyres filled with helium at certain places too; though I've never tried this, it should be some weight reduction.

Also, clean your car regularly and wipe down (with a very soft cloth) any dust/dirt/crap that builds up on the car while you drive it when you get home. This reduces friction and air resistance. Check out the stickies in the cosmetic/styling section.

The R32 is awesome as is, it's faster than and looks better than a handful of cars already and has a sick note. What I mentioned above will make your car a hell of a lot more fun (and quicker and safer) to drive than anything you could probably do (or should) to get more raw kilowatts.

Maybe in a year or a bit more after you've done everything above upgrade your extractors/cat/exhaust. Don't bother with a canon, it's useless. Do everything above first though!

EDIT: Wait... R33 Series 2 with an RB20DE???

[ermi]

Pretext: Don't be afraid to rev your RB20, but please as Kinks suggested be responsible. Like don't go fooling about on wet roads or speeding with a car full of people. It's surprisingly easy to die or kill people; you do not have air bags.

Okay now. I say don't bother rebuilding until your engine's really stuffed. An engine rebuild is nothing minor, anything engine related is not minor - I say don't bother right now. An engine swap will require you to get an engineers certificate for it to be street legal - not simple. Try keep your car completely street legal, you don't want to get in trouble with the police on your P's at all otherwise you'll be left burning ring on your backside.

Get everything else brought back to its former glory - your car is about 15-20 years old now, get everything else other than the engine like new or better. Get after market braided brake/clutch lines - there's a group buy and a business selling these on the forums for less than $200 and they're perfectly street legal. This will make your brakes feel really nice and tight, it will make your ride feel more exciting. High quality engine oils can also really free up an engine. Get your car generally serviced every 5000km. Change your fuel filter, it's cheap to replace. Also change your spark plugs to NGK iridium or platinum (but check with the NA guys here first =P). Get all this done in one go.

Then maybe get the pros to tighten up your suspension little and buy some GOOD tyres. It will make the car a lot more enjoyable and feel really quick and responsive. Tyres provide the greatest performance boost/dollar. Personally, I think stock rims look better than buying some other non Japanese rims so I wouldn't bother sinking money there until later, just nice beefy tyres to fit your rims would look mean.

Buy a high flow panel filter too, it's inexpensive and will give you more torque/power. Don't get a pod filter it's not always street legal, you'll just end up in more trouble and there's no benefit you actually lose power. Try not to add too much weight to your car either: Drive with 3/4 of a tank of fuel, don't get a massive sound system, don't buy 20" rims, remove the toolkit (I hope you have roadside assist, a P platers best friend), have less friends etc... You can get your tyres filled with helium at certain places too; though I've never tried this, it should be some weight reduction.

Also, clean your car regularly and wipe down (with a very soft cloth) any dust/dirt/crap that builds up on the car while you drive it when you get home. This reduces friction and air resistance. Check out the stickies in the cosmetic/styling section.

The R32 is awesome as is, it's faster than and looks better than a handful of cars already and has a sick note. What I mentioned above will make your car a hell of a lot more fun (and quicker and safer) to drive than anything you could probably do (or should) to get more raw kilowatts.

Maybe in a year or a bit more after you've done everything above upgrade your extractors/cat/exhaust. Don't bother with a canon, it's useless. Do everything above first though!

EDIT: Wait... R33 Series 2 with an RB20DE???

Thanks heaps for the advice. i'm assuming it's a series 2 as it was built in April 1996 compliance plates say it has a RB20E which it does though it looks like it has been modified cosmetically, i.e. gts badeging on the gards even thou it is obiously a GTS.

[HtwCHACtkh]

Thanks heaps for the advice. i'm assuming it's a series 2 as it was built in April 1996 compliance plates say it has a RB20E which it does though it looks like it has been modified cosmetically, i.e. gts badeging on the gards even thou it is obiously a GTS.

AFAIK, only the R32's had RB20DE's in them.. And only earlier than that did they have RB20E's in them.

The R33 Series II GTS should have an RB25DE VCT in it.

It should be written on your engine's cam covers (I think) either RB25 or RB20.

Or if the plastic covering your coil packs says 2500 it's an RB25. It's the black one that goes down the middle here.

I think you're going to be finding that you have just got an instant mental engine swap, though it doesn't change anything I said earlier except you have an extra 500cc and variable cam timing. ^^

[mad082]

there are some r33's with the rb20E in them. there is one in town here. it's an auto too, LOL. while they took a step backwards in the engine department for the bargain basement model r33 is beyond me, but there are a few of them getting around.

as far as getting more power goes, you can't blame the guy. he has a car that weighs 200kg more than a n15 pulsar SSS, but has 10kw less power, LOL.

my advice to the thread starter, if you want more power legally, sell it and buy a non turbo skyline with a rb25de in it. you will instantly gain 44kw, about 60nm of torgue, and it will probably cost you less than trying to get more power out of the motor you have. the current setup you have is pretty much the slowest/least powerful skyline you can buy. a hyundai excel would probably beat you.

[TiTAN]

was this car bought from pickles?

[sydking]

never seen a R33 with a RB20E, or even a DE, especially a SII. You have driver and passenger airbags?

Not much you could really do with out spending alot of money. Just leave it be and upgrade when you off your P's.

[iseekool]

I'm not out to make fun of you...

RB20E in an R33 - Fark me

Not even an RB20DE

Those things aren't even legal (on Australian roads) because they fall way below the power to weight ratio.

Hope your car is a manual - so you can maximise every last KW out of it.

Personally I wouldn't bother trying to add anymore power to it - it's illegal on your P plates and a waste of money.

Put a high flow panel filter and good quality tires - other mods will not give you much gain as you will not be going too fast anyways.

Only thing I can recommend is learn how to keep the engine "on the boil" (revs up) - use the best synthetic oils and the best replacement fluids as I imagine you will be really revving the engine to get any sort of power.

[ermi]

never seen a R33 with a RB20E, or even a DE, especially a SII. You have driver and passenger airbags?

Not much you could really do with out spending alot of money. Just leave it be and upgrade when you off your P's.

Rather weird hey? ani suggestions on a engine to swap in later on??

[HtwCHACtkh]

OP, I just checked your latest garage image. Your engine definitely is an RB20E.

there are some r33's with the rb20E in them. there is one in town here. it's an auto too, LOL. while they took a step backwards in the engine department for the bargain basement model r33 is beyond me, but there are a few of them getting around.

WOW! This is definitely news to me.

[ermi]

Yer so what do u guys recon i should do with it later down the track i.e when i get my fulls??

ditch it and find another or mod this 1??

I'm just trying to get an idea at the moment and sussing out options, not rushing into modifications as it may sound.

cheers

[TwoCents]

Yer so what do u guys recon i should do with it later down the track i.e when i get my fulls??

ditch it and find another or mod this 1??

I'm just trying to get an idea at the moment and sussing out options, not rushing into modifications as it may sound.

cheers

Id sell the car you have and buy one with a 25 in it.. or do an engine swap

[HtwCHACtkh]

Id sell the car you have and buy one with a 25 in it.. or do an engine swap

I say sell it, an engine swap will prob require you to get mod plates and probably isn't worth it. Unless you're going to swap with something way cool/different. like a VQ30DE maybe? Don't know how P plate friendly that is though...

[mad082]

+1 for sell it and buy a different one (which is what i said earlier in the thread)

[Bunta]

You could sell it, or in the mean time you could work on suspension and bushes ect, get all that up to standard. Get a R33 tubo gearbox. Buy some big brakes and be building a 26/30 to drop in later. by the time you are off your ps you might just be ready!

[central coast person]

Yer so what do u guys recon i should do with it later down the track i.e when i get my fulls??

ditch it and find another or mod this 1??

I'm just trying to get an idea at the moment and sussing out options, not rushing into modifications as it may sound.

cheers

You have a very hard engine to modify let alone find parts second hand or even genuine new.......i dont think i could order anything for it in the country.

The 2.0L single cam engine does not do any wonders for you but is reliable and easy to maintain

All i can say is get the car serviced every 5000km and keep it a everyday car! who knows you might even save money from not moding it and build a track car that needs no rego or insurance just the parts, so you can modify it to your time span and gain a race car