SR20 vs VQ35 HR

[LoneWolfK16]

My motor recently took a shit on me a couple weeks ago and now im stuck between getting either or between these two motors. I just wanted to hear and see what people who own or know about these two motors when it comes to reliability, putting down power, and durability of each. In the long run i just want to know which will be more worth my buck. Looking to throw either in my S14. Someone help me out, im honestly just trying to learn more about each.

[Yellow4g63]

ohhhh snaps a X motor vs Y motor thread.

[Croustibat]

It depends on a billion things, the first ones being your budget, power expectation, reliability / service expectation (a 700HP SR20 can be called reliable if you inspect it fully every 1000 miles for example).

So why not start here ?

[ultimateirving]

How about your hood? VQ wont fit without a new hood or serious modification..
Also, what about A/C ? how easy would it be to convert it on that motor...
lastly Whats ur budget, Because you the VQ will not be cheaper than the SR by a longshot.

[Duke89]

Vq will fit under stock hood with the skeleton cut out for the intake to fit.

[N2HIFI]

Originally Posted by Duke89

Vq will fit under stock hood with the skeleton cut out for the intake to fit.

If you space the hood up a bunch and don't use a intake spacer it will


Realistically the VQ with be a more reliable motor swap BUT, ALOT more complicated then a sr swap, money wise you can do them for about the same money depending on how you choose to do the swaps

People with argue either way

Personal experience, I just pulled my VQ and went to a RB25 and wish I would have never done the VQ, my girlfriends made my VQ look like a Ka swap and her car is a sr20 with a s15 turbo BC cams with a enthalpy tune

But that's my experience

[LoneWolfK16]

Originally Posted by Croustibat

It depends on a billion things, the first ones being your budget, power expectation, reliability / service expectation (a 700HP SR20 can be called reliable if you inspect it fully every 1000 miles for example).

So why not start here ?

True. Im only looking to accomplish pushing 350-400hp in my 240. Id like to still enjoy my time touge racing and drifting without completely shitting myself lol. But what you say makes perfect sense.

[LoneWolfK16]

Originally Posted by N2HIFI

If you space the hood up a bunch and don't use a intake spacer it will


Realistically the VQ with be a more reliable motor swap BUT, ALOT more complicated then a sr swap, money wise you can do them for about the same money depending on how you choose to do the swaps

People with argue either way

Personal experience, I just pulled my VQ and went to a RB25 and wish I would have never done the VQ, my girlfriends made my VQ look like a Ka swap and her car is a sr20 with a s15 turbo BC cams with a enthalpy tune

But that's my experience

also price wise im guessing that upgrades for the vq will be WAYYY more of a cost than an sr20?

[codyace]

The easiest way to get a VQ is to buy a early 350z. Seriously.

[irax]

get the fuck out of here...

You can get a vq35de/hr to clear the stock hood.. or you could modify the stock hood. If raising the hood, or modifying it to clear the motor kills the swap for you then keep the stock engine in it.

Don't fucking bother talking to anyone about a VQ unless they had it in their 240sx.

If you are in Cali you can smog it. I know some people that have done it legally but they don't post here.

4 years ago the VQ swap was complicated as shit. Now there are write ups, it isn't more difficult to wire up. Maybe a bit more time consuming but not more difficult. You can get motorsets for under 1k. Mount kits are reasonablely priced. Wiring setup can be done by your self or sent off to pay maybe a little too much but it can be done. If you can't do a vq swap under 3k turn key then you are just throwing money down the toilet.

You would be happier with a 350z though honestly. You can find them about 5k if you look hard enough.

[DJ 21o3]

Drop in KA, sell S-chassis (drift tax ftw..hate it), buy 350?

[MrChow]

I'm going the 1uz. But for your power needs fo 400hp ish go SR much easier to get there.

[WhiteGLX]

I had an SR with 270whp in my racecar I used specifically for road racing. I randomly decided to swap in a VQ35 and went with a VQ35HR. The swap was fun, and a serious challenge, much more then any other swap in my opinion. In the end I wish I had stayed SR20 for simplicity of the whole thing, I had a very reliable race motor with a great power band.

The VQ swap takes a lot of time, complex wiring, headers, cooling, PS, hood and fuel system all need custom work. All that for 300whp.

The SR swap for the same effort and money you could safely setup an SR20 with 350whp and redo the engine bay nicely on top of that. Parts availability is far better then for the VQ. Plus you can sell all of it again for something different later.

I put the engine setup I couldn't sell into my S14, been taking me a long time to get it all worked out for daily status.

[klummpy]

I have a vq in my s14 and recently pulled it all to swap into my coupe, so here's the breakdown I had, the drivers side header has to be modified to clear the steering colum the power steering pump needed to be relocated, obviously custom motor mounts but simple, same with tranny mount, I had no ac fuck that, now as far as wiring and ecu goes, I got the swap with a fucking beesnest of fuck and it was a nightmare so I went with the haltech ps2000, I tad pricey but being able to fine tune your car to whatever you want with a laptop makes it, stand alone harness makes it look super clean as well, if I had to choose between the two I would choose vq cuz of the junkyard motors I could have a new motor by tomaro for a g.

[slideways2004]

Originally Posted by WhiteGLX

I had an SR with 270whp in my racecar I used specifically for road racing. I randomly decided to swap in a VQ35 and went with a VQ35HR. The swap was fun, and a serious challenge, much more then any other swap in my opinion. In the end I wish I had stayed SR20 for simplicity of the whole thing, I had a very reliable race motor with a great power band.

The VQ swap takes a lot of time, complex wiring, headers, cooling, PS, hood and fuel system all need custom work. All that for 300whp.

The SR swap for the same effort and money you could safely setup an SR20 with 350whp and redo the engine bay nicely on top of that. Parts availability is far better then for the VQ. Plus you can sell all of it again for something different later.

I put the engine setup I couldn't sell into my S14, been taking me a long time to get it all worked out for daily status.
L]

You couldn't ask for a better comparison than this

[LoneWolfK16]

Originally Posted by WhiteGLX

I had an SR with 270whp in my racecar I used specifically for road racing. I randomly decided to swap in a VQ35 and went with a VQ35HR. The swap was fun, and a serious challenge, much more then any other swap in my opinion. In the end I wish I had stayed SR20 for simplicity of the whole thing, I had a very reliable race motor with a great power band.

The VQ swap takes a lot of time, complex wiring, headers, cooling, PS, hood and fuel system all need custom work. All that for 300whp.

The SR swap for the same effort and money you could safely setup an SR20 with 350whp and redo the engine bay nicely on top of that. Parts availability is far better then for the VQ. Plus you can sell all of it again for something different later.

I put the engine setup I couldn't sell into my S14, been taking me a long time to get it all worked out for daily status.

Damn dude. Looks like im gunna be going SR20. Didnt know there was alot of things to re-fabricate just to put a VQ in. (im still learning) Thanks alot though man. I really appreciate your time and words.

[WhiteGLX]

Happy to help out. I enjoyed the project, but I also had a lot at my disposal to do it without and shop fab work. For the same cost of a good swap with real headers and reflashed/security disabled ecu setup you could do an LSX swap, the market for that has grown so much that its a bolt in affair. The SR20 is by far the best bang for your buck with few mods and the right reliability mods you can get great power and actually driveability.

I do like having something different from 99% of the s-chassis community, not really worth the effort though. The VQ35HR was only made for 2 years before the VQ37 came out, so mods and OEM parts are rare and/or costly.