Originally posted by OLDZ
I'm not 100% correct on this but the VQ in the Z is far from being maxed out. The 350z race car that nissan plans on selling to the public has the same VQ engine that has it's displacement increased to 3.6 Liters and it's redline increased. It has 450HP N/A. Going from 287 to 450 N/A means that the engine has a long way to go. BUt don't quote me on this
you are correct. That's the car they're using for the 24 hrs. Le Mans. I think one of the rule is that you have to sell at least 1000 version of the car before it can race. The redline of that car is raised to 8000 RPM. I wonder if they'll use their VVL system for that since it'll be very hard to get power up there without variable lift.
EVO and STi: The evo has been tested to get .98g on skidpad and high 4 secs. 0-60. I think the quarter is mid to high 13s if the driver knows how to launch a turbo AWD car. Also, you gotta remember that the STi will come w/ an additional 29HP and an active diff. So the skidpad # might go up even more. The straightline is going to go up too. The Z06 is a specially tuned Corvette, so if you specially tune your EVO w/ RallyArt, you'll be able to get to the Viper territory with little problem. That's the wonderful thing about turbo engine. If built right like the EVo and the WRX, it doesn't take much to get more power.
About the redundant use of the VQ, to some people, that might matter, but to me, just as long as the engine is good, what differences does it make? They save $$ and we get more power, what's wrong w/ that? I also don't think the VQ is anywhere near its peak. Remember that the GT-R that's coming going to be a TT version of the VQ too. It'll be 400+ HP too. So there's two example that the VQ can definitely get above 400HP in either NA or turbo form. For the HP/L fan out there, if they can get 450HP NA from a 3.6L, that's 125HP/L for you. Just like the S2000 engine, I'm sure it'll be already tuned to the max already so stuff like bolt ons probably won't do much if at all.