[DominosDeliveryBeast]

hi i have been itching to swap a boosted juke motor into my 09 versa but i eventually saw that i could pick up a full mr18de for less than 500$ and thought why not just fully build that?

so my question is, and doing my best to stay non-turbo, can i start with the block and just rebuild it with performance parts? obviously i know they dont just have specific mr18 parts, but can i just take the stroke and bore and manipulate my compression ratio, adjust the timing for a long fuel/air intake, increase the size of the injectors, bore and polish the head, fully dumped exhaust, etc? they only real issue i see is

1.) i dont know how much the stock block can handle, or if too much fuel will make it go boom.

2.) tranny....6 speed is so fun to drive, i would have the mounts reinforced and would hope the same goes for the engine mounts.

3.) ECU, idk if itll run after but i guess if the distributor is still timed properly it would spark fine.


clearly i need some help so please point me in the right direction, i have the full capability of building the engine from the block up i just need to know the battles i will be enduring, or if someone can just go ahead and tell me to move onto a new project.

thanks!

 

[07Versa6MT]

Nobody here seems to have really done this... unfortunately. But, the MR20 Sentra guys seem to be building them up fine. You can buy pistons/rebuild kits for MR20's, oversize to 85mm or something like that, which would get you to 2.2L, with compression ratio options. I was at a website once for some well known engine parts name and they sold the pistons.

My plan is to get a junk MR20 block, refinish and bore to 2.2L and run 12:1 CR pistons, depending on what valve to piston clearance is in these, but i imagine 12:1 pistons will likely have the reliefs machined in.

I don't see why the ECU won't support up to 300WHP without anything else. It'll run, it just won't be optimal, especially if you start changing the CR or cams, that's the reason you need to use a piggyback or some specific tuning system like UpRev.

I was reading up on an MR20 turbo build and he had all his work farmed out to a reputable performance shop. The person working on it told him the block could probably support 500HP before major changes.

Still pretty much blazing new trails here. Only thing to do is start experimenting. The heads on these look pretty well optimized as they are though.

 

[jswilson1987]

^^^12.5:1 cr requires at least 110 to 115 octane fyi

 

[07Versa6MT]

^^^12.5:1 cr requires at least 110 to 115 octane fyi

I'll deal with that when i get there.

 

[fonque]

^^^12.5:1 cr requires at least 110 to 115 octane fyi

not if you are running direct injection......which the mr18 does not, so moot point on my part.

1) you will never hit the limit of any block running N/A unless your plan is rev it really high. But you would be looking at valve train work long before digging into the block and messing with bearings and mains

2)racingline has a beefed up torque member that will get you part way there

3) we dont have a distributor, its coil on plug. And your best bet for tuning is uprev Osiris tuner. You can just tune the stock ecu, no need for piggy back. Our cars come from the factory with a wideband. So its ready to go, just need the software and cable.

 

[07Versa6MT]

Versa's have a wideband? Didn't know that. Hot cams for these motors would be sick. I'd like to see about weld and regrinds, but i don't have the money to put into this car yet. Priority is on another car.

 

[Tubtub]

hi i have been itching to swap a boosted juke motor into my 09 versa but i eventually saw that i could pick up a full mr18de for less than 500$ and thought why not just fully build that?

so my question is, and doing my best to stay non-turbo, can i start with the block and just rebuild it with performance parts? obviously i know they dont just have specific mr18 parts, but can i just take the stroke and bore and manipulate my compression ratio, adjust the timing for a long fuel/air intake, increase the size of the injectors, bore and polish the head, fully dumped exhaust, etc? they only real issue i see is

You're looking at alot of money here doing an N/A build.. I'm sure with enough money you can probably get the motor from a 1.8L to a 2.1L, at that point you're talking ridiculous compression, huge cams, tons of machine work, and race gas. It will almost be un-streetable. No company makes cams yet for the MR series.

At this point: You're better off going turbo and getting a custom setup, running a T28, bigger injectors, and a good engine management. The Fox marketing Versa made 275whp on a GT2871r.

You're not going to blow it up if you have the proper tuning. Tuning is very, very critical.

1.) i dont know how much the stock block can handle, or if too much fuel will make it go boom.

2.) tranny....6 speed is so fun to drive, i would have the mounts reinforced and would hope the same goes for the engine mounts.

3.) ECU, idk if itll run after but i guess if the distributor is still timed properly it would spark fine.

I'm sure the stock rotating assembly can handle over 300whp and then some. You'll definitively need a better clutch.

The motor mounts, no one makes except for racingline and they only make the rear mount. Theres lots of DIY polyurethane motor mounts threads online.

Fongue is right, we dont have a distributor, we have coil on plug.

clearly i need some help so please point me in the right direction, i have the full capability of building the engine from the block up i just need to know the battles i will be enduring, or if someone can just go ahead and tell me to move onto a new project.

thanks!

The Versa isnt the best option for a project car because theres a very limited market out there for aftermarket parts, not because the car isnt capable of it, its just no company wants to pick up on building us parts. You want a easy car to build buy either a Toyota, Honda, Scion, or Subaru. They have a huge performance market. Welcome to the forum

 

[07Versa6MT]

That's what i love about Versa's. Everyone makes fun of them, they're women cars (in my region at least), inconspicuous, everything about them screams sleeper. My own personal taste though. Go getcha some, and trust it won't be some tried and true formula build like on Civics. What do you figure for N/A performance TubTub? 2-3K in parts, depending on what you do?

Frankly i'm not wishing for over 200HP... 180-200 would make a Versa a hell of a lot funner, short ratio gearbox in our (6 speed) is in our favour, as far as what it should be used for; street light drags, whipping around streets, whatever.

How hard can it be to hotrod any 4 banger? My only reasoning for boring a block out, is you can get a junk block much cheaper, and if you need to hone, might as well bore and get a little more displacement. The water jackets are thick enough in these blocks. Cams for a Sentra have to be a little hotter than the 1.8, but hell, they could use the exact same cams. You would think they'd need to use a different cam. I think i may just pick up an MR20 cylinder head just to fuck around with.

Much speculation, but i think alot of people seem to apply some old formula about hopping up a car to Versa's, when really, they're just Versa's. Don't hope for 400HP, you're not going to get it. 200HP in a Versa, i doubt any of these "reinforcements" will be needed, i really do. I think the best way to do this kind of stuff is educated experimentation. See what happens, drive the shit out of it and see what starts breaking.

There's an MR20 cylinder head in Stoney Creek for 150.00, i may go give them a call and pick it up, see if it includes cams. Start seeing about regrinds, port shape all that.

 

[jswilson1987]

for 180-200 hp swap in a mr16ddt and have it tuned and full 2.5" exhaust should easily make that with no real mods to the engine other than bolt ons. The mr16ddt runs a itty bity teeny tiny turbine like the 1.4 ecoboost. Its only running max 12psi with crack pressure at 9psi so with a mls headgasket you could probably get 20psi in there(250-300hp) there is literally no appreciable turbo lag so theres no real benefit to n/a other than marginally better throttle response.

 

[jswilson1987]

Now if the v sounded like this id be tickled pink

 

[jswilson1987]

that deos it im skipping nissan and going back to ford im gunna slap a 2.8 essy stroker with a escort gt 5spd in the V. nothing like a 300hp 4cyl at 8100rpm without turbo

 

[07Versa6MT]

The MR16DDT swap is viable, but what is our goal here? Is it all open to limitless cost? If that's the case then yeah go get a Juke turbo motor for 2K and spend another 2K getting it reliable. Frankly my Versa is just a daily driver, and i'd rather not spend alot of money on it to make it faster. I think using an MR20 as a base for performance build is the way to go, as it will swap in with no problems, and uses the factory harness, no screwing around with the headaches of getting a totally different harness to work in a late model modern OBD CAN car. If you're good at electrical or enjoy it, go for it, but i'm not that great at electrical and usually don't enjoy electrical work.

Wonder if a QR25 or QR20 head has the same bolt pattern as MR... The 2.5 head deffinitely has much bigger valves, only thing is the bore in a QR25 is 89mm.

 

[DominosDeliveryBeast]

how about injectors? can i just throw some massive 700cc squirters in a mr18 block?

i want to stay away from boost...ive had enough nightmares since 05. time for a break

so can someone please help me with a checklist?
im keeping the stock mr18 block, no cam work, bigger injectors, i have a straight 2" catback with just a glasspack in the middle. i will do a full exhaust as well as an exhaust dump before the cat (i need to pass inspection lol)

i will get that ecu tuner, but i need some help with the compression ratio?

i can run 93 octane but no race fuel guys. all help is appreciated

 

[jswilson1987]

10:5 to 1 cr is good for 93 octane.
Start with a mr20 same engine just bigger think 350 and 327 chevy. Is a bolt in affair and the rods and wrist pins are more reliable.

Have it bored .030 over and have JE build some pistons for you(500$) have your rods shot peened and set up for floating wrist pins and install ARP bolts.

Have the crank offset ground .040" and knife edged for a little more stroke and less drag it will probably be closes to a 2.2 by then. Have a mild cam grind done no more than maybe a rv cam.

Have the head ported and polished and have it port matched to the intake and exhaust.

Other than that theres nothing you can realy do to the insides of the MR without spending thousands on developmental cranks rods and pistions.

 

[fonque]

does the OP of this thread have a budget in mind. The build suggestions in this thread vary wildly in price.

If I ever decided to make my wife's versa fast, I would buy a spare mr20de and build it up on a stand to support a turbo, maybe a disco potatoe (gt28rs) and shoot for around 300 to the wheels. I think with tuning included, and doing the welding work myself, I could get it done for about $7K.

 

[jswilson1987]

well a fast versa would have a 700hp sr20 in it....

 

[07Versa6MT]

It's a slippery slope. Cheapest to bump the CR up is just get the head shaved a few thou, you can calculate for gasket thickness and whatever, but you could probably just let the shop work that out for you and just tell them what CR you want and give them your measurements. I doubt upping CR alone is worth the money. I may do it on mine, but i'm getting a spare head to play around with, from an MR20. I've never done a head on these engines so no idea how they look in person. I sent an email to JWT (Jim Wolf Technology, a Nissan specialist) last night about cams for the MR motors. Cams on the MR20 were deffinitely changed, longer overall duration, less intake cam advance at VVT actuation than the 1.8 cam. CR of the MR20 is 10.2 (according to Mitchell at least) so if they didn't change the combustion chambers (or pistons for that matter) to adjust for the longer stroke to keep the CR the same as 1.8, they likely didn't do anything to the ports on the MR20 heads.


If i'm going to turbo my car, it'll be a rear mount setup, with oiling system mounted in the spare tire well.

While we're on a performance thread here, anyone else consider an electric water pump? This is what engineers have always been doing, reducing parasitic loads. Voltage sensing, variable volume/displacement oil pumps, mirror finish journals, 5W20 oil. Since the pump pulley functions as an idler pulley as well for belt tension, you could probably remove the pump, and then cut off or otherwise remove the impeller so it just functions as a bearing/idler. Probably only a couple HP, but with small motors, especially N/A, every bit counts.

Another idea, removing screen inside intake manifold just after throttle body. Again, another small thing but it all adds up. I don't know if it's there to modify airflow/cylinder filling or just a leaf/debris screen. Could be there for reinforcement actually, to prevent collapse under vacuum.

 

[fonque]

well a fast versa would have a 700hp sr20 in it....

700hp front wheel drive car on the street? That doesnt sound fun at all. I also cant fathom what FWD transmission you'd be using to put that power to the ground.
My first car was an NX2000, so believe me I know all about the headaches with nissan FWD transmissions.

Electric water pumps are nice because they free up some space in the engine bay. But I dont like them for daily drivers. Aftermarket waterpumps dont deal with the elements well and they do occasionally fail.

 

[07Versa6MT]

I finally got a rebuild kit for my GT2056V turbo. Going to see about rear mount turbo just for shits and gigs. Why not. With straight pipe, intake plumbing might just fight in the tunnel nicely, heat is an issue there but you could insulate the exhaust well with ceramic coating and heat wraps provided it's stainless. Oil pump with small resevoir in the spare tire well, run that to ignition switch to run at run position, that way it would not run in start position so it wouldn't affect cranking amperage. You could get an exhaust shop to offset the exhaust so it sits to one side of the tunnel to get more clearance for boost piping. Boost piping shouldn't be that big, 2" ID would do. I still don't know how i'll control the vanes for boost.