Infiniti Q45 Tuning

"Tuning guide to the best Infiniti Q45 modifications."

We were asked for more information on tuning and building a modified Q45 and particularly which turbo upgrades work best, so we've put together this guide which covers our go to modifications for this engine and what we feel are the ultimate value modifications you can do.

Running from 1989 to 2006 we see 3 generations of the Q45, each generation only had one engine option, but what an engine each has.

The Q45 is a brilliant car tuning project to fill your spare time. We see car enthusiasts wasting money on their Q45 doing the wrong mods and then having to start over. Follow our guides to avoid ruining your car

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for people often first priority in your Q45 tuning project.

Good suspension tweaks that dramatically enhance handling for the Q45 include a couple of degrees negative camber and 1-1.5 degrees of toe (set out to improve cornering or in for better stability) on the front wheels.

We suggest that you fit sports suspension and lower the car by 21mm - 37 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with uprated suspension.

Fitting better brake discs and better high performance brake pads will make for sharper enhanced stopping.

Please note that motorsport friction pads can grind and will need a lot of heat before they start to work.

On a road car the brakes are only applied now and then, therefore won't be as effective at slowing you up so select pads which don't need to be really hot.

A nice wide torque band and sweet spot of peak power at one third of your RPM range is optimum.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

Engine Tuning.

This list of the stages and motorsport kits are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to go before you begin.

• 4.5L VH45DE V8, 280 PS (206 kW; 276 hp)
• 4.1 L VH41DE V8 2nd Gen
• 4.5 L VK45DE V8 3rd Gen

Getting the right uprated mods for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 (competition) mods just won't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your car. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best Engine Mods for your car

1. Engine Tunes - engine tuning/remapping provides the most advantage in terms of cost savings,  aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
2. Fast road cams are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they're doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
3. Intake and Exhaust - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
4. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - forced induction is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades but provides the best gains.
5. Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Sports exhaust, Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Engine Tunes/Remapping, Suspension upgrade (drop 21mm - 37 mm.), Lighter flywheel.

Typical stage 2 mods often include: fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injector, Fast road cam, Power/Sport clutch, Ported and polished head.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Engine balancing, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Sports gearbox.

Peak power is all well and good but for a daily driven car you need a long power band and perhaps extending the rev range.

In this article we shall give a little insight into the world to the best upgrades for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance part.One of the most cost effective mechanical tuning parts you can do to your NA (naturally aspirated) engine is to fit a fast road camshaft .

It improves the intake and exhaust flow and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a motor sport cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

When pushing up the power you will need to pay attention to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.

Frequently power losses, and erratic idling after parts are done can usually be traced to timing or fuel delivery issues. To get sufficient fuel you may need to improve the injectors on your engine.

Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned Q45's uprated injectors.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up.  Contrary to popular belief there is generally a small if any power gain got by fitting an induction kit, they only help and are recommended after you raise the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Derestricting the air flow into the engine is a primary goal of performance tuning so get a better flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not do much to increase power and actually rob you of power on most cars.

Sports exhausts can help equal out the flow of air through the engine. But if your exhaust is too big, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose much of your flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional flowed (porting and polishing). These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods. Your clutch can slip as you increase the power if it starts to weaken and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 40%. Fit a competition clutch to avoid power leak through the transmission. The best mods we would do for your Q45 are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

NA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A tuned/remapped turbo will give significant power gains and fully release the potential power of the engine.

We've also come across some owners toying with twin charging applications and making some very high power gains.

Adding forced induction will see massive power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Turbos are usually harder to add than a supercharger. Turbos give boost in exponential proportion to th engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

The nice correlating boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloys include reducing your unsprung weight and better brake cooling. If you are serious about performance then you will need to carefully choose your tires - ideally with a directional tread pattern tire. It is worth noting that although they can look cool on the Q45 large alloy wheels will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

Due to this fact aim to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the recommended OEM sizes. In all cases not going over 18 inches, but we find the 17's perfectly servicable on public roads, if you get the right tires.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Q45 options in more detail with our Q45 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Infiniti tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Infiniti. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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