Project Pathfinder Part 10, How to Build the Nissan VG30E

By Mari Umekubo

We are getting quite excited as Project Pathfinders motor is now up and running. We are out to show that a solid and reliable naturally aspirated Nissan VG30E can be just as strong or stronger in the power department as the VG33R supercharged motor in the  Frontiers with vastly superior fuel economy.  We also want to show that we can get the pulling power of a small V8 out of the VG. Last month we covered some tricks that Dan Paramore of DPR used to make our heads flow.  This month we will dive into the shortblock of our super Pathfinder.

To read about our VG30E headwork click here!

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AEM's Plug and Play ECU for the Chevy LS1, a Swappers Delight!

By Mike Kojima

Being able to have full control of engine management is a huge advantage when putting together one of the new generation hybrids.  We found a great remarkably simple solution for tuning with AEM's plug and play EMS for the LS1. The LS is fast becoming the new hybrid swap replacing K motors in Nissan S chassis and finding homes in the engine bays of 1st and 2nd generation RX-7's.

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Revenge of the Nerd- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or Top Fuel Fun!

By Mike Kojima

A couple of weekends ago I took my 9 year old Daughter Christa to the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona.  Being the jaded 9 year old she is, she loved the Top Fuel cars, liked the funny cars and thought the 6 second Pro-Stock cars were lame because they were "too slow".  In between runs I explained how the inner workings of Top Fuel and Funny cars tick.  She was pretty amazed at some of the facts I told her about the cars and wanted to know how I knew so much about them.  I told her the story of how I was a crew member for a Top Fuel Funny Car last year during SEMA week.  I learned a lot about these amazing cars that day and I'll tell you the story I told her.

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Project Honda Ruckus Part 7: Building the Engine

By Jeff Naeyaert

In our efforts to build the ultimate Honda GET 50cc engine for our Honda Ruckus, we have learned a few things with our first iteration of our modded engine, lessons to make our second one better we hope.  In our quest to get even more power out of our little Honda we are going to build another engine, this one is going into another Ruckus in our stable. Our goal for engine number 2 is to surpass the 58 mph of our first engine and reach 60 mph with the Honda engine that came with the Ruckus.

To read about our previous engine build click here for part one and here for part two.  To see all of our Honda Ruckus stuff click here.

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Christa's first Racer

By Mike Kojima

What does a 9 year old girl want, a pony? An all-you-can-carry gift certificate from Hello Kitty?  No, apparently she likes carbon fiber.  OOOH! Carbon fiber!  My daughter Christa squealed when she saw the Noonan Racing foot box that I got so she could reach the pedals on her Top Kart, racing go kart.

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Time Attack Terror: FXMD's Record Setting Acura NSX (Video Inside!)

By Mike Kojima and Billy Johnson

If you follow Time Attack at all you are probably very familiar with FXMD's Acura NSX Unlimited RWD killing machine piloted by our own Fast Lap Editor, Billy Johnson.  In the 2009 Time Attack season the NSX has given the competition the business in every event it has entered for an undefeated 2009 Redline Time Attack season. Lets take a deep technically based look inside the fastest Time Attack machine in North America.

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Ask Sarah- How to fix your EVO

By Sarah Forst

First, repeat after me- you can’t go reliably fast if your wallet is on a diet!  Although you haven’t given me enough information to properly answer your question as I don't know what other parts are on your car, I will give it a guess assuming you are not spending much money on your 4G63 to begin with. Your current setup includes too small a turbo and probably too undersized a fuel system for those boost levels.  Let’s start with the stock turbo on the Evo VII.

Got a Tech Question?  Email Sarah at asksarah@motoiq.com

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Jim Wolf Technology's Turbo Nissan QR25DE Powerhouse - Part 1

By Mike Kojima

Compared to the late great SR engine family, the early Nissan QR25DE has a spotted history as a performance engine.  In the performance world it has earned a reputation for being fragile and the many recalls that Nissan has had for serious problems from blowing head gaskets to blowing rods out the side of the block has furthered this reputation.  The engine's redeeming features are a cylinder head that flows extremely well, a light overall weight and a strongly supported crank and lower end. A fragile engine is not going to work for our time attack Spec-V so we are going to address the engine’s weak points and see if we can turn the QR into a solid performer capable of racing levels of performance and reliability.

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Extreme Engine Tech: Technosquare's Monster Naturally Aspirated Toyota 4AG - Part 3 (VIDEO INSIDE!)

By Mike Kojima, Photos & Video by Jeff Naeyaert

When we last left the Technosquare crew, they had completed the stroker 4AG engines bottom end and assembled the cylinder head.  Now it was time for the engines final assembly and installation into an AE86 time attack car.

Click Here for Part One

Click Here for Part Two

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Suck, Squish, Bang, Blow - Part 1: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Engines (But Were Afraid To Ask)

By Mike Kojima

In the coming months we will explain all of the basics of how to extract more power from that noisy chunk of metal connected to the wheels.  Your new knowledge can be put to good use when selecting hop up parts for your ride, helping you make good solid choices of where best to spend your hard earned money. With knowledge you will be able to make informed choices when buying parts and will be less likely to get punked by unscrupulous mechanics. In this series we will explain how all the popular hop up parts work, how to understand there specifications and how to pick the right parts to best fit your needs.

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