Where's Captain Obvious when we need him??

 

He's too busy wondering, "Seriously, Where's My Car Dude?"...

 

I cant imagine that it is difficult to free up 18 more HP out of the 03/04 version of the VQ. Although maybe a little $$$$ spent, I think it can be done without serious modifications(IE turbo, SC, NOS, etc). Im betting that with a CAI, headers, exhaust and an a professionally tuned ECU reflash you could easily make up the 18 HP if not more. Yes, it would cost $2-3k to get you there but hey, you would not have to get a new car!

 

yes but the 05 owners can do those upgrades as well and see higher hp numbers..it's all relative.

 

Last year Car and Driver did a road test of the 03 G35 sedan 6MT, in which they loved the car. In the article they questioned the HP ratings of the various VQ powered Infinitis and 350Z's. The point was that some of the cars rated at 260hp felt as strong as the 287hp cars.

Makes you wonder. I would love to see a dyno test of all different VQ cars and see what actually is going on.

 

if you just look up how HP is calculated, the difference is right in front of you. Yes, the VVT will add Tq up top so it should flatten out your tq curve. perhaps they slightly tweaked the valve springs/retainers as well to allow the higher RPM, but I doubt it.

HP = (Tq * RPM)/5252)

So, HP can easily change just by modifying the tq curve or changing the rpm.