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Here Tyler puts an AWD sump on a Nissan VQ35HR block to see if everything lines up. Blue Steel will be running a VQ35HR with a G35X middle sump and a R35 GT-R front diff unit. The rest of the drivetrain will be RB26DETT. Why not a VR38DETT? Because of cost. Although Nissan Motorsports is one of our partners, VR38 parts cost even THEM an arm and a leg. We don't believe there will be a big power difference between the VQ35HR and the VR38DETT once we put a turbo on there anyway. The VQHR engines benefit from virtually all of the tricks that Nissan used on the VR.
Paul at Nissan Motorsports arranged a brand new 2008 G35X VQ35HR straight from Tennessee. Nissan Motorsports had teams using the VQ35HR in Grand Am for 2011. I believe they are prepped by Jim Wolf Technologies using VQ37 cranks.
Albins Gear in Australia are manufacturing custom ratio front ring and pinions for Blue Steel since neither the R35 nor G35X front ratios work for us. These parts definitely are not cheap, but there's no way around it short of eliminating the AWD. The great thing is having a world class racing gear and transmission company make the gears for you definitely gives you peace of mind that they will be motorsport grade parts. Did you know that Albins produces gearboxes for winning cars in the Dakar Rally, Baja 1000, and the entire field of the new Australia Supercar series? Now you do.
Blue Steel will be using the legendary Holinger Engineering GT-R inline 6 speed sequential transmission. Numerous 1000+ bhp drag GT-Rs throughout the world use this transmission and some of the fastest Time Attack GT-Rs in Japan also use this transmission. It is proven, it works, and it doesn't break. Once again, just what we need to take Blue Steel to the podium. Finding technical partners like Holinger is critical to the success of any race program.
Royal Purple XPR 20W50 is the ultimate. I use it in all race engines that I am involved with and it has yet to fail me. Sierra Sierra used to think I was getting commissions from Royal Purple because I was so adamant about using it. XPR does cost an arm and a leg if you have a big dry sump system, but it doesn't make sense to spend a bunch of money on an engine and cheap out on the oil does it? Use the best.
Two bottles of Royal Purple with water and no coolant is the formula I always use with race engines. I've found this combo to surpass all other coolant additives, coolant, and water combos. Try it, your cooling system will like it.
The plan at the moment is to use a single BorgWarner EFR9180 turbocharger. That might change to twin EFRs should we find the time to test, but the 9180 should be good for just over 900hp which is a bit more than what we think we'll need. With 3.5 liters of displacement, the VQ35HR will have no problem spooling a 9180. With the anti-lag strategy on, spool will be even less of an issue.
