OK, most of us have heard about the VE engine. That's Nissans answer to Honda's VTEC engine. It has the similar variable valve timing. Nissan has two N/A (Normally aspirated) versions of the SR20VE. I believe one is 187hp and the other is 201hp. +/- (the turbo VET is 276hp) That's more power, stock, than most everyone has with lots of mods on their SR20DE. Imagine what that VE can do with a cam, exhaust, ECU, etc. Easy 14 second 1/4 mile time, perhaps 13's with good traction.

I would love to take out my SR20DE and replace it with a VE or DET, but the car only has 68k miles on it. Why would I want to invite other issues like getting a bad VE engine, days to install, screwing up the wiring, and perhaps utter frustrating from the install.

So, here's the thought. Instead of ripping apart our cars and installing the VE engine, why can't we import the Primera with the VE from Japan to the states, therefore getting the VE engine in the car from the factory? The only issues I can think of are the taxes, emissions for certain states, and title difficulties. Has anyone ever done this???

I welcome your comments and thoughts, whether positive or negative.

Thanks....

You would waste more time and money trying to get it to the states then just buying a ve and installing it. Also those Hp numbers are way off. Heres what I found off the sr20ve forum

SR16VE - 173hp 5 speed Manual 97-2001
SR16VE N1 - 197hp 5 speed Manual 97-98
SR20VE - 187hp CVT 6 speed Auto 97-2001
SR20VE - 204hp 6 speed Manual 2001-Present
SR20VET - 276hp AWD Turbo 2002-Present

However the sr16ve n1 has only 500 ever made. But yes I thinking installing a ve would be very cool plus more hp then doing all bolt ons.

Hi Fatboy,

Thanks for your post. The thought has been on my mind for some time now. I merely don't want to go through the time and effort installing the VE engine.

BTW, I saw the same article on that forum, that's where I came up with the HP ratings. Only, you said I was way off...I believe I was off 3 hp...201 vs. 204. Anyhow, moving on....

Why would it be too much time and effort on obtaining the car from Japan? I'm curious and this is a serious question.

Thanks in advance for your constructive feedback.

This link may be of huge interest to you then:

www.sr20deforum.com

;)

First to find a primera in japan or europe with a VE in it and in good condition would take a quite of bit of time. Then buying the car and shipping it to the US would take i'm guessing a couple of weeks. I think it would be easier to just buy a VE from andreas miko and have him install it for you. It would cost less money and less time in my mind.

I do know it can be done if you really wanted because it is the same body as the G20 if I recall anyway..


I know for a fact someone who imported a 1990 Sierra which was actually the same as a Merkur XR4ti.... Interesting thing about that is that the Merkur XR4Ti only went up to 1998 and here this guy had a 1990 in the country AND it was a station wagon model with RHD!

Sorry but I don't have his contact info any more!

Originally posted by 95g ATL
So, here's the thought. Instead of ripping apart our cars and installing the VE engine, why can't we import the Primera with the VE from Japan to the states, therefore getting the VE engine in the car from the factory?

The only issues I can think of are the taxes, emissions for certain states, and title difficulties. Has anyone ever done this???




Import a JDM Primera is not easy. It costs a lot of money to have a car shipped besides having to find and buy one there. The SR20VE only came in the P11 and the ones that would be worth your effort aren't going to be cheap.

Do you already know people in Japan that are going to help you? You can't just fly to Japan and go to a dealership and be like, "Yes I'll have that Primera" and take it to the nearest port and put it on a boat. They'll rip you off as much as they can since you wouldn't know any better. You don't live in Japan and this car won't be registered to you and you have to ship this through customs.

With something like this, customs will charge you for your purchase since you aren't from Japan and this is a sale. It's not like when you ship little stuff overseas and you can BS the customs stuff and say it's a gift or something. Those "taxes" youre thinking of will cost more than the price of the car. The additional costs include the bond cost (450% of the value of the vehicle) , and tarriff cost(2.5% of the value of the vehicle) which vary with the value of the vehicle. Also shipping can be roll on/roll off or container. Expect the other costs to be $4000 - $5000 .

After paying that to get it here, then you'll have a car that's not legal becuase it's not DOT approved. The lights, guages, glass, etc. are not U.S. spec. You won't be driving that on the streets unless you legalize it which will cost a couple grand.

Then what happens if the engine starts to have problems?? If you worry about "days to install, screwing up the wiring, and perhaps utter frustrating from the install" for a VE in a P10 then you must not be very mechanically inclined. If you won't do your own work then where will you take it to? You can take it to one of the few places that has experience like Andreas Miko but then why not just have him instal one in your P10 in the first place??

If you really want that JDM Primera, the best thing to do is to join the Air force and get stationed in Japan. Then you can have you car shipped back at no cost to you and you can put all the JDM goodies on you want. Either that or take out a home equity loan your house to import the car.

There's a good reason why we don't see many imported JDM cars. I sure as hell wouldn't go to all that trouble for a 187 hp Primera. I'd go for a JDM Skyline, RX-7 or Supra if I had that kind of money to throw around...


;)

Not to mention all the hassle of buying a JDM car in the first place. They have taxes for paying taxes on paying taxes that you were taxed for simply because you have to pay taxes on it later anyways. Don't let me get started on all the taxes you'll have to pay for exporting it. :square:

Hey guys...

thanks for all that info. You are right, totally pain in the a** to import one from Japan, guess that's why people rarely do. I thought with the free trade deal back in the 90's this would be easier. Freakin' governments are a bunch of thieves...

Andreas Miko, i've heard that name many times before. I really didn't want to tear apart my mint, low mileage g20. I would probably just buy another one with higher miles and turn it into a road racer with that VE. Hmmm.

Thanks again for the ideas.

Originally posted by 95g ATL

Andreas Miko, i've heard that name many times before........
It may be easier than you think to get a VE swap done. I think that Andeas Miko has got a shop somewhere around the Miami area.


http://g20.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=8475&highlight=miko+SR20VE#post8475

There's a import shop in my city and the owner who has previously lived in Japan for 4 yrs has imported so far 2 full JDM running cars, a 98 Civic Type R(Championship White) and the other a 2.5TT Toyota Soarer(Lexus SC300). Both cars are awesome to view in person, you just dont see many pure JDM RHD cars in street and when you do see one, you dont care what manufacturer it is your just in awe, at least I am. The quality of the Civic Type R just blows the regular EK9 HB's away, everything you would expect from it, it has. Bigger brakes, 5 lug wheels, Red Recaro seats, I can just sit and look at that thing all day long, I am not all into Honda's or anything but I never discriminate when I see a car that is well constructed and is pretty fast out of the box. I am not sure if the owner of the shop has legalized these car's for street use, most of the time there just standing in the shop's parking lot. This guy is pretty rich and has all kinds of contact's in japan, he is the guy that is importing the DIANA kit for the P10, the thread that Jason Young started. He can pretty much get anything JDM you want as long as you got the money, he is stingy as hell though and wont ever give you a discount or something for free for buying something expensive.

heres a good swap candate in your garage :

02 John Deere lawnmower

wireing a sr20ve into it wouldnt be too hard just plop everything into the john deere , tell the neibor that youll mow his lawn too , thataway you have a good shutdown zone after barreling across your lawn .

ive been wanting to call motorex to see if they would import a pulsar GTiR , just havent gotten the balls or money to be serious about it

stoneage...that's a thought, huh.

Seriously, I may look into getting an old sentra SE-R or G and have the VE engine installed. This would be a perfect car for taking down to the track and have the "drive it like you stole it" mentality. Right now, I find it pointless to take out my G's perfectly good, reliable, 68,000 original miles engine and throw in the VE.

We'll see....

"Seriously, I may look into getting an old sentra SE-R or G and have the VE engine installed. This would be a perfect car for taking down to the track and have the "drive it like you stole it" mentality. Right now, I find it pointless to take out my G's perfectly good, reliable, 68,000 original miles engine and throw in the VE."


i hear ya dude , im feeling the same thing about putting a turbo on my cherry 96 with 57,000 on it , but im takeing my time on it so im fairly sure it will come out well

The other big issue that you may or may not mind is that I believe every P11 with the SR20VE motor came with the CVT (auto) tranny. They might have changed this since i remember hearing it. And there are Pulsar GTi-R's here in the states, just not legal to drive on the streets. There are a couple cool JDM cars here in Az at the Nissan Test Center. R34, S15, etc... =)

S15

That one Brady was driving was so damn sweet! Wish I could have gotten to ride in it too...=)

I'm just about to buy another Primera and have been looking at some Hyper CVT M6 wagons. They come with the 6 speed tip-tronic CVT tranny and the VE engine. Here in NZ they range in price between NZ$16 - 22K which is around US$7.5 - 10.5K on the road.

Shipping from Japan to NZ is around NZ$2K if we source them ourselves but the purchase price is lower in Japan. We don't have any import tarriffs here :) . I think your biggest headache with importing to the US is complying the car to US safety standards.

After talking with the transmission experts, I decided against it. You cannot buy parts for those trannies (at least not here and not yet) so if it screws up it's replacement time. With a 2nd hand replacement costing NZ$3.5K (US$1650) and new replacements at NZ$10.5K (US$4705) it is just too risky. At least until parts become cheaper and more readily available. Also the oil they use for the hydraulics is super expensive.

You won't want to hear this but you've just missed out on the deal of the century for a VE powered US vehicle. Look here (http://www.sr20deforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27529) and try not to cry too much - this car lasted all of 59 minutes on the market :depressed :depressed

not to mention the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car... how you gonna hit up the drive-through at Burger King? :lol:

Originally posted by Brian P
not to mention the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car... how you gonna hit up the drive-through at Burger King? :lol:
Like duh....you can always reverse through the drive-thru.....
:lick: :p ;):knockout:

Originally posted by Brian P
not to mention the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car... how you gonna hit up the drive-through at Burger King? :lol:



Originally posted by MR. RYTE

Like duh....you can always reverse through the drive-thru.....
:lick: :p ;):knockout:


You laugh now, however I know people who have experienced this problem. :-\

i just noticed the other day when i was looking under the hood i read where it said the chassis code and engine code and mine said SR20(VE) what does this mean..?

Are you serious? :o

Originally posted by Trag
i just noticed the other day when i was looking under the hood i read where it said the chassis code and engine code and mine said SR20(VE) what does this mean..?


Your car is defective. BUT! I'd be happy to buy it off your hands for $20,000

:smoke: ;)

Originally posted by Trag
i just noticed the other day when i was looking under the hood i read where it said the chassis code and engine code and mine said SR20(VE) what does this mean..?
If it really does say SR20VE, that means that you have an SR20 engine with a variable valve timing. Your engine should have a max power output of 187hp. For more info:
http://www.sr20deforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=41

You lucky @#$%^&*! MOFO!;) :p ;) :p

Originally posted by MR. RYTE

If it really does say SR20VE, that means that you have an SR20 engine with a variable valve timing. Your engine should have a max power output of 187hp. For more info:
http://www.sr20deforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=41

You lucky @#$%^&*! MOFO!;) :p ;) :p


That can't be right. I thought the VE was not available in the states.

noooooooo! you ruined my evil plan!

i thought it was 190hp anyways

The SR20VE was never released in North America... so either
a) he bought the car from a tuner/importer of sorts
b) "D" looks like a "V" on his plate
c) there's some secret shipment of Neo-VVL motors somewhere that we don't know about.

Where did you buy your G20 and what year is it?

i bought it at south motors infiniti in miami and you want it i will sell it its a 2000 with the roller rocker motor and a limited slip diff

give me till tonight and il put up a pic so you guys can see it

heh i was kiddin

but we'd like you to verify that it is infact an SR20VE motor and not a DE. they never sold the SR20VE here on purpose.

ever timed your 0-60?

Originally posted by Brian P
heh i was kiddin

but we'd like you to verify that it is infact an SR20VE motor and not a DE. they never sold the SR20VE here on purpose.

ever timed your 0-60?


It's even easier than that. Does the valve cover say Infiniti? Or, when you rev the motor up, does the tone change at specific rpms? You could also tell off the vin number itself.

hey guys, i just took another look it says de on it, my bad i got mixed up ok, but my car is really fast for real it is ok..................just leave me alone!!!!............:*(







j/k

Oh okay. I was 'bout to say. ;)