Last year at this time Casey Penn was gearing up to make the jump to the VQ35HR from the SR20DET engine in his S13 240SX. And now, the rubber has met the road and it seems as though Casey Penn has hit a HR with his swap. Moving from the 2.0 Silvia engine to the 3.5L V6 is quite a change that most would question. However after strolling over to Project X last week, I witness the end results of a SR20DET with just too much power and a hole in the side of the engine. Yes, the SR20DET has the ability to hold alot of power, but the benefits of going big has it's advantages.



THMotorsports: 

Vehicle Make: Nissan Model: 240SX Year: 1991

Engine Mods: VQ35HR engine swap SS custom long tube headers SS custom single exhaust Dual AL CAI intakes RS-Enthalpy reflashed ECU

Brake Mods: Wilwood 4-pot calipers 350z rotors Cobalt XR2 race pads RBF600 fluid SS brake lines EMS/Monitoring: Stack ST8100 Display system Wheels/Tires: MB 17x9.5, Toyo RA1 275/45R17

Aero/Exterior: Penn Engineering front splitter G4 front bumper and sideskirts Kognition CF rear wing JUN fender flares

Interior/Safety: Custom 8-pnt rollcage Kirkey road race AL seats Stripped interior G-Force 5-pnt harness's Audio/Electronics: N/A

Suspension Mods: Stance Coilovers SPC Control arms Energy Suspensions bushing kit solid rear subframe bushings Tanabe front sway bar

Now that the engine swap is complete, what are your thoughts?
Casey:  The VQ35HR swap was a good decision, although maybe not at the same time as my aero upgrades, and grip/brake upgrades. I am taking it all in stride and I am as fast as i was last year, tho this was an entirely different car last year that i had spent years perfecting my driving style in. Now this car is a bit of a handful, it has better acceleration, worse grip via my used Toyo RA1's, great high speed handling, but awful shifting because i accidentally changed the shifting geometry as part of the swap.

THMotorsports:  You did some aero upgrades, tell us a little about that.
Casey:  The aero body work makes the car look fantastic in my eyes, and the front splitter i made is holding up great and seems to actually be fully functional. Only takes me about 5 minutes to remove the front bumper and splitter for car work or trailer loading, kind of proud of that aspect, strong and quick removal for $150 total.  The Kognition rear wing... this mod alone is making the car super stable at high speeds compared to last year and it is very noticeable in the high speed corners and straits, i am getting up around 160mph on the back strait at VIR and the car is rock solid.

THMotorsports:  What are you doing to stop the car?
Casey:  With the Wilwood brake upgrade, the car brakes and feels amazing with the cobalt XR2 pads i got from TH Motorsports. This brake upgrade is a little more difficult to group the pieces but much cheaper than the big name BBK kits on the market, and the parts are readily available.

THMotorsports:  How easy was the engine swap and what kind of power are you getting out of the car?
Casey:  The engine swap was a pain in the ASS, figuring out the starter issue, ECU issue, shifter issue, exhaust etc...All the fabricating of small things, finding the missing piece to the HR motorset, and getting the ECU to work with the wiring i had already in the car all got sorted out one by one with tons of success. The headers were inspired my SG motorsports 350Z Koni Challenge racecar.

In the DYNO session, the car laid down 300rwhp on the dyno, without a tach signal we couldnt figure out the torque. The car running this smooth is all because of Martin at RS-Enthalpy and all the help he gave me with getting the ECU powered up properly and code free to heavy track use.

There were alot of success, and of course issues with the car,  but everything came together to let me get through the GRM 2010 UTCC without a hitch. I didn't place as well as i was hoping because of the issues, but i still got out there and drove the hell out of the car.  Some more seat time and i will knock several more seconds off my lap times and be as comfortable and successful as i was last year.

We look forward to seeing more of Casey Penn's 350SX and Casey on the podeum in years to come.  Casey has told us that their's no future of forced induction for the car, but we all know you can never get enough of a great thing.

Casey Penn's Vimeo Page

Quick drive by: VQ35HR powered S13 from Casey Penn