Nissan RB26 tuning guide

Guide to tuning the RB26 engine

We try to help people on their way to tuning their engine as well as possible. We have tried to write here about the things that can go wrong, but can be solved relatively easily. We selflessly also try to show you an easy and cheap way to get the extra hp. out of the engine as you wish. If there is something you want to know that is not in this guide, please feel free to write to us so that we have the opportunity to find out and write it in the guide.

The RB26 engine was first introduced in 1986, where it was in the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 and Nissan GTR R33.

The engine has many used in many other cars, such as Nissan 30ZX, Nissan 350Z, Infiniti GT35.
The RB26DET has a 73.7mm. stroke length. The compression ratio is 8.5:1. The cylinder head is made of aluminum with 24 valves out valve control.
The ignition order is 1-5-3-6-2-4.

Original camshaft is 240/236 degrees with 8.58/8.25mm. lifts and mechanical lifts. The intake valves are 34.5mm. The exhaust valves are 30mm. Intake systems are made with throttle bodies that are 45mm. 

Original turbochargers are 2 pcs. Garrett M24 with ceramic turbine wheels. Which runs with 0.7 bar boost pressure.
Nissan Skyline GT-R34 is with 2 pcs. Garret M24 turbocharger with ceramic bearings. 

The petrol nozzles are 444 CC/min. 

All this gives 280hp. at 6800 rpm. and 353 NM at 4400 revolutions. 

Weak points and problems with the RB26 engine

Early RB26DETTs (Nissan Skyline GT-R R32) come with inefficient oil pumps - Here it can be an advantage to use an oil pump from an RB26DETT N1. 

Restriction in the cylinder head - Extra hose from cylinder head to bottom tank (more info to come)

The ignition coils can go bad and cause misfires and therefore need to be replaced.

Turbochargers with ceramic turbine wheels cannot withstand more than 0.9 bar charge pressure - They "blow up" under too much load.

Power with original turbos

With original tube chargers, you can drive with ceramic turbos with up to 0.9 bar charging pressure. With 0.9 bar boost pressure, you can expect around 330 hp. on the wheels which will give a 402 meters in a high 12 second time. With this setup you must have changed or replaced the oil pump, fitted a Bosch 044 fuel pump, 550 CC/min fuel nozzles, boost controller to control boost pressure stably, 3" exhaust.   

Turbo mounting with single turbo

If you want lots of power out of the engine, it might be an idea to switch to a system with a single turbo. Apexi Power We have turbo manifolds, turbo and everything you need. 

RB26DETT turbo manifold - Upgrade turbo manifolds with T4 flange and external wastegate.

GT4294 turbo - Turbocharger for power up to 850 hp. which fits on the turbo manifold.

External wastegate - External wastegate is required when a large turbocharger is fitted.

Oil hose kit - Oil hose for the turbocharger and return line from the turbo.

Water cooling of the turbo - Good cooling of the turbocharger is important under heavy load.

Downpipe - We make special parts and downpipes to order - Contact us for this.

Intake manifold and intercooler system

If you want to have the intake system upgraded, we have an intake manifold and intercooler kit of incredibly high quality. With the installation of our intake manifold, you get a better flow as funnels are installed inside the manifold. You also get an engine compartment that looks really good. 

Performance intake for RB26DETT - Intake manifold in incredibly high quality, which includes throttle and nozzle bridge.

Intercooler kit for Nissan - Intercooler kit for many car brands, including Nissan

Oil cooler and aluminum cooler

Really good cooling of the engine is very important if you push the car on a track or on the street. We have an oil cooler with a thermostat so that the oil heats up before it is let out in the oil cooler. we have universal oil coolers that can easily be adapted to the Nissan RB26 with different sized elements. Should you need to change to an aluminum cooler with a really good cooling effect, we also have this at a really good price. 

Universal oil cooler - Engine oil cooling at the right price.

Aluminum cooler - Aluminum cooler in really good quality.

Performance exhaust system & front pipe

If you have an RB26 engine, there is a chance that you will have to make 600 hp. great. - We recommend a 3" exhaust up to 500hp and above that a 3½" racing exhaust. It can be easy to build your own exhaust with a good flow or to have us build a custom-made exhaust - versus having to find an exhaust system that works well and at the same time sits perfectly under the car. If you build your own exhaust, you can make one for around DKK 4,000 and we build 3" exhausts from around DKK 8,000 - assembled. 
Head pipe - also called downpipe, we recommend 3.5" if possible. The turbocharger creates turbolens just after the exhaust side and for this there must be more "space" for the exhaust gas. 

Universal Exhaust - Performance exhaust parts to build your own exhaust.

Downpipe - We are happy to custom build a downpipe for your or our turbo kit.

Custom exhaust - We build custom exhaust for many car brands. Blue. Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, VW, Audi etc.

Fuel system - Upgrading the fuel pump and fuel nozzles

When upgrading nozzles, you must be aware that some older models run with a different type of nozzles / size of o-rings. It is simple to remove one of the nozzles and measure the diameter. We have, for example, 668 ml. nozzles that deliver up to 550-600 hp. Or 875 ml. nozzles that deliver up to 750-825 hp. Both types of petrol nozzles are high-ohm nozzles and can run on all types of engine management. 
If you are going to upgrade the petrol pump, we recommend fitting a surge tank - A surge tank means that you will always have petrol pressure, even in long sharp turns, where the petrol would otherwise normally slosh to the side and not have the opportunity to suck up petrol. We have, for example, a suction tank for mounting 2 pcs. internal fuel pumps. Anything from 2 can be installed here. GSS342 pumps which deliver up to 800 hp. or 2 pcs. AEM pumps that deliver up to 1700hp. 

Fuel system - Here you will find everything in nice pieces for building up petrol systems.

Fuel nozzles - We have many different sizes and types of nozzles.

Surge tank - Really good way to upgrade the fuel system.

An-fittings - Used when mounting the surge tank and external petrol pumps with threaded connection.

Petrol hose - Petrol & oil hoses - Choose between steel-reinforced and nylon-reinforced petrol hose.

Engine management - Plug & Play ECU 

The right solution when you need to get lots of power out of the engine is a programmable engine control. ECU master has made a plug and play solution, where you get an adapter which is inserted between the original engine management connector and ECU master engine management. ECU master has many functions and options, like a high-end engine control - only the price is much lower. 

ECU master engine management - Programmable engine management with lots of options.

Plug and play adapter RB26 - Adapter for ECU master.