Nissan V8 Supercar engine revealed

By Tim Beissmann
September 04th, 2012

FIND DEALS

Nissan has unveiled the engine that will power the Nissan Altima race car in the 2013 V8 Supercars championship.

The VK56DE engine, manufactured in Decherd, Tennessee in the US, will become the only production engine in the V8 Supercars series, and will be available in Australia in the all-new Nissan Patrol from early next year.

Racing director and foundation driver for the newly formed Nissan Motorsport, Todd Kelly, described the unveiling of the VK56DE engine as a key milestone in Nissan’s journey to the 2013 V8 Supercars grid.

“A huge amount of time and effort has gone into getting the first VK56DE completed and the result is a spectacular looking engine,” Kelly said.

“There is still a lot of work to do but we’re proud to unveil our Nissan engine technology today at our team’s facility.”

The engine was unveiled in Melbourne today at the team’s engine department, which is housed in the extension to the Kelly Racing facility. The upgraded facility will incorporate all 19 departments of the team by January 1 when it is rebranded as Nissan Motorsport. The expanded facility also includes a new dyno cell, and designated CNC machining, carbonfibre and composite, paint and spray booth areas.

The VK56DE engine – also used to power the Nissan Titan, Armada, Pathfinder and Infiniti QX in North America – features an all-aluminium block and heads and a 32-valve, double overhead cam configuration.

The 90-degree powerplant uses electronic fuel injection and a MoTeC electronic control unit.

The engine has been sleaved and the bore and stroke adjusted to fit within the V8 Supercar championship series’ regulations, reducing its capacity from 5.6- to 5.0-litres.

While the VK56DE has a different appearance and unique specifications to the race engines currently used by Ford and Holden, Nissan Motorsport says it is working closely with V8 Supercars to achieve a fair playing field in 2013.

Nissan Motorsport VK56DE specifications:

Block: Cast aluminium 90-degree V8
Heads: Quad cam, four valves per cylinder
Capacity: 4990cc
Bore x Stroke: 102.69mm x 75.31mm
Compression ratio: 10.0:1
Maximum rpm: 7500
Fuel: E85
Liners: Dry cast iron
Ignition: Direct fire coil on plug

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Shak

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- Noddy of Toyland
  
  Like your scrotum?
  - JamesB
    
    F**king troll!
- Noddy of Toyland
  
  Like your scrotum?
- Noddy of Toyland
  
  Like your scrotum?
Robin_Graves

Quad cam 32 valve. Is Ford going to be able to use the Miami? Where does that leave Holden who only have an antique pushrod boatanchor? I bet they hobble the modern engines with restrictors so that the Holden fans dont go sooky la-la again like the last time Nissan blitzed them at Bathurst.
- Norm
  
  That was the Ford fans too.
- Sydlocal
  
  The Holden may have “antique” pushrods but it is far from a boat anchor. Cyl deactivation etc used in it is not really an antique and it still performs well above its specification. Anyhow, an all alloy engine would make a poor boat anchor anyway….
  - Robin_Graves
    
    No, it performs well because of its displacement. At least it wont rust in the ocean. Check wiki for “BMEP” then do some calcs and see where Holden’s V8′s sit, try Hyundai’s 5.0 Tau as a comparison.
    - Sydlocal
      
      Robin, I never said it was class leading or anything, just that it does have some reasonable tech on it and it performs better than its “meagre push-rod” specifications suggest.
      By the way, it may not rust, but it would still corrode….
- Lox
  
  Antique? DOHC’s have been around since 1919~ or so. Not exactly new technology.
  Why change from a pushrod motor when it does the job so well?
  - DoubleBlue
    
    Simple Lox, why is it then, every car manufacturer, except BIG TOUGH GM, have long moved on from the “past-use-by-date” ohv 2 valve engine…. that you think is SO wonderful.!
  - Fred_86
    
    Why the hell F1 car not run pushrod then if it is as good as DOHC? Use your brain dude.
- DoubleBlue
  
  Nissan have DOHC 4 valve heads so does Falcon with their the “Miami 5 litre v8″.
  So where does that leave GM-Holden-Chev.? Well they’re itching to get their hands on “side-valve” 2 valve cyl. heads BUT Briggs & Strattion wont give them[GM] the patent.!! LOL.!!!
m1n1s1n

I know nothing of V8 Supercars, but love jap crap,

how many horses she push?
m1n1s1n

I know nothing of V8 Supercars, but love jap crap,

how many horses she push?
m1n1s1n

I know nothing of V8 Supercars, but love jap crap,

how many horses she push?
m1n1s1n

I know nothing of V8 Supercars, but love jap crap,

how many horses she push?
Zaccy16

There might be a reliable V8 supercar!
Zaccy16

There might be a reliable V8 supercar!
- Sydlocal
  
  I don’t know, the current crop of V8s are far more reliable engine wise than the touring cars from the Group A/C era…
Zaccy16

There might be a reliable V8 supercar!
jekyl & hyde

10 to 1 compression on E85.ain’t that a smidge low. could go 12-14 to1…
jekyl & hyde

10 to 1 compression on E85.ain’t that a smidge low. could go 12-14 to1…
- Sydlocal
  
  IIRC 10-1 compression is specified by the formula ie 5L, 7,500rpm limit, 10-1 compression. This is true for the current formula and I believe this still remains for the COTF.
jekyl & hyde

10 to 1 compression on E85.ain’t that a smidge low. could go 12-14 to1…
jekyl & hyde

10 to 1 compression on E85.ain’t that a smidge low. could go 12-14 to1…
Cl1ff0

Nice looking donk!
Bryan

Really, they are going to use an engine that was designed to power a Patrol in their V8 race cars? Could be worse I guess, they might have joined two of their three litre Patrol diesels together to get the V8…
- Lox
  
  Don’t know how they go, but when I was in the US, the ones I’d heard with aftermarket sounded mean.
- Benny of Bendigo
  
  No Bryan, they are not using an engine designed to power a Patrol in their V8 race cars. The VK56DE series of engines have been available for some time in the US powering various Nissan vehicles, none of which are available in this country, or even in Japan. If you do not know what you are talking about, why would you display your ignorance to all and sundry on an open forum such as this?
sleeper6

Might be a reliable v8 supercar??? Pffft pretty sure if anything after 20 odd years of holden and ford using the same engine configuration and setup they would be pretty damn reliable by now! Think you may find the nissan engine been the new kid on the block as the most “unreliable” while the teams that are usin g them get to know there limits and how far the engines can be pushed before destruction. Get a clue.
- Zaccy16
  
  Tell me sleeper6 what normal cars are more reliable? bulletproof nissans or low quality holdens?
  - Captain Nemo®™
    
    If you want to look at “low quality” maybe you should look at your beloved VeeDud Polio. Made in Africa junk with clunk-o-rama DSG.
    - Zaccy16
      
      Hasn’t skipped a beat yet my polo TSI and the DSG is smoother then any normal auto
      - Captain Nemo®™
        
        “Hasn’t skipped a beat” that’s what all the VeeDud fan-boys say. I suppose the failure prone clunk-o-rama DSG is classed as a “consumable” item nowadays just like an air filter.
      - Zaccy16
        
        At least I get to enjoy a dsg transmission and tsi
      - Zaccy16
        
        Test drive one and you will see what I mean
    - Zaccy16
      
      What do you drive a Holden Crude or a Holden Crummydore?
      - Gfy-73
        
        i did a test drive…it broke down 20 metres
        outside the dealers lot…needless to say i brought something else
      - Zaccy16
        
        The cruze?
    - Zaccy16
      
      What do you drive a Holden Crude or a Holden Crummydore?
  - Captain Nemo®™
    
    If you want to look at “low quality” maybe you should look at your beloved VeeDud Polio. Made in Africa junk with clunk-o-rama DSG.
- Zaccy16
  
  Tell me sleeper6 what normal cars are more reliable? bulletproof nissans or low quality holdens?
- Zaccy16
  
  Tell me sleeper6 what normal cars are more reliable? bulletproof nissans or low quality holdens?
- Joelc
  
  sleeper6
  
  Nissan live and breathe motorsport, I’d google FIA-GT1 R35 before you dribble any more.
  
  To hear how awesome they sound check out a few google vids.
Hung Low

V8 Supercars is all about Parity which means this more efficient design would be limited on hp either way!
Hung Low

V8 Supercars is all about Parity which means this more efficient design would be limited on hp either way!
Herman the Australian Citizen

This engine is to be used in the patrol from next year, which is nothing new because holden have been testing the 6.2L engine used in the Lowndes vodafone 888 car in the colarado and I’m sure Ford are probably doing the same with the coyote in the ranger. This all spells win win situations for regualr joe buyers who want an option other than a diesel roll on 2013 V8 supercar season. I’d love to have a V8 Patrol parked in my Mrs back shed!
- PayThatNote
  
  V8′s are dead, yeah right that’s like saying the Turtle man doesn’t catch animals with his bare hands or it’s not live action (Yi Yi Yi). Or saying that the American Pickers “freestylin” is all set up. C’mon it can’t be so. I’d love to have one of these engines in my recovery tow truck, would save me some time when I’m hookin and bookin, don’t get me wrong I love the 5.7L donk out of murph’s K-mart bathurst winning commodore in it now but hey you have to move with the times.
- Gfy-73
  
  dude the ones you buy in road cars are far far away from what they use in the v8 race cars….
  the fords still use the old “svo windsor” blocks that came out in the xt gt’s of 1970
  and the holdens use the old 302 chev from 1969
  both designs are over 40 years old and been used in racing here and the states for the same amount of time
JamesB

It would be interesting how regulations would limit its power. Obviously, you can get much more kW from a 5-litre DOHC than a 5-litre pushrod.
TimS

were they using 5.7 ltr motors in the v8 supercars 2003?with Murphys k mart holden.Hmmmm.
chunky1

the nissan will have to be detuned to give the ford and holden rubbish a chance to complete
Datsin_180b

Big fan of Nissan and this engine… However lets hope they use Bosch coil packs on it as we all know Nissan can;t build a coil pack to last more than a few laps lol
paradigm

haha I dont think japs know how to win without forced induction soon they will be crying “tuuuPOO”
Driftsilv80

ummm ”paradigm” you are an idiot, nissan have been using a v8 that is natrually aspirated for years, including the current Nissan GT-R Super GT race car.. oh yeah also the famous Nissan R391 le mans race car also ran a natrually aspirated v8 however they did not do so well, one crashed out and the other had electrical issues. i left you the links so you can bask in shame, if you dont know anything about the subject stfu
Stephan_R_EP3

Y dont they put turbos on the v8 supercars?? Imagine how fast they’d go with that on them, or even two for twin turbo action it would be like a GTR but faster lol! Also all you pushrod/dohc idiots dont even know about what makes an awesome engine, its about the injectors and timing, not the cams.
- haha
  
  last time I checked cams have a fair bit to do with timing why do they have to be set on timing marks? push rod’s tend to stress and flex under high loads which can affect the over all timing and flow of an engine? restricting its over all performance compared to OHC motors, add variable valve timing to OHC motor and you have a pretty reliable motor right threw the rev range……….