Does anyone have any experience on the GTC? Better yet, has anyone installed an aftermarket Turbo/Supercharger? I am curious as to the cost for this modification......

Are you referring to the cost of the Turbo/Supercharger or the cost of replacing the CVT after the first week?

-njjoe

 

Yeah, that would be my concern. I am not jazzed about the idea of substantially increasing power output through a CVT.

If it were a manual tranny, I'd be all for it - but not a CVT.

 

Thanks for the input.....I am not very knowledgeable on engines so not a good idea to make changes. I went to the Murano club website and I saw photos of the GTC. I was not aware that they used a different engine with the turbocharger. What about air intake or replace exhaust? Which will give me a better pickup?

ps-njjoe, you are funny....I guess you remembered I just bought my MO in Feb and I am itching to modify.....

 

When I want more power, I will trade the Mo for an FX. Not really into messing with engines on a car like that. Just my 2 cents.:2:

 

Changanator-

Keep in mind that the GT-C was a one-off, manufacturer-created test mule. Although they claimed the turbocharged MO produced 340 horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torque there was no substantiated track test results.

I think it was nothing more than a marketing promo to ensure continuing interest in the MO.

What I find a bit suspicious is Nissan's power claims. The Garrett turbocharger increase the horsepower by 39% yet torque increased by only 8%. That is most likely a concession to the CVT longevity. Too bad we will never know how fast and, more importantly, how long it ran.

-njjoe

 

Remember that Nissan and other manufacturers create a lot of test and promo cars with no regard for their longevity.

A turbo on a V6 like the one in the Murano would be great fun, but I'd be very concerned about rebuilding the tranny every 10K miles or so.

If you want to mod the Murano, settle for a good foam filter (NOT a K&N, as they let too much dirt through) and perhaps a mild chip - if you can find one. I wouldn't be looking to gain more than 10 HP or so...and I don't know if anyone makes a REAL chip for a Murano. There are plenty of fakers out there who will sell you chips that don't do anything.

IMO the Murano is not a vehicle for performance mods. Stripes, tires & wheels, stereo - that's about it.

 

Yeah, that would be my concern. I am not jazzed about the idea of substantially increasing power output through a CVT.

If it were a manual tranny, I'd be all for it - but not a CVT.

Wonder how hard it would be to fit the Maxima automatic transmission...wiring might be a PITA haha

 

All kidding aside, I am looking forward to the day when some guy with deep pockets and a sense of adventure purchases a used MO and plumbs in a turbocharger. Hopefully he'll be an active member on this forum and will be willing to share his experiences.

I'd love to see what a 340 horsepower motor can do when routed through a CVT that keeps the power band front and center from start to finish.

-njjoe

 

...and see how long it would do it before flying apart!

 

Thanks for all your input.....yes, you are right.....I should save my $$$ and get some rims.

 

If you want to mod the Murano, settle for a good foam filter (NOT a K&N, as they let too much dirt through) and perhaps a mild chip - if you can find one. I wouldn't be looking to gain more than 10 HP or so...and I don't know if anyone makes a REAL chip for a Murano. There are plenty of fakers out there who will sell you chips that don't do anything.

So Pilgrim, what's a better, high performance filter than K&N, I was actually going to replace my stock one with the K&N when it's time but it seems you know of something better? Let me know! BTW, aren't these chips "dangerous"?

 

If you want to mod the Murano, settle for a good foam filter (NOT a K&N, as they let too much dirt through) and perhaps a mild chip - if you can find one. I wouldn't be looking to gain more than 10 HP or so...and I don't know if anyone makes a REAL chip for a Murano. There are plenty of fakers out there who will sell you chips that don't do anything.

So Pilgrim, what's a better, high performance filter than K&N, I was actually going to replace my stock one with the K&N when it's time but it seems you know of something better? Let me know! BTW, aren't these chips "dangerous"?

I haev never been satisfied with the K&N approach. I've done quite a bit of reading about filters, and when you have a filter with the limited surface area of a K&N and it allows more air flow than other filters (a big claim of theirs) I know of no way to achieve that without letting more particulates flow through as well. does that matter to someone who keeps their car 50K miles? No, the increased wear will show up later.

My personal feeling is that oil-impregnated foam filters such as the Amsoil dual-stage foam filters are a better bet. They allow more air flow, but they have a larger surface area to go with it, so there's not as much compromise in particulate filtering.

The downside of them is that people tend to put too much oil on the filter material, which then gets sucked into the air intake and coats the sensors in the intake - messing up the information sent to the ECU.

I bought a K&N for my Blazer - it was a single sheet filter about 3/8" thick - and ran it briefly, but it was pretty insubstantial and bothered me so much that I sold it on Ebay.

As for chips - YOU BET they can be either dangerous or a ripoff. Some do nothing but cost $$$; others may do things like remove the rev limiter so the engine can over-rev (less of a potential problem in the MO than any vehicle with gears).

If you're going to buy a chip, I suggest doing a good bit of research first and buying from a reputable, well-estabished tuning firm, not from Ebay or an isolated website.

Jim Wolf Technology is one outfit that I trust - they sell stuff for Altimas, but I don't see anything for Muranos on their product list.

 

Ha! Never thought of it that way but it makes sense! I've used K&N in the past as they are the only name brand I had heard of and that people I knew had actually tried. Plus I didn't mind the slight engine sound improvement. However, I certainly want to keep Mo for a long time. So nothing but the best for it when it comes to the engine. Is the amsoil filter a lifetime one as well? And can you send me a link to a vendor? Thanks for your reply and help!:2:

 

This is not meant to be a pitch, but background....

Amsoil was the first major manufacturer of synthetic motor oils, since just after the Korean war. Their product line has grown and includes excellent oil filters (some of the best) and air filters. I've used either their synthetic oil and filters or Mobil 1 oil since 1977.

Their home page is: http://www.amsoil.com/

There is a vehicle search tool on that page which can find products for the Murano.

This filter shows as a 4-year 100K mile guaranteed unit for the Murano:
http://www.amsoil.com/catalog.aspx?code=EAA74-EA

Click the "more information' link and it will tell you more about the filters, including pretty specific info about filtration.

Incidentally, I did a search for the comparable K&N filter and the Amsoil one is about $12 less expensive. I'd certainly trust it more as well.

BTW, I noticed in the product search that they also carry the WIX cabin filter for $18.10, which I think is a decent price based on other threads here.

 

BTW, I noticed in the product search that they also carry the WIX cabin filter for $18.10, which I think is a decent price based on other threads here.

http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14336

Joe

 

well ... my grain of sand regarding the GT-C is that it's simply a show car nothing more ... and I would definitely not try to put a turbo on a MO, not with the CVT and transfer case it has ... if anything i`d personally prefer a supercharger as it should be smoother than the turbo ...

anyway ... i have a 2007 MO, recently bought a brand new BMW X5 but I did not want to sell the MO so I thought i`d play around a bit, started out by changing all the lights to LEDs ... now it`s in the garage being painted the same colors as the GT-C .... a very dark metallic grey and a dark bronze grill, also coloring the bottom part of the front and rear bumper dark bronze ... the MO was originally "very boring grey"

anyway I`m recording all the process with pictures so I hope to post them here at some point ...

the color is looking amazing and the grill too looks very elegant and quite frankly very dramatic ...

regarding further modifications .. i`m going to start work on the engine ...

i am not a friend of short ram air intakes ... and not sure if i want to go with a cold air intake yet ... just installed a K&N filter and the engine noise changed very noticeably ... of course for the better ... although i did not notice any changes in fuel consumption and any gains in power are marginal at best and can`t really be felt ... say 5 hp on a 240 hp engine ... can`t honestly be felt
... durability is not much of an issue now as i won`t be driving the MO around too much now ... just have fun ...

next steps are :

exhaust either a gibson or the nismo

http://www.nissan.co.jp/OPTIONAL-PARTS/NISMO/MURANO/optn04.html

probably the nismo though

will get a kinetix intake manifold

http://www.kinetixracing.com/

some phenolic spacers

http://www.nwpengineering.com/Phenolic_Spacers.html#VQ35DE

and i`m undecided as to whether i should go with jim wolf parts or not ... there are 3 different camshaft sets, a valve spring set, injectors and high flow intake solutions for the MO so I will give these a miss for now until I see how all the other things are working

and if i do get jim wolf parts probably will go all out and get a camshaft, injectors and an air filter system but i need to understand what i`m doing and getting from the parts really well first ... and how they could compromise the CVT`s durability, i really don`t want to tear it apart and have to rebuild it ...

not interested yet in touching the suspension but could get the nismo stuff eventually as well ... nice little nismo page with murano parts

anyway trying to make my own version of the GT-C, without the turbo though as I am not willing to compromise the CVT too much ...

will add an R to the SE badge to make it a 2007 MO SE - R .. again just for kicks ...

also got a new brake system from zeckhausen

http://www.zeckhausen.com/Nissan/Murano.htm

basically new drilled and slotted rotors, stainless steel brake lines and new brake pads ... did not want the big brake kit .. i think red looks awful and it`s only a front brake kit no rear kit ... so i thought it would look awkward with these big red calipers in front and OEM stuff in the back ... if they had both front and rear in bronze i would definitely pick them up ... but they don`t .. too bad ...

last thing i`m getting are new rims ... but i don`t want big 22 inch ones and probably will just go with the chrome version of the OEM ones ... unsure here yet as to what would look better though so i`m playing this one by ear and taking my time ...

i will not get a chip for the MO i think there is too much risk, specially given the fact that there is no reliable supplier of mod chips for the MO, and will rather mod it through more traditional ways

and of course i would appreciate any suggestions or comments !!!!

manuel

 

anyway ... i have a 2007 MO, recently bought a brand new BMW X5 but I did not want to sell the MO so I thought i`d play around a bit, started out by changing all the lights to LEDs ... now it`s in the garage being painted the same colors as the GT-C .... a very dark metallic grey and a dark bronze grill, also coloring the bottom part of the front and rear bumper dark bronze ... the MO was originally "very boring grey"

NJJoe I think we've got our "guy with deep pockets"! Hahaha :2: All in good fun Maraven. Now I'm very, VERY interested in this whole better sounding engine from the K&N but I've recently learned from Pilgrim I believe that they're not the best (he explained why and it definitely makes sense) I plan on keeping my Mo for a while (even though this is my 3rd car in less than 5 years) What is your take?

 

I haev never been satisfied with the K&N approach. I've done quite a bit of reading about filters, and when you have a filter with the limited surface area of a K&N and it allows more air flow than other filters (a big claim of theirs) I know of no way to achieve that without letting more particulates flow through as well. does that matter to someone who keeps their car 50K miles? No, the increased wear will show up later.

My personal feeling is that oil-impregnated foam filters such as the Amsoil dual-stage foam filters are a better bet. They allow more air flow, but they have a larger surface area to go with it, so there's not as much compromise in particulate filtering.

The downside of them is that people tend to put too much oil on the filter material, which then gets sucked into the air intake and coats the sensors in the intake - messing up the information sent to the ECU.

I bought a K&N for my Blazer - it was a single sheet filter about 3/8" thick - and ran it briefly, but it was pretty insubstantial and bothered me so much that I sold it on Ebay.

Jim Wolf Technology is one outfit that I trust - they sell stuff for Altimas, but I don't see anything for Muranos on their product list.

I have a Jim Wolf intake on my '07 Murano and like it. I got mine from West Covina Nissan in West Covina, CA. It's available from "The Nismo Shop" their on-line store for $107.

 

hello guys ... vladmurano .. no deep pockets here ... i`m into copper mining junior mining company .... price is really good these days ... and just enjoying the good times ... also recent separation from long term lady friend so i have more money and time and i honestly enjoy keeping busy ... so i picked the MO as my pet project ... plus i love the MO and really don`t want to get rid of it ...

anyway regarding the filters ... K&N make aviation approved air filters ... so from my point of view anything that is approved to be put on a plane is probably overdesigned for a car ... as you must consider the wear and tear an airplane engine gets compared to a car engine,specially like a MO that hey let`s be honest we don`t run at maximum revs all the time ... mine generally does not reach 4K rev in normal day to day use ... and the reliability needed and tolerance and safety levels needed for a plane engine are much higher ... so to me this is a non issue .... if this thing is good enough for a plane it`s surely more than good enough for a car ...

http://www.knots2u.com/K&N Air Filters.htm

granted though ... airplanes do travel at much higher altitudes where air should be cleaner ...

still i personally think that the discussion of whether one good brand high flow filter is better than another good brand filter and the long term impact on the engine ... is basically academic .. and has no real relevance in day to day use of the car ...

but if i lived say in the sahara i might just want to keep the OEM filter on ... just to be sure

the K&N does give a better sound and I think the engine sound will be even better with the Nismo exhaust ...

i honestly do not worry about the long term impact of these filters on my engine ...

like i said i don`t like the way the pop charger looks ... but this is simply personal .. i prefer the cold air intake better that goes down the side and down behind the bumper ... but performancewise the pop charger is probably better specially if you install phenolic spacers to help keep the air cooler in the intake manifold... it should also have a more aggressive sound to it ...

anyway that`s my opinion regarding the air filters ...

 

Now I feel like a jerk... Haha, well my friend, good to hear business is going well. I'm sorry about the lady friend but glad you found a way to turn it into a positive thing!

The airplane info...very cool! I had no clue. Definitely good to know! Yes I've had some experience with these filters, on the horsepower side I could never tell the difference but engine sound was always improved. I just needed to hear it from a Mo owner! Now since the K&N is a "lifetime" filter, do you actually clean yours with the "K&N kit" when you need to or do you just replace it?

I'm going to ride out my OEM but definitely switching from there and beyond! Thanks for the input, looking forward to reading your reply.

:4:

 

Sawasan, nice setup! I am unfortunately "special" when it comes to actual mechanical labor so unless I'm willing to pay someone, which I'm not, I can't follow in your footsteps. Have you noticed any engine sound improvements?

 

NJJoe I think we've got our "guy with deep pockets"!

Close, but no cigar.

We need to find someone who is willing to go all out and install either a blower or a turbocharger. Now that will be one h@ll of a project. :4:

-njjoe

 

hello guys ... vladmurano .. no deep pockets here ...

maraven2001-

I am always hoping that someone will buy a used MO and turn it into his project car and mate a supercharger to it. That is what Vladmurano was referring to.

I figure someday soon someone with a sense of adventure, deep pockets, and a reckless nature will announce his intention to be the first on this forum to throw 300+ horsepower into the CVT. I just want to know how thye CVT will hold up.

I guess I just have to keep hoping....

-njjoe

 

hello njjoe ... like i said at some point if i were to put anything like that in the MO it would have to be a supercharger ... i have no technical data to prove it but somehow given the nature of the CVT and transfer case it would at least to me make more sense to put a supercharger in there and not a turbo ... turbos tend to be more jerky when they begin to deliver the power and the superchargers are much more linear ...

anyway ... i see where you guys are coming from and did some quick internet research on pricing of superchargers ... i found they go from 1 grand to over 7 grand ... also found that stillen make VQ specific superchargers .. which is good .. but they are 350Z specific as well ...

is there a thread on this in the forum ???

i would be happy to discuss this technically at first and study the real feasibility of installing a supercharger on a MO ...

i have always wondered how much torque the CVT can actually handle and what implications pumping that much more torque can have on the transfer case ...

i personally think that of course longevity will surely be compromised ... as the CVT (as i understand it, the CVT has a torque defined lifespan) if i'm correct it is designed to have a life span of XXXX amount of torque that goes through the belt, and then the belt needs replacing ... so if one were to pump more torque into this baby you would accelerate the moment of replacement but not necessarily break the belt or harm the CVT ...

i wish i could make a graphic of this .. but say you normally run your MO at 2.5 K revs ... and get x torque, at those same revs and with a supercharger you get y torque, with y>x ... so the torque throughput on the belt is larger but does not necessarily reach peak torque ... which is always very high up in the rev band ... so in essence running the MO at 2.5 K revs with a supercharger would be like running it at say 4K revs instead, because in a non supercharged MO you would get that same torque at those higher revs ... so all you do is reduce the life of the belt but there should be no compromise to its integrity ...

a different story is when you run it at maximum revs ... because if you are running the engine at 4K revs with a supercharger on it would probably be like maxing the engine out on a normally aspirated MO .. so by the time you reach 6K or 6.5K revs you are way over the amount of torque that reaches the belt in a normal MO ... so here is where the big question is ... at what torque will the belt give or break ...

if i remember correctly the numbers on the MO engine are 245 HP and 246 ft/lb torque ...

so lets suppose the limit is at 300 for both ... you could technically get only a 20% increment of power and torque before really running a serious risk of breaking the belt or ruining something else ...

if i were to do it i would definitely try to go for a number around 330 to 350 for both ... and that is a 40 to 50 percent increment in power ... which would be nice but definitely extremely risky ...

i think there are two roads to working this out .. one is to find out from the manufacturer of the CVT (which is not nissan BTW, it's another japanese supplier) what the technical mechanical limit for the CVT is ... regardless of what nissan say ... and if there is some way to change the belt for another belt that can take more strain and handle more power ..

the other road is to contact nissan UK, who were the ones who built the GT-C and ask them directly how much power that thing had and if it was a normal CVT and transfer case they were using, etc etc etc

in the meanwhile i would also look around and try to determine what supercharger kit will actually work for the MO in terms of sizing, and power delivery ...

anyway if you guys really want to start looking into this i would be happy to participate in a new thread or here in further discussing the reality or feasibility of installing a supercharger in the MO .. if it can be done not harming the MO ... i am interested ... and if we get all the parts, limits and pieces sorted out there is nothing to stop us from doing it ..

 

:2: LOL @Joe

@ Maraven - I like! hehe. You forgot to answer my ? about oiling the "lifetime" filter as K&N prescribes vs replacing it. Sorry if my questions are boring, I'm no pro just a guy who likes cars