SR20VET or DET??

Ok guys I did a quick search and didn't find much information in here about anyone putting VETs in their GTiRs, so I'm assuming I won't get flamed to death by starting this thread.  I have a unique situation here that I would like to explain first as I haven't been active in this forum for a while.

I'm in the US Air Force and I was stationed in the UK for 4 years where I had a GTiR track car.  When I left the UK, I stripped the motor, transmission and rear subframe with aspirations of someday making an AWD Nissan B13 Sentra.  Alot of life has happened since then and instead of a B13 Sentra, I chose to go with an Infiniti P11 G20 instead.  I still have the full engine and drivetrain from the Pulsar but making an AWD P11 would be ridiculously expensive and damn near impossible without re-engineering the entire rear half of the car.  So, my plan was to do a 350-400hp build on the SR, throw it in the P11, use it as a daily/weekend track car for a little while and then someday import a GTiR shell and swap all the goodies into it for a dedicated track/fun car.  

Now, the only other SR20 that I would covet over the GTiR SR would be the SR20VET.  Used to they were ridiculously expensive, overpriced and not easy to find but now they're getting older and they're almost as affordable as any other SR.  I could pick one up pretty easily here in the US for $2k or less.  

SO I could sell my GTiR SR and almost have enough money to buy a VET!! If I did, then I would want to eventually swap the VET into my someday Pulsar track/fun car.

To FINALLY get down to my actual question ....

If you could have either motor in your GTiR, which would it be??  DET or VET???  Which do you think is the better motor, with the most reliable performance potential and why?  

Also, how big of a pain in the ass do you think it would be to make the VET work in the Pulsar?

Normally, I think there would be no question here ... VET all the way but the GTiR SR ain't no regular ass SR!! lol  .... ITBs, stronger internals, bigger turbo ... It's literally a Nissan race built motor.  Of course I'm not talking about comparing them in stock form either.  I will have which ever motor I go with fully built, so I'm talking about comparing the two as which one has the most reliable, performance potential as a fully built motor.  

What do you guys think:?:

For 350-400 I would not even consider a vet look on projects you will see a amazing thread on vet project

WOW!! ... The search function really failed me on that one!!! ... I saw the VET build .... That's freaking nuts!!! I would never want anything ... lol well of course I would want it all day but I could never AFFORD anything that crazy.

I don't exactly understand what you mean though ... are you saying don't bother with a VET because it's too much hassle to make it work, especially if I'm only going for 350-400hp??

I know the DET is plenty capable of those #s ... I just would rather have the more capable newer engine if I could get one for almost the same price. But then if it is a major pain in the ass to install and make work then the DET would be more feasible.

Age of the engine means nothing if it is built right. I Think I know but will see if someone with more knowledge of the vet comments first. I personally think it's a fair bit work for the gains unless you want a above high end build

VET is a great engine, but You either have to re-drill the GTi-R manifold to work on the the VET, or use the VET manifold, and of course at that point you will lose the ITB's.

It's been done. To make it work, you need a Bluebird flywheel and it has to be bolted down with SR20DE flywheel bolts. Other than that, you will need a way to turn the VVL on and off at a designated RPM, either with a stand alone ECU control, or something external such as a MSD RPM activated window switch.

No expert on this but you could always get a ve head and keep your R motor, still a lot of work involved.

If you have a good 54C I would stick with it for your intended goal .
Both are great engines .

Thanks, for the replies guys. I think you're right. There's no point in making things way harder if I don't need too. Especially since the DET is completely capable of handling my goals.

If the VET was a straight forward swap I would go with it but not worth it.

You made a good decision

AFDanHef wrote:Thanks, for the replies guys. I think you're right.  There's no point in making things way harder if I don't need too.  Especially since the DET is completely capable of handling my goals.

If the VET was a straight forward swap I would go with it but not worth it.

it IS a straighforward swap, as far as the nuts and bolts of it go.  The hardest part about the whole thing is the electronics side of it. Unless of course you decide to modify your GTi-R ITB manifold to fit, which I would, and it's not really that difficult.

You CAN, use the VET manifold and throttle body however, in which case you'd need to use the harness as well.