Chopstick Tuner

You could use an adapter to fit it in the factory hole. But if you want to keep your factory one functional whilst adding another, a T Piece adapter into the original hole is another option, which is what I did temporarily until I install a sandwich plate. But really sandwich plate is probably best option, because you can run a temp sensor from the same location, and lines for an oil cooler if you wish to do so in future.

If it has been maintained and treated properly, there should be no reason to rebuild it. If servicing has always been neglected and the car gets limiter bashed pulling out the driveway on a cold start, then it won't be in good shape. Long story short, can't judge by km's. If you're worried, do a compression test. If it's running and driving sweet, continue to look after it.

Pretty interesting, I have always liked that it's a rev happy motor. That's impressive results from yours, and it's even more than my goals. I'm happy to have a reliable motor that loves the limiter, anywhere in the 300-400hp range. Wide range of power figures I know, but hp figures aren't the important factor in how fun a car is, that's just a general ballpark of other skylines I've driven that were heaps of fun. Don't get me wrong I'm still tossing up the idea of a 25 or 30, but for my goals I'm unsure if I want to spend an extra 4 or 5k before any refreshing, for a power goal the 20 is capable of. Most RB25 dyno sheets I see have a good power band starting between 3500-4000 up until usually 7500 or less. Which made me wonder if getting a 20 to be fun to drive from say 4500-5000 up to 8000-8500 was possible (and how people built their 20s), and if it was really much different or worse... enough to justify a new engine. But I probably asked it in the wrong way because despite trying to clarify a few times, it seemed people thought I wanted a 10k rpm motor, or a 600hp Rb20 🙈 which I don't. Plus it would be kinda nice to say the car has its original engine, not sure why.

Slight update on this.... finally Not much has changed except appearance and some maintenance to be honest, not planning on swapping out the engine until I have another one all done ready to drop in. But figured I'd post some pics since it's just looking heaps better with new wheels and coilovers. Valid reason, right? Current spec list just for the sake of it: RB20DET running a (supposedly) R33 high flow turbo at 10psi - I noticed a steel wheel and know nothing else about the turbo lol but it pulls pretty nice actually. Car has; adjustable caster arms, cusco I believe. Adjustable front upper camber arms, unknown brand. R33 gtst/R32 GTR size front brakes, 296mm. Hicas delete including lock out bar and non-hicas power steering pump. HKS exhaust system, nice note not obnoxious. Blitz rad and 12" electric fans. Fitted a triple gauge holder from boosted international in the single din slot over the radio and climate control, with just boost, water temp and oil temp gauges, had previously fitted an AEM oil pressure gauge which relieved some worries I had when the factory one showed barely any oil pressure. Car now sits on BC gold coilovers (which need to go a tad lower), Work CR Kai wheels - 17x8 +34 rear, 17x7 +34 front with 15mm spacers wrapped in Bridgestone RE003s all round. Next on the agenda is mostly maintenance over mods, such as the dba rotors I'm already waiting on, tie rod ends etc and then change the alternator to an LS alternator.

So I hadn't got any notifications for this topic for some reason lol But anyway, yeah TurboTapin summed up my view point tbh. Not a perfect improvement, but an improvement over what it used to look like. Which, for reference, in my case used to look like 2 candles in jam jars on the front of my car 😂 To the perfectionists, don't stress, I do intend to pull the lights apart and do a proper job in future lol. But for now, I just modified the bulb holder to take the LEDs. Don't have any pics of the light currently, I'll try get some soon, beam cut off is nice and defined though so I don't blind everyone. So yeah not very hard, just a bit of modification required with a dremel mostly for anyone curious, here's a photo of what it looked like before and after. LED slides in and the silver collar locks it in place, leave the collar attached to the bulb holder so it can be clipped in first.

That looks like a good power curve, a lot of RB20s I saw were out steam before 7500 tbh, and usually not making anything before 5k, hence the topic lol Cams and a plazmaman intake were among the many things on the shopping list, but still in two minds over whether to build it for a 8500ish rev limit or use a different motor. People don't really like 20s, so finding examples of similar builds isn't very easy, people just say buy a 25 😂 Cheers for the response tho, good info.

That all does make sense. I have seen a couple of good setups but also many that have a whole lot of nothing, then bang full boost at like 5k, which doesn't sound ideal lol. The ones I seen that I liked though had nice set ups, including one boosting hard at 4k all the way to 8k, which I'd be stoked with but may well be a lot of work just for that power band. Cheers for the insights btw. Selling an Rb25det in need of a rebuild? 😂 Because if I could find one at the right price I'd be keen lol

Thanks for the feedback. The anecdotal evidence about different ways of building one of these motors is what I've been chasing, hence the kinda vague post (keen to see a variety of setups, why they were built a certain way etc) but allow me to try to clarify where I'm aiming. 1. So my RB20 is never gonna make any big torque down low, it's simply not torquey enough compared to a 25, this is why I'm curious to see the pros and cons of getting one over 8k rpm, and whether anyone has managed a half decent power band by revving out higher (or if it simply moved it up higher). 2. Motor won't be stock when all is said and done, it's gonna be over built internally for the power its gonna make, feel free to judge that decision but it's getting rebuilt and updated anyway so why not forge the pistons and rods for the extra bit of money is my thinking, along with making things more reliable (oil system, trigger kit etc) So the plan is obviously engine rebuild, standalone ecu, Garrett turbo (or similar quality, running maybe 14psi of boost or more depending on the power it makes), high mount manifold, ext gate, bigger rail, injectors, new intake plenum on stock runners most likely etc etc. As for the head I had planned valve springs and a freshen up/check over, but unsure on what cams, or whether to port etc. Which is part of what brings me here. 3. Don't get me wrong I'm keen on an Rb25det, but I would do all the exact same work to it regardless so I've been (and still am) tossing up the idea of forking out the extra cash for the extra capacity. Trying to get a good picture of just how much shorter an Rb20det would fall compared to an Rb25det performance and driveabilty wise. A fun, bulletproof street car is the goal, not chasing a 500hp beast, if that helps. And as much as I love rotaries that's not gonna happen hahah

Fair point. Roughly what rpm would you say a turbo this size would Max out at?

Appreciate the feedback although I think you've missed what I wrote before. 8000 to 9000 is where I said I'd like to be if feasible (not trying to get to 10k because that's a lot of extra work), but the hpa video is interesting since it made power from 6k to 10k, then perhaps it seems possible to make power from 5k to say 8500 or even 8250

Thanks will do, examples like this is what I'm looking for. For the likes of an Rb20det I'm not sure how well something like a 3071r (just for size example) would spool, or perhaps smaller. Be interesting to see if anyone has made any decent response improvements with say twin scroll manifold and better cams

Not angry but cool, good for you. R_34, GTSBoy had relevant feedback, and some of BK's info was very useful. Hardly a pointless question when these motors have been built a variety of ways and guys who've done/seen it can talk about the pros and cons. It's just a forum about car shit dude lol But sure, get hostile on the internet if makes you feel good, you do you.

This forum can be a pain 🤦‍♂️ I'm just asking the question, to see if anyone has any real world examples of their RB's making decent revs, and to see what they sacrificed low down, and what turbos their running. So why ask me what turbo I'm gonna run? So if you have an example of one doing anything decent from the 4500 mark to 8000 or higher then I'm keen to see the set up, if not then chill, not every forum post has to be a keyboard contest where you use both extreme ends of my examples to argue (notice I have mentioned a FEW ranges, I didn't ask for a blueprint to make full boost 450hp from 4k to 9 or 10k rpm) I'm just posing a question, as part of my own research, to see if people have some more *detailed* descriptions of setups that worked. The whole point of the power band is what I'm asking. Relax.

Considering about 90% of them are a decade or more old (different set ups and parts to what's available/what I'll be running now) and I found most were revving to 7500rpm, not all that relevant to my question

The last part interests me lol even though I have no intention of hitting 10krpm, but I mean if I could have ample boost and power between 5k and 9k rpm? Then why not, I'd be happy with it lol With regards to the inevitable comment about buying an Rb25 for the low down torque, considering my plans for the car regardless (rebuild, lots of new parts, update it some and tidy it maybe respray) are going to cost a lot, I'm not keen on dropping 5 or 6k on a stock Rb25 just for extra torque low down. Keen on the idea of building a good street Rb20. Like i said before, why not stick with the Rb20 engine(s) I already have and aim for good power from the 4500-5000 mark up to 8500-9000 rather than that extra torque below 4k to top out at 7500

Well I'm curious as to what others have set their limit to, and how they went about it and came to that conclusion. With regards to turbo and cam sizing, this is the info I'm trying to gather. Sure I'd love to rev to 9k, but if my Rb20 lags like hell until 5 or 6k then it's probably pointless lol and vice versa with boosting at 4-4.5 but topping out at 7500. I'm deciding things for my build and want to achieve a good wide power band, if I can do that and hit a 9k rpm limit then great, if it ends up being a better option to aim for 8000 or 8500 then that's cool too as long my goal is achieved. So, feel free to share specs, stories, whatever 👌 P.s I know the question was open ended but 10k is not a goal of mine lol but if anyone has hit it, feel free to tell us

That's why I asked exactly that question in my post lol

Budget is unknown hahah but I don't generally spare much expense with this car. Already have a pretty big shopping list of what I want to do with the engine to make a very fun, very reliable street car. Valve springs are inexpensive so I'm happy to buy them and already intend to, head will get checked over regardless, and will likely get aftermarket cams to try and improve the power curve.

Hey folks, This thread is for the people who are (or previously have) ran RB's to decently high revs. I want to know the details to see what works, and what's worth it. Currently I have an Rb20det and curious as to what's an achievable rpm limit and what factors influence it. So what's your rpm limit, your build, what head work did you do, what turbo and boost did you run and at what point do certain size turbos begin to drop off etc etc Share it all, curious to see how many of you are pushing 8k, 8500 or even 9k rpm and how your power and boost curves looked. Feel free to share dyno graphs. Cheers

Thanks for the replies guys, any insight is always helpful. My car is a weekend warrior, driven on the street only but gets driven pretty aggressively (I mean it's a skyline, does anyone drive them gently? Lol) Car doesn't make huge power currently (Rb20det R32) but obviously *decent* stopping performance is important on a car like that, and the plan is to build it in the next year-ish

Just curious what everyone's go - to choice of brake rotors and pads is? Standard oem replacements? Drilled / slotted etc? I've heard both amazing and terrible reviews about the likes of dba and rda, surprising considering the price of dba. What's your experiences, preferred brands etc for a skyline?

It's an interesting read, and I do agree with the premise of it and the testing. But I have to disagree with the "if you're not testing you don't really know" statement. We're talking about illumination here, the LEDs I've used previously outperformed the halogens. Like I said I lived out in the countryside where I did a lot of driving in the dark, and I could see a lot more and a lot further with the LEDs. Could a proper retrofit outperform them? Absolutely. But were they nonetheless a good upgrade from halogens? Also yes. And that's the aim, good light without blinding other motorists, nothing complicated.

Nah Just fitted them, and drove lol. Beam was always super crisp (tested properly not just on a wall), light output was a lot better. Much easier to see country roads. That's it, no data sorry. Managed to fit the LEDs in this tonight, got late so will try get some pics of light output if I have my power steering pipe sorted this weekend and can actually drive lol, beam looks good at least, well defined.

What are you even replying to man have you trouble reading?

Mate I don't care if you bought cheap crap LEDs 10 years ago and regretted it. If you don't have an answer don't bother commenting, made that clear in the post. Not the first time I've changed Halogens for LEDs in projector lights (in other model cars), always been an improvement if done right. Didn't even say anything about HIDs