SE-R Spec V performance?

I'm currently in the final stages of car shopping, and as much as I'd love to get one, I don't think I can justify the cost of buying an Infiniti G35, so to feed my latent desire to own something that at least looks kinda like a Skyline, I'm considering getting an SE-R Spec V. I'm a bit concerned though, because a number of the articles I've read on the car seem to indicate that while it's a very sporty little sedan, it's not making anywhere near its listed horsepower.

Has anyone here dyno'd their car before making any modifications to corroborate or refute these reports? I can't quote any sources off the top of my head, but I seem to remember that the reports were in the range of 145 at the crank and in the 130s at the wheels. This is way lower than the advertised 175hp. I love the look of the car, and I'll be tuning the car regardless, but there'd be other FWD cars with better performance and comprable price out there if that's the case.

John David Spoon

here's my take on the spec v performance if you are interested.

How good is the Spec V performance? It depends on what you want to do with it.

If you want to drag and run 1/4 miles, the spec v is probably not the best car for you. I am not an expert, I have not raced my Spec. But, I have heard a lot of people's opinions on the racing potential of the car. Their are a lot of frusterated spec v owners. Apperently the car has good power, but people have had a lot of trouble hooking up and getting traction in 1st gear. Everyone just spins through 1st, and half way through second, gets a really slow start, and finally gets it together to put up mid to high 15's at around 88mph. The best times I have seen so far are 15.1's, with CAI, Headers, Exhaust mods. I think without a Turbo or Supercharger, 14.9's are about as good as people are hoping for. A pair of slick racing tires might help the cause a lot.

If you want to run Autocross or enjoy a twisty mountain road like the commercials, the Spec V is awesome. That is what the Spec V was designed for. It has lots of torque and LSD that really pulls you out of turns. I have heard people turn in better times than Vette's and other rear wheel drive cars. For the price, I don't think you can get a better car for autocross.

As far as the horsepower. I think I have heard people say they are dynoing about 140 to 145 HP at the wheels.

In comparison to other sub $20k sports cars, I think the Spec V is the best car. I guess the Civic SI has been beaten repeatedly by Spec V owners. I haven't seen the SVT Focus yet, but I hear that will be a great car. But, that will be much closer to $20 grand, if not higher. Whereas, you can get a spec V for 17 to 18 loaded. For drag purposes, the VW's are supposed to be nice.

Anyhow, I love the performance of the spec V. I think it has the horsepower it advertises. My first car was a 132 hp Neon. My next car was a 150 hp Saab. I noticed a bid difference in power and speed between the two. My third car is the spec V with 175 or so. I notice a big difference in power between it and the 150 hp Saab. So I think the HP claim is legit. You might be able to get more HP for less than $20k, but I don't think you can get more torque.

Hopefully some of the other owners will lend their opinion. As for me. I love the car. I don't think their is a better car for under $20k. When I have it broken in, I will start to explore it's potential.

Good luck in your car shopping. I recommend the spec v, and I think you will be happy with it. Unless maybe, your only concern is 1/4 times, in which case, maybe you could do better.

take care.

GB

I own a silver spec v and I absolutely love it. As far as performance goes... look at the price your going to pay and then try to complain about lack of power. Plus when nismo comes to the U.S. your power problems will be solved for sure. Also it is true that the spec v is gettin 145 to the wheels when nissan advertises 175, but they are talkin about how much the engine produces. This is true in any car... you will always loose power thru the drivetrain. For example... ford says the mustang gt has 260 hp, but i can promise you that it is not going to dyno at that... it probably gets more like 225 to the wheels. So no worries man, its normal although I will admit they could have gone with different transmission, lighter flywheel for example but I will refer to my previous statement on price for that. If you look at the big picture... In the end I guarantee you will be satisfied

:flipa: civics

I love mine! I've never had a car worthy of any mag article, yet this car has been on several covers!! Some small pics in the corner, other full cover shots.

Grassroots Motorsports had a full side shot taking up the whole cover, and they did a comparo of a bunch of different cars. They also tested a car w/turbo. I think it was a base Sentra, but heavily mod'd. Anyway, they all say the same thing, great for winding roads! I am not gonna race my car, but I am gonna drive the hell out of it in the Mts. I will wait for NISMO to come out to mod anything on it.

I am very happy w/my car. I looked at the focus, not the svt, but a regular one, and I hated the interior. Has a huge center console, that makes it uncomfortable to shift.

Best priced perf car on the market!

For a FWD car, the powertrain loss from the engine to the wheels is typically 15%. If you subtract 15% from the spec's advertised 175hp, you end up with 148.75. I seen most dyno sheets around 144, so it's off by about 5hp.

It could be that the engine is putting out the claimed hp, but the drivetrain eats up 18% instead of the typical 15%. It could be that the engine really only puts out 170hp.

The really nice thing about this car is that it is a restricted, long stroke torquer motor. It apparently responds REALLY well to mods. Putting identical mods on other cars in this class may only give you 1/2 the hp gain the spec makes with those same mods.

I have looked at every scrap of literature I can find on this car and it is definitely the best bang for the buck. I am a mechanical engineering major and always check out the inner workings of these engines. This 2.5 liter engine is, as i am sure most of you know, based upon technology somewhat related to toyota's vvtl-i that they put in the new celica gts. It constantly and seamlesly gives you more power on demand by opening and closing the valves by small fractions - thus letting more fule and air into the engine and more power when you need it. This is much better than honda's vtec because that kicks in at a certain rpm, usually 4500-5000rpm - im not too sure about the new i-vtec (i havent cared enough to research it hahaha). I dont know about you, but i think its pretty weak that even when not racing, i.e. driving to work on the highway, you have to practically run the engine to redline to get power out of it, weak.

Now, the spec-v may not be a thoroughbread racer yet because of the low end torque, but it is an excellent base to start with. As before mentioned - this engine is very responsive to upgrades - think about it....a really responsive engine that is 2.5 liter and not 1.8, wow. the power potential is unbelieveable. If you want an out of the box drag racer, buy a new VW GTI vr6(200 hp), but if you want a car that has potential to be insane - get a spec-v. The only thing left to be tested is to see if the engine will be as reliable as the old se-r engines from 91-94 when modded, but i'm sure nissan won't let us down ;-)

next point is that this car is definitely made for mountain driving - all that extra torque comes into play here....I have read 3 different articles in which they specifically state that in mountain driving, the spec-v beat all other cars in this class. And the reason is torque - totally. I drive in the adirondacks now in my mazda mx-6(soon to be a spec-v in sept) and it will not get going above 55-60 on uphill stretches unless i really get a running start, plus i can barely keep it in fourth - the torque is only there for third really. (i know that this is a big step from an mx-6) My rule of thumb is to have a car with roughly the same amount of torque as hp - namely 175 hp, 180 ft-lbs of torque (i know this isnt the actual transmitted to the wheels) where as a new rsx type s is 200 hp but 130-ftlbs of torque and the new celica gts is 180 hp with 133 ft-lbs of torque. in these cars a dyno test would surely reveal the actual torque to be about 100-110 ft-lbs vs. the 140 ft-lbs on the se-r. wow. Everyone loves hp, but it is torque alone that gets you to 65 mph after that its all hp that takes over- thats why in a dash to 60 this car would be sweet if they could get some way to grip immediately and not spin away all that power hahaha.



Well, lookin back this is ridiculously long - sorry, i hope you found this to be agreeable with what you have seen so far

i love my spec v.

most torque for your buck.

fun to drive.

handles great.

LSD.

175hp.

not much more you can ask for for 17k

I'm also car shooping and i'm looking at a spec-v and a rsx type s. And that dyno thing is true, the rsx only puts out 178, but compared to the spec-v i think the rsx would be a waste of money, jut because there are to many out there now and if u get one it' now like owning a civic. Plus when racing having more torque is a little better, as u said earlyier the higheer gain from mods on the spec v compared to other cars is probably due to a torque that is higher then the cars hp.

Thats just wat i think but i might be wrong.

torque wins races, horsepower sells cars!!!

i think it loses 18% instead of 15% is because of HLSD

you should try looking at the WRX's number, since it's a 4WD, it loses more hp in the drivetrain

Originally posted by hondasuck
torque wins races, horsepower sells cars!!!

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

sounds domestic to me..