The Nissan Path

Have you ever wondered how many Nissan VQ40 V6 engines are out there? Between all the Pathfinders, Exteras, and Frontier pickup trucks it had to be around a million?

They've sold over 700k Pathfinders and Xterras since 2005. If half the Frontiers have the V6, that's another 300k. That's just US and Canada numbers! So I would say it's well over 1M world wide.

Even more impressive is how long the VQ-series has been around (it made its US debut over 20 years ago in the 1995 Maxima) and how versatile it's been, powering cars, crossovers, SUVs, and the GT-R.

I had the VQ30 in my Maxima and loved it. Great sounding, solid engine. I was actually hoping the VQ40 would have the same distinct tone that the VQ35 has but can't actually hear from inside the vehicle. I can spot that tone on a car idling 1/4 mile away haha

ZPOC RDY wrote:I had the VQ30 in my Maxima and loved it. Great sounding, solid engine. I was actually hoping the VQ40 would have the same distinct tone that the VQ35 has but can't actually hear from inside the vehicle. I can spot that tone on a car idling 1/4 mile away haha

I had a Maxima as well it was a great car and that VQ ripped in that. It did have a nice tone when you stood on it! The VQ40 has more of a manley torque tone when you stomp on it then above say 4,500 rpm it starts to get a little raspy. I find the power of this V6 impressive esp passing on the highway or towing something. I towed my 5,000lb camper last summer and I was quite surprised how much more power it had then the 4.0 V6 in my 2006 Toyota 4Runner. Where the 4Runner V6 would run out of breath above about 4,000 rpm the Nissan VQ 40 V6 kept right on pulling. At one point when I looked down I was going 80 mph towing my camper and went "Woohoo!" Had to back off.

I can see why Nissan kept putting this V6 in there trucks and SUV's yes it has had some issues namely the timing chain issues with some years but it is powerful and it seems to be able to take a beating considering how many are out there and the complaints are quite low.

If you want to hear a sweet sound, take out a VQ37 in the Infiniti G37 or Q40. Probably one of the best sounding V6's ever and no slouch on power either...0-60 in the low 5's.