Originally Posted by fugeesnfunion

I've always respected Nissan's V6. How many years in a row did it win engine of the year? Half a dozen or something? I did some reading on the 370z a little more after the test drive and what you said is identical to all the other advice. I wasn't aware that its power band was more "high-rev" happy. And your comment on the N54 is spot on as well. It's an incredibly tourqy engine, almost to a fault in some people's minds. It has SO much low RPM power that it starts running out of steam when the needle hangs out on the right side of the tach. It's really hard adjusting to an engine that needs so much more wringing out, but they obviously did that on purpose. I imagine it's better for track driving. Nissan's V6 doesn't need to defend itself though, it's already well proven and universally praised.

The hardest part of looking for a replacement is finding a car that's just as/more powerful that isn't a V8, but I have to say the 370z has been one of the closest. I'm really curious what a free flowing cat, exhaust, and intake would do. It almost feels like the VQ just needs to breath more to perform the way it wants.