Nissan VRH engine

The Nissan VRH engine family consists of several racing engines built by Nissan Motor Company beginning in the late 1980s. All VRH engines are in a V8 configuration, with either natural aspiration or forced induction. Some VRH engines are loosely based on Nissan's production V8 engine blocks, including the VH and VK engines, while others were designed from the ground up for racing and share no components with production blocks.

The name "VRH" comes from the engines' V configuration ("V"), their purpose as racing engines ("R"), and the fact that all of them have eight cylinders (with "H" being the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet).

History
In 1987, Nissan began work on an engine exclusively for race use; the result was the VEJ30 engine, developed by Yoshikazu Ishikawa. This engine was based on old technology, and was not a success. For 1988, the VEJ30 was improved by Yoshimasa Hayashi and renamed the VRH30. Changes included increasing the displacement to 3396 cc.

This engine was, however, still based on the obsolete VEJ30, and development of the all-new VRH35 was started in parallel with the VRH30. In 1989, the VRH35 appeared as a new development engine and was used in the Nissan R89C.

A 3.0-litre variant of the VRH35Z was also used in the 1998 Courage-Nissan C51 at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans. Both C51s failed to finish.

The design of the engine was later sold to McLaren, where it served as the basis of their M838T and M840T engines (which were used in all of McLaren's line-up since the McLaren MP4-12C).

VRH30T
The VRH30T was used in the R88C.
 * Cylinder Block: Aluminum 90° V8
 * Aspiration: Twin-Turbo (IHI)
 * Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 Valves per Cylinder
 * Displacement: 2996 cc
 * Bore x Stroke: 85x66 mm
 * Power: 750 PS at 8000 rpm
 * Torque: 542 lbft at 5500 rpm

VRH35Z
The VRH35Z first appeared in 1990 in the R90C. Displacement: 3495 cc
 * Cylinder Block: Aluminum
 * Aspiration: Twin-Turbo (IHI)
 * Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 Valves per Cylinder
 * Bore x Stroke: 85x77 mm
 * Compression Ratio: 8.5:1
 * Power: 800 PS at 7600 rpm
 * Torque: 578 lbft at 5600 rpm
 * Engine Management: ECCS-R-NDIS
 * Weight: 185 kg

VRH35L
In 1997, Nissan, working in partnership with Tom Walkinshaw Racing, fielded a VRH35L in the R390 GT1.
 * Cylinder Block: Aluminum
 * Aspiration: Twin-Turbo (IHI)
 * Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 Valves per Cylinder
 * Displacement: 3495 cc
 * Bore x Stroke: 85x77 mm
 * Compression Ratio: 9.0:1
 * Power: 650 PS at 6800 rpm
 * Torque: 520 lbft at 4400 rpm
 * Dry weight: 170 kg

VRH35ADE
The VRH35ADE was used by Infiniti in their Indy race car.
 * Cylinder Block: Aluminum-alloy block and heads; molybdenum-coated pistons
 * Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
 * Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 Valves per Cylinder
 * Displacement: 3499 cc
 * Bore x Stroke: 93x64.39 mm
 * Compression Ratio: 13.8:1
 * Lubrication System: Multi-stage dry sump
 * Oil Capacity: 12 USqt
 * Power: 650 PS at 10700 rpm
 * Torque: 320 lbft at 10400 rpm

VRH40ADE
The VRH40ADE was used by Infiniti in their Indy race car.
 * Cylinder Block: Aluminum-alloy block and heads; molybdenum-coated pistons
 * Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
 * Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 Valves per Cylinder
 * Displacement: 3999 cc
 * Bore x Stroke: 93x73.6 mm
 * Compression Ratio: 14.5:1
 * Lubrication System: Multi-stage dry sump
 * Oil Capacity: 12 USqt
 * Power: 740 PS at 10700 rpm
 * Torque: 385 lbft at 8500 rpm

VRH34A
The VRH34A is one of two engines used in Nissan's GT500-spec GT-R.
 * Cylinder Block: Aluminum
 * Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
 * Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 Valves per Cylinder
 * Displacement: 3396 cc
 * Bore x Stroke: 93x62.5 mm
 * Power: 450 - 500 PS
 * Torque: Over 290 lbft
 * Dry weight: 120 kg ?

VRH50A
The VRH50A was used in the Nissan R391.
 * Cylinder Block: Aluminum, Closed Deck
 * Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
 * Valvetrain: DOHC, 4 Valves per Cylinder
 * Displacement: 4997 cc
 * Bore x Stroke: 96x86.3 mm
 * Compression ratio: 14.0:1 (estimated)
 * Redline: 8000 rpm
 * Power: 650 PS at 7200 rpm
 * Torque: 470 lbft at 6000 rpm
 * Engine Management: Nissan Electronics/Hitachi HN-1
 * Weight: 150 kg

Other VRH engines
The VRH34A and VRH34B are naturally aspirated engines used by Nissan in their GT-R Super GT race car from 2010.

The VRH34A is 3396 cc and produces 450 - 500 PS and over 290 lbft of torque.

The VRH34B is 3396 cc and produces 500 - 530 PS and over 325 lbft of torque.