Nissan VR38DETT (VR family, 3.5 and 3.8)

3.8 L · V6 · twin-turbo · petrol · 2007–present

Also known as: vr38dett, vr38, 3.8 twin-turbo v6, gt-r engine, r35 engine, vr35ddtt, vr35

The GT-R's 3.8 twin-turbo V6 — hand-assembled by one technician, whose name is on a plaque on the engine — and, in two cars, the Juke-R. The 3.0 twin-turbo of Infiniti's range is the VR30DDTT, a different engine sharing a family letter.

Most R35 failures are not the engine. The GR6 dual-clutch transaxle sits at the back of the car and is the expensive part; a great deal of what is written about GT-R reliability describes it. Establish which end of the car the complaint is at before quoting anything, because the two are separate assemblies with separate fluids and separate specialists.

What the engine itself is sensitive to is oil control under sustained lateral load. On track the pickup can be uncovered, and the standard answer — a baffled sump, or an oil cooler and a level a little above the mark — is the modification most owners make first for a reason. A car that has been tracked without it is a materially different proposition.

Beyond that it is a heavily boosted direct-injection engine with the usual consequences: intake-valve carbon at mileage, and turbocharger life that follows oil condition closely. Almost every one has been modified, so the standing question on any fault is what software and hardware it is actually running.

Cars fitted with this engine

3 generations, across 1 make. From the authored catalogue — an absent car means the catalogue has not reached it, not that the engine was never fitted.

Nissan

Information, not instruction

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