Does anyone know what is the Max HP that the 3.8 n/a can put out without adding a S/C or Turbo?

The Wife's 05 Altima 3.5 puts out 250HP. THE Family car? Needless to say I am a bit JEALOUS!
I love that she has a car with some Good get up and Go. But I feel kind of "left on the dust"!

Fixing my Trans is going to help a lot but, she's got 250 HP. I NEED to get at lest 230 out of my 3.8!
So what is the Max HP anyone has gotten out of their N/A 3.8?

 

Don't go down that road, enjoy your ride for what it is. Bolt ons are like a disease, once you start you can't stop till the engine or tranny is shot or all the above. Ask me how I know.

 

Thanks for the reply Joe, yeah I only want to do the few easy bolt ons. Not really do any major mods. As long as I can keep up with the Wife, I should be ok. If not, I'll go out and buy me a bike then she will see my dust! Lol

 

To the wheels? Or Crank?

Zipper was trying to get a high number out of his 3800 NA, and even after TONS of mods, I think he only hit 225WHP.

 

It's near impossible to see big gains staying na. By the time your done modding an na to keep up you could spend less money and top swap it and be there.

 

There is a list maintained over on clubgp about the top 5 dyno records. I hate to say it, but you're not going to like the results.

To answer your question as directly as possible, Wes did make 247 whp on an N/A 3.8 which is about 300 crank hp (to compare apples to apples with the Altima). BUT, that was a vendor sponsored car with a TON of work done to it. It had a big nasty stage 3 cam, with ported stage 3 heads and all kinds of other mods.

What you're probably more interested since you're talking about minor bolt ons is the record with the stock cam. That record list is MUCH lower:

1. 193 whp (~240 crank hp)
2. 190 whp
3. 181 whp (~225 crank hp)
4. 178 whp
5. 177 whp (~220 crank hp)

Again, there is a BUT there- the top two guys had ported heads, and #2 had higher than stock compression (probably milled heads + thin gaskets)- so for doing a bunch of easy bolt ons- you'd break the NA record if you beat #3 at 225 crank hp.

My point here is you're not going to make big NA power on a 3800 without serious mods, and by not wanting to do any 'major' mods, you pretty much eliminate any chance of making any power. Take a look at the cars that do make good NA power, they tend to have some combination of the below:

-Large displacement (ie old school muscle cars, newer LS engines)
-4+ valve cylinder heads with excellent flow
-High compression
-Direct injection
-Big nasty cam with poor drive ability
-High revving

The 3800 stock has none of those. You can't easily change displacement, fuel injection type, or the design of the heads (I guess there is that stroker kit, but displacement is still tiny in the world of V8s that do make good NA power). You can add a big nasty cam, and some ported heads to help it a bit- and for a max effort setup, you could do E85 and some custom pistons with really high compression- but you're still really limited by really old architecture that was not designed for the top of the line performance vehicles. That is why so many people turn to boost to help overcome the deficiencies in displacement and cylinder head flow.

What makes it worse is that a 3.8L 200hp V6 is going to look much worse in the coming years. Another wave of technological advancement is pushing through the automotive world (direct fuel injection) that is taking things even further with less displacement.

To compare based on horsepower- let's look at the latest generation of I-4 Ecotec engines like in the new Cadillac ATS:

-2.5L NA I4 (LCV), 202 hp, 190 lb-ft, 22/33 mpg
-2.0L turbo I-4 (LTG), 272 hp, 260 lb-ft (2000-5500 rpm), 21/31 mpg

So to continue to 'keep up with the Jones's' will either take a big NA build, boost, or buying a new car unfortunately.

 

A guy named Buck (some of you may remember him from MM) had 233 WHP on his L36. But here was the mod list:

Milzy Motorsports Stage 2 3800 NA Heads MMS L36 Ported Lower Intake and a HVII
ZZP GT1 cam
Intense PCM
ZZP S1 TB; Custom FWI
S&S headers; Exhaust Cutout
180 T-Stat
MSP dogbone bushings
.051 head gaskets
Stock 93k block
EGR Delete
Alternator re-wire
Stock transmission; Intense differential; ZZP 3800 TC

Needless to say, you're gonna need boost for real power..

 

I love direct injection. 323HP out of my 3.6L in my Camaro is just astonishing

 

Maybe I should swap out my L36 for one of those 600hp V6s that Nissan has for $93,000.00!

I'll just settle for Smoother operation, power when I need it and the Good Looks of the Monte Carlo!

 

As mentioned, to achieve the numbers you want will take lots if time and money. But I feel for you, you want the monte to be the big hp car in your fleet.

You can always look at bumpin's mod guide for some ideas to bring your hp up a little. The 3800 does have more potential, all depends on how much you want to put into it.