It's the rotating mass that Nissan doesn't want going sideways. The mass and inertia of the 3.3 is great for the low end stuff. Tough as nails too.

The 4.0 in my '05 Fronty has an even lower red line, because it's a stroked 3.5. Just a matter of longevity. Nissan's not in the habit of making full race motors to put in the small SUV's.

Heck, if it's all that simple, then sounds like you should be the first candidate.

For some of us, we don't rock crawl at high rpm's. It's the low end we want, need and have to keep.

If you want to race it, then by all means, have a swap fest and dyno the hell out of it. I'd personally be interested in what you find. I think the 3.3 has a ton of potential, but just don't need it for my activities.