**The Toyota 2JZ GTE Engine: A Comprehensive Guide**

In this article, we will delve into the world of the Toyota 2JZ GTE engine, a powerhouse that has garnered immense popularity among car enthusiasts and tuners alike.

**A Brief History of the JZ Engines**

Toyota makes a whole family of inline six cylinder engines called JZ's. The company's approach to naming their engines is quite simple - each engine series is denoted by a single letter. In this case, we have the 2JZ, which represents the second generation of JZ engines.

**The 2JZ GTE: A Beautifully Designed Engine**

Straight out of a Toyota factory, the 2JZ can take a licking. The engine's crank shaft is made out of ultra-strong forged steel, capable of dealing with the forces caused by making more power. The seven main bearing caps that hold the crankshaft in place as it spins are also massively strong.

**Why is the 2JZ GTE so Special?**

The engine's cylinder head is aluminum, which helps dissipate heat much more quickly. The pistons are also cast aluminum and have slightly dished tops, giving the 2JZ GTE a lower compression ratio than its cousins in the family. Lower compression can mean lower performance, but it makes it easier to safely run more turbo boost.

**Unique Features of the 2JZ GTE**

There's oil squirters in the lower halves of the cylinder that spritz a bit of oil on the bottom of the piston to keep them more lubricated and reduce friction. There are over twice as many lubricating ports in the 2JZ compared to some of its newest competitors, which helps keep the engine temperatures cooler and the pistons lubricated so they don't break down.

**A High Capacity Oil Pump and Cooling System**

The engine is made to withstand mind-boggling abuse. The high capacity oil pump and cooling system are just a couple of examples of how Toyota designed this engine to last long.

**Non-VVT 2JZ: A Non-Interference Engine**

Turns out, people are just fine with the non-VVT 2JZ because it's a non-interference engine. If you're running at 6,000 RPM and a timing belt breaks, a non-interference engine means the pistons won't smash up into your valve.

**The Love for the 2JZ GTE**

It was a beautifully designed, over-engineered cast-iron behemoth that, because of its inline design, is somehow still elegant. It feels like the engineers designing it took into consideration every possible condition that could damage an engine and they designed around all of them.

**Conclusion**

The Toyota 2JZ GTE engine is a true marvel of engineering. Its unique features, such as the oil squirters and high capacity oil pump, make it a favorite among car enthusiasts and tuners alike. Whether you're looking to build a powerful street car or a drag racing beast, the 2JZ GTE is an excellent choice.

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We're all jazzed up 'cause there's some cars coming off the line in the last few years making ballpark 800 horsepower. There have been 2JZ reportedly boosted and tuned at six, seven and, yeah, even 800 horsepower with stock internals, and even more when you swap out them jugs.

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WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(engine roaring)- Supra, ever heard of it?(engine roaring)For 25 years now, it's been JZ this,and JZ that, but what is sospecial about that 2JZ engine?(techno music)First, a little background.Toyota makes a whole familyof inline six cylinderengines called JZ's.How Toyota names all their enginesis actually really interesting.You should look that up sometime later.But we'll talk about what weneed to know for the 2JZ GTE.Anyway, there are three 2.5 literinline six engines called 1JZ's,and there are three threeliter variants called 2JZ's.So there's the first reasonwhy the 2JZ is pretty popular.The larger displacement of three literssimply means more horsepowerthan a 2.5 liter engine.And who doesn't want more horsepower?I want more horsepower.(man screaming)In the late 1980s and early '90s,bad car accidents weregetting out of hand in Japanand everyone there thoughtthat speed was a major factor.So Japanese domestic market automakersmade an informal promise to each otherthat they wouldn't sell any carswith more than 280 horsepower.It was called a gentleman's agreement,and it was ignored byeverybody pretty quickly.Much the way Nolan repeatedly ignoreshis gentleman agreement topay me back for monies owed.- Hey, hey, Bart?- What's up Eddy?- What about the RB?- RB, yeah dude, I love Arby's!You go get me a BigMontana, I'll keep rolling.Look, everybody knows,speed doesn't really hurt,it's the sudden stops that get you.At the same time, automakers all promisednot to jump into a horsepower war,the exchange rate was reallyfavorable for the end.If you're an econ kinda car nerd,check out James talking about the LS-- 400!(air horn blaring)- But in Japan's recession,it wasn't a big stretchfor Toyota to spend a lotof money on an engine developmentand quality materials.So that's what Toyotadid, and as a result,they ended up with some overbuilt enginesthat could easily makeover 280 horsepower angle.They were built so well,they could make doubleor nearly triple thatwithout having to dosignificant engine work.The Toyota 2JZ GTE engineis the most notorious example of this.At its core, the 2JZ GTE is a twin turbo,three-liter inline six cylinder enginewith an iron block and an aluminum head.So, 2JZ, three liter inline six.G, performance wide-anglevalve dual overhead cam.T, turbo charged, E,electronic fuel injection.Those are all very good things to haveif you wanna make more horsepower.Both fuel injection systems and turbosare pretty easy to tune and upgrade.And since it's an inline six,the primary and secondaryforces that are generatedby the movement of the pistons cancel out,making it a naturallysmooth-running and balanced engine.It also leaves extraspace in the engine bayto get your hands dirtierand install bigger turbos.If you wanna know more aboutall that stuff I just said,check out our episode oninline six versus V6s.American market Supras weresold with bigger fuel injectors,stronger turbos, anddifferent cams than JDM cars.That helped them make 320 horsepowerat 5600 RPM, and 315 footpower of torque at 4,000 RPM.In it's stock form, the 2JZuses a sequential turbo setup.The first turbo spools up around 1800 RPM,and then the second turbo startsmaking boost around 4,000.This kind of setup reduces turbo lag,but to make the biggesthorsepower numbers,tuners swap the twin turbosetup for one big turbo.And that sacrifices the spool up time,but a bigger turbo can make more booststhan two smaller ones.And that helps the engine make peak power.Making more power is pretty dang easy.The upgrade to a better flowing intake,better flowing exhaust,a big single turbo,bigger front mount inner coolerto replace the stockside mount inner cooler,higher flowing external wastegate, bigger fuel injectors,fuel lines, fuel pump, and an ECU tune.If you're gonna make huge power,you're gonna need a strong engine.A lot of times, if you wanna unlockthe hidden potential of anengine, you gotta get in there.We enforce a bunch ofstuff, swap out some cams,replace all your valvesand gaskets, and you know,time consuming dirty, dirty stuff.The fact that Toyotaover-engineered the 2JZis the main reason that it's so easyto bolt up a huge turboand make 800 horsepower.The cast iron engineblock is, well, cast iron.Which is really heckin' strong material.The block also has a fully-closed deck,and that means unlikesome other inline engines,the area around the cylindersis completely filled in,except for some coolant passages.And that gives the block extra strength,and really keeps it from crackingwhen it's running high, high boost levels.The engine's crank shaft is madeout of ultra-strong forged steel,so it can easily deal withall those extra forcescaused by making more power.The seven main bearing capsthat hold the crankshaftin place as it spins arealso massively strong.You see where I'm going with this?Straight out of a Toyota factory,the 2JZ can take a licking.Engines that are builtusing more modest componentswould have to be torn downto upgrade all the componentsthat could fail underhigher stress of more power.I mentioned earlier that thecylinder head is aluminum,which is lightweight.It helps dissipate heat much more quickly.The pistons are also cast aluminum,and they have slightly dished tops.That gives the 2JZ GTE enginea lower compression ratiothan the last popular 2JZcousins in the family.And while sometimes lower compressioncan mean lower performance,a benefit of lowercompression from the factoryis that it makes it easier tosafely run more turbo boosts.Another unique featureof the 2JZ GTE is thatthere's oil squirters in thelower halves of the cylinder.They spritz a bit of oil on the bottomof the piston to keep themmore lubricated and reduce friction.There's over twice asmany lubricating portsin the 2JZ compared to someof it's newest competitors.At high engine speed, that helpskeep the engine temperatures a bit coolerand help keeps the pistons lubricatedso they don't break down.Jeez, check out our video on engine oilsto absorb more info on that.(light drum music)Man, that's gotta be it,that's so much stuff.No wait, there's more!(children cheering)This engine's also gota high capacity oil pumpand a cooling system, doyou see where I'm going?The engine is made towithstand mind boggling abuse.(engine roaring)JDM Toyota's gotvariable-valve timing in '98,but the US didn't.You wanna know more about valve timing?Check out the video on V-Tech.Turns out, people are justfine with the Non-VVT2Jsbecause it's a non-interference engine.So, if you're running at 6,000 RPMand a timing belt breaks,a non-interference enginemeans the pistons won'tsmash up into your valve.With variable valve timing,it doesn't always knowthat the belt broke,so the piston still driving up,the valve might be pushed down to openand, kaboom, you got a bent valve.The non-VVT2JZ is not a valve bender.Which means if the beltbreaks or you skip a tooth,you don't gotta get inside thereand replace all the valves,which is both pricey and time consuming.So why all the love on the 2JZ GTE?It was a beautifully designed,over-engineered cast-iron behemoth that,because of it's inline design,is somehow still elegant.It feels like the engineers designing ittook into considerationevery possible conditionthat could damage an engine,and they designed around all of them.They created a nearlybulletproof inline six,and people love it so muchthat there's immeasurableaftermarket parts forumsin assistant if you wannastart working on one.We're all jazzed up 'causethere's some cars coming offthe line in the last few yearsmaking ballpark 800 horsepower.There have been 2JZreportedly boosted and tunedat six, seven and, yeah,even 800 horsepowerwith stock internals,and even more when you swap out them jugs.2JZ engine, subscribe to Donut, guys.It's how we get to do suchawesome stuff for you.Means a lot.We got new merchandise in our store.Go to shop.donut.mediaand check out this videofrom James on the Supra.You know him from behind the camera,check out Eddie in frontof the camera, en prostato.Follow us on Twitter andInstagram at Donut Media,and follow me at BidsBarto.Don't tell my wife I2JZ swapped everything.