Here’s why the TOYOTA SUPRA 2JZ engine so STRONG and legendary

 

Toyota’s seemingly bulletproof 2JZ engine is perhaps the cornerstone of the legendary Supra’s appeal. While the car certainly had beautiful, timeless styling and the type of fit and finish found if cars well above it’s price point, the engine has always been the biggest draw.

But what exactly is it about the 2JZ powerplant that works so well? As you might expect, what it boils down to is the engineers behind the vaunted engine did their homework and got just about everything right when designing it.

When you can take a 3.0 liter engine and leave the bottom end completely untouched and crank out over 1,000 horsepower, you know you’re working with a beast of an engine, especially when you consider those numbers are at the wheel, meaning the engine itself is cranking out at least 20% more than that at the flywheel.

So which factors exactly make the 2JZ such a beast? TunerTestDrive dove into that exact question and came up with a few factors that contribute to the engine’s insane power potential. The most notable factor is the anchor of the engine itself, the block. While many automakers have switched to aluminum engines, that wasn’t really a widespread option back in the 90’s, so the 2JZ’s iron block is not only a stronger material to start with, the closed-deck design gives the block even more rigidity under huge boost levels.

The inline 6 design is more balanced than the more common v-style engines, and the block features 7 main caps, which keep the crank secured inside the block under heavy boost as well. Another factor that I wasn’t aware of until watching this video is that the 2JZ features a zero-interference design, which means if the timing belt breaks, it doesn’t slam the valves into the tops of the pistons and destroy the head or the pistons. That’s a great concept that other car makers should look at including in their engine designs.

Go ahead and hit that play button below and see if there’s anything left out of this video, or if you think TunerTestDrive hit the nail on the head?