What Makes the 2JZ Engine So Good? (Explained)
Updated: Feb 2
✔ This article has been fact checked.
The 2JZ engine is regarded as the king of engines among automotive tuners. It was built to very high standards like no other engine, it has immense tuning potential and a brilliant history behind it.
Table of Contents:
What Is the 2JZ Engine?
A number of inline six-cylinder engines make up the Toyota JZ engine family. It served as the M-series inline six-cylinder engines' successor.
Dual overhead cam (DOHC) engines with 24 valves made up the JZ series.
The 2JZ engine had a bore and stroke of 86mm x 86mm and a 2,997 cc displacement, making it a "square" engine due to its 1:1 stroke-to-bore ratio.
There are several variations of this engine, with the 2JZ-GTE being the most popular. In Japan, the GTE version produced 280 horsepower, but in Europe and the USA, it produced 320 horsepower.
History
In 1978 Toyota wanted a car that would compete with Nissan's hugely successful 'Z' car.
They took their current Celica and gave it a cosmetic overhaul because they didn't feel like building a completely new platform.
They gave it the name Celica Supra and stuffed an inline six-cylinder under the hood. The name made more sense back then, despite the fact that it sounds funny today.
"Supra" refers to anything that is beyond and beyond its normal bounds, and the Celica Supra was just that. The standard Celica couldn't handle it.
The Celica Supra made more sense in the late 1970s since it had greater power, was bigger, and looked different.
Although it didn't manage to match the Nissan Z's sales numbers despite being a rather desirable vehicle, it did accomplish something historically noteworthy.
It established the connection between the inline six-cylinder engine and the name "Supra".
The Supra Celica received an inline six-cylinder engine as opposed to the Celica on which it was based, which had a four-cylinder engine.
Three years later, Toyota released their "M" engine, and the 80s design era soon followed, leading to a revamp of the complete Celica series.
The Celica Supra is also part of the second-generation automobiles, which are probably more different from one another than the first-generation vehicles.
The second-generation Celica Supra still had many parts in common with the original Celica while having a significantly different exterior and interior.
It sported an inline six-cylinder, was bigger, more opulent, and had superior equipment, yet it was still a Celica.
Currently, the term "Celica Supra" is still used everywhere, with the exception of Japan.