10 replies to this topic

[Marcos]

Hello Everyone,

I want to swap out the engine in my 98 Corolla LE. I'm not too familiar with Toyota, as I've always worked on Honda. My mom was going to get rid of the car about 2 months ago but I figured since it was the car I learned to drive in I would keep it. I would like to know what engines would be a good swap, some with decent to excellent horse-power gains. So far i have added rims, a short ram intake, 50cc shot of NOS , Coil Over suspension, pully kit, OBX racing headers, custom Borla exhaust, Sony video system, a Rockford Fosgate sound system, and I have and Extreme Dimensions Blitz body kit in my living room waiting to be put on the car, i figure that when i take the old engine out I can put it on and roll it into the paint booth. I would like to say thanks before hand, and I appreciate any help I can get on the topic.

[fishexpo101]

Unfortunantly, engine swaps are not as easy on the Toyotas as they are on the Hondas - was a big Honda fan for several years before I moved onto Toyota. Choice of swaps depends on your area - what rules/regulations they have regarding engine swaps and legality of them. Usually safest to stick with current motors - emissions standpoint. But possible swaps, legal or otherwise, that have been done to an 8th gen Corolla include:

1ZZ-FE (1998-1999 Corolla non VVT-i)
1ZZ-FE (2000-2002 Corolla, 2003+ Corolla/Matrix all with VVT-i)
1ZZ-FED (7th gen Celica GT with VVT-i)
2ZZ-GE (7th gen Celica GT-S, Corolla/Matrix XRS all with VVTL-i)
3ZZ-FE (overseas Avenis model)

3S-GE (Beams - Altezza, Celica, Corona and MR2 - single and dual VVT-i)
3S-GTE (Celica and MR2 - factory turbocharged)
4AGE (both 16v and 20v variants)
4A-GZE (older Corolla and MR2 - factory supercharged)

Unless you jump on one of the factory forced induction jobs or build up the current engine to run forced induction - 50 shot of nitrous (I take it is not 50cc but 50HP) would be the better performer than most any of the above swaps. I would recommend against a swap, unless the engine in it is already toast. The 1ZZ-FE in it already pretty much tweaked from the factory - not much hidden potential locked in there, that bolt ons would helpout on - minus forced induction or nitrous. Hopefully you kept the old exhaust mainfold as well - dyno runs have shown that the factory exhaust system with proper porting flows better than any of the manufactured aftermarket ones.

If you are totally set on big HP gains - can't beat the 3S-GTE - a legendary Toyota motor that makes huge power gains. Several built-up engines that push 500WHP-800WHP on a dyno. Sometimes clled the little brother to the 2JZ-GTE engine in the MK4 Toyota Supra - the ones that people have gotten up to 1500+WHP! For N/A goodness - 2ZZ-GE is hard to beat. With VVTL-i - you get a Toyota engine behaves very similarly to the Honda i-VTEC ones (both engines are valve phasing, cam changing), but with a more pronounced switch-over point when the bigger cam comes on. That is 180HP at the crank OEM and redlines at a touch over 8200RPMs (Celica GT-S/Matrix XRS ones) and with an upgraded valve springs - can run up to 12,000 RPMs - dyno verified to make around 230WHP, about 270HP at the crank.

[Marcos]

Do you think it would be hard to get the 2zz-ge in the car. And as for boost do you think forged pistons would help to add a decent turbo? Or should I just go with the 3s-gte and get the most power out of the car? Dang so wish I could fit a 2JZ- GTE in it, hey a guy can dream can't he?

Edited by Marcos, 27 June 2007 - 04:44 PM.

[fishexpo101]

I know they drop V8s in older Corolla/Celicas - so the choices are only limited to time and budget. There are a few current Corolla drag cars that run the 2.7L 3RZ-FE from a Tacoma or 4-Runner - when in boosted form (forged pistons, rods, custom cams, upgraded valvetrain, and STOCK crank) - they put down about 750HP - 800HP. Some have even started dropping the Camry 2.4L 2AZ-FE engine - as these have shown to be very good for power. Some have seen 250-300HP easy on a stock engine - others have gone to 500+ HP with some better parts and more boost.

But the 2ZZ-GE swap is completely do-able. Probably the one that most people have heard about is Hellish Mantis swap completed by Dr. Tweak - http://www.phoenixtu....com/swaps.html

Boosting the 2ZZ-GE would be a dicey proposition - as the engine is already at 11.5:1 CR vs the 1ZZ-FE 10.0:1 CR. Even with a very good tune you would need to keep an eye glued to the EGT and fuel pressure or risk grenading the engine. As with any boosted project - anything you can do to strengthen a component will mean go a long way in keeping things in one piece. But the tuning is the most critical - I've seen guys dump $10K into an built engine only to frag it within 250 miles from a bad tune and others that run 8PSI on all stock internals for 10K miles and more with the perfect tune.

Before I jump onto something like a turbo - I'd go with some engine management to squeeze as much out of the existing engine and mods as possible.

[Brendon]

I know some Celica GT-S drivers opt for the supercharger kit by Greddy, which is specifically built for the 2ZZ-GE engine. It puts out a 7 lbs boost to return roughly 220-230 HP at the crank and about 150-155 ft-lbs torque.

http://www.greddy.co...;SubCategory=17

Here's a dyno chart from a greddy supercharged 2000 GT-S with automatic transmission:

http://www.newcelica...itman/dyno1.jpg

Technically these numbers are fesible to achieve in a 98' Corolla since it uses the same engine family. The problem is getting all that 230 HP down to the pavement; its pretty hard on FWD. Also, like fishexpo said, you got to watch and make sure it doesn't overheat. That's why hardcore tuners go for the older Corollas back when they were RWD. I would say the best option for power in our Corollas like the XRS engine. You don't have to worry about the troubles forced induction brings, plus to get pretty good fuel economy around town when your not going into lift and don't need the extra power.

Edited by Brendon, 29 June 2007 - 02:13 PM.

[Marcos]

Thanks for the support guys, as of now I think i am going with the 3S-GTE, I will keep you posted on how it goes.

[twinky64]

Unfortunantly, engine swaps are not as easy on the Toyotas as they are on the Hondas - was a big Honda fan for several years before I moved onto Toyota. Choice of swaps depends on your area - what rules/regulations they have regarding engine swaps and legality of them. Usually safest to stick with current motors - emissions standpoint. But possible swaps, legal or otherwise, that have been done to an 8th gen Corolla include:

1ZZ-FE (1998-1999 Corolla non VVT-i)
1ZZ-FE (2000-2002 Corolla, 2003+ Corolla/Matrix all with VVT-i)
1ZZ-FED (7th gen Celica GT with VVT-i)
2ZZ-GE (7th gen Celica GT-S, Corolla/Matrix XRS all with VVTL-i)
3ZZ-FE (overseas Avenis model)

3S-GE (Beams - Altezza, Celica, Corona and MR2 - single and dual VVT-i)
3S-GTE (Celica and MR2 - factory turbocharged)
4AGE (both 16v and 20v variants)
4A-GZE (older Corolla and MR2 - factory supercharged)

Unless you jump on one of the factory forced induction jobs or build up the current engine to run forced induction - 50 shot of nitrous (I take it is not 50cc but 50HP) would be the better performer than most any of the above swaps. I would recommend against a swap, unless the engine in it is already toast. The 1ZZ-FE in it already pretty much tweaked from the factory - not much hidden potential locked in there, that bolt ons would helpout on - minus forced induction or nitrous. Hopefully you kept the old exhaust mainfold as well - dyno runs have shown that the factory exhaust system with proper porting flows better than any of the manufactured aftermarket ones.

If you are totally set on big HP gains - can't beat the 3S-GTE - a legendary Toyota motor that makes huge power gains. Several built-up engines that push 500WHP-800WHP on a dyno. Sometimes clled the little brother to the 2JZ-GTE engine in the MK4 Toyota Supra - the ones that people have gotten up to 1500+WHP! For N/A goodness - 2ZZ-GE is hard to beat. With VVTL-i - you get a Toyota engine behaves very similarly to the Honda i-VTEC ones (both engines are valve phasing, cam changing), but with a more pronounced switch-over point when the bigger cam comes on. That is 180HP at the crank OEM and redlines at a touch over 8200RPMs (Celica GT-S/Matrix XRS ones) and with an upgraded valve springs - can run up to 12,000 RPMs - dyno verified to make around 230WHP, about 270HP at the crank.

Really? 230-270 on a stock engine with only upgraded valve springs? I'm assuming the 12k rpms is reached by taking off the limiter correct? But 230-270 only on springs, and not on cams wow. I wonder why Lotus doesn't do that when they tune their 2zzge?

[watsupdawg]

hey i wanna know if its possible to put a 2zzge in a 94' corolla?and how much modifications would i halfe to do...im kind of new to this kind of swaps...i jus was wondering...

[Brendon]

Almost all swaps are feesible, but the difficulty is increased as you go from one car design to the next. I've heard of 8th gen Corollas (98'-02') with swapped in with 4A-GE and 4A-GZE engines (basically putting an A engine block into a ZZ designed car), so one could assume that the opposite process is possible (putting a ZZ engine block into an A designed car). I would guess that the greatest difficulty in swapping the 2ZZ-GE into a 7th gen Corolla would be mounting the engine. Aside from that, I assume the intakes, headers, etc are located in relatively the same spots.

[fishexpo101]

Really? 230-270 on a stock engine with only upgraded valve springs? I'm assuming the 12k rpms is reached by taking off the limiter correct? But 230-270 only on springs, and not on cams wow. I wonder why Lotus doesn't do that when they tune their 2zzge?

Well, Lotus kind of did that when they dropped in the 2ZZGE in the car - 190HP at the crank vs 180HP for Toyota with just ECM tweaking. Anymore and they risk investing too much money in the car, they didn't want to mess too much with the engine and spend more of the engineering effort on the car itself. Also the reason they are jumping on the Honda powerplants for newer version of the Elise/Exige.

[fishexpo101]

hey i wanna know if its possible to put a 2zzge in a 94' corolla?and how much modifications would i halfe to do...im kind of new to this kind of swaps...i jus was wondering...

Like Brendon mentioned - almost anything is possible. Be more work putting a 2ZZ-GE into a 7th gen than it probably is worth. Better alternatives are already out there - 4AGE 16v and 20v variants, 4AGZE, even 7AFE is a good choice (if you have the 4AFE already). Intakes and Exhausts are reversed on the newer ZZ engines (intake it up front, exhaust next to firewall), mounts are different, so a fair amount of fabrication needs to be done.