As our early model 2GS’s continue to climb up in mileage daily and those of us get the itch for major horsepower gains, this question comes to the front of my mind…
Is a 2jz-GTE swap REALLY worth it?
I would like to hear your opinion on which would be the BEST Bang for Our Buck option:
Either a) Rebuild the stock 2jz-GE, Then bolt on an aftermarket Turbo kit
Or b) Swap in a 2jz-GTE
Thank you all for your thoughts.

 

swap in a 2jz-gte! tt for the win man, na turbos coo too but i wouldnt rebuild anything till it blows hahahahaa.

 

it really depends on your goals and what exactly you want to do with the car.

 

You don't need to rebuild a 2JZ-GE to slap on a turbo kit. Unless your engine has been poorly maintained and is smoking then it's fine to boost it. Think of it this way, doing a swap is going to cost you around $2000-2500 for the engine, then you have to do all the maintenance on the engine, then pay someone to install the new engine, fabricate intercooler piping, fabricate downpipe and exhaust, and then wire it all up. At the end of the day you have a stock twin turbo 2JZ-GTE. If you get the itch to upgrade to a bigger turbo, add a full turbo upgrade cost to that swap as well.

All in all, to do a 2JZ-GTE swap properly with labor included is going to run around $6-8k depending on where you take it to be done. If you want to upgrade to single turbo, then add another $2-5k just for parts depending on how serious you want to get.

NA-T, well. You can get it done properly for around $5k in parts and around $2k for labor to install it. Unless you do it yourself. The stock engine can withstand around 400rwhp without any detrimental effects. Keep in mind, 400rwhp translates to around 480bhp(power at crank) and honestly that's more than most people will ever really need for driving around everyday.

 

it's MUCH easier to just turbo what you have as long as you have modest power goals.

But I did the TT/Single turbo swap, and I don't regret it, but wish it hadn't taken me a year and a half to do.

Jeff

 

hard to tell if you are for or against a swap. . . . if it costs the same either way, wouldn't one be inclined to go with the swap where 400hp is easily attainable, more reliable (factory designed for boost) and you aren't maxed out. . .

instead of an NA-T where you are limited to 400hp and you have to be careful with it? (not designed for boost)

because let's be honest, when was the last time you were satisfied with 400 horsepower?

(who really rates by crank horsepower anymore anyways? )


just sayin' . . .


p.s. I did the GTE VVTi swap, very very happy with it, and would recommend to anyone to do the swap over NA-T anyday of the week.

 

I disagree with this statement, as there is less fabrication (if you get a front clip), less wiring (I had 3 wires to move) and less tuning (don't need any aftermarket ECU/Piggyback with modest power goals) involved with doing the swap vs doing an NA-T. And you have a 320hp platform to start with.

 

So did you go with the Aristo front clip swap?

 

Nope, I just bought the motor, trans, ecu and wiring harness and pieced the rest together. It was a lot more work to do it that way. It is easier and more affordable to get the front clip than to do it the way I did. Because with the missing parts, it is easier to upgrade and blow the budget. (Intercooler and what not). With all the "extra" work and what not, I have about 20 hours in my swap start to finish. AND I did it all by myself in my single car garage.

Swap all the way. . . NA-T is gay!

 

I enjoy my swap

 

I have both, so I have a better perspective of things. IMO, doing NA-T is easier and more cost effective as long as your maximum HP goals are around the 400-450rwhp(500+ crank HP) mark. In my opinion thats more than enough for most people in a daily driver. Think of it this way, a IS-F has 416hp crank stock and that translates into around 340rwhp. G37/370z have 330crank and around 270-280whp. So having a NA-T setup that puts down 400rwhp is already a pretty good margin ahead of any other "performance car" out there. If you're trying to shoot for more than 450rwhp, then you have a lot more to take care of than just the simple stuff. You have to start beefing up the transmission, upgrade the fuel system, new engine management, and the skys the limit of how much you spend.

The thing with doing a NA-T is that everything is there already. In a complete kit, all the front mount intercooler piping is done as well as the downpipe/midpipe. For a swap you have to fabricate all of the intercooler and exhaust for a it unless you get a full clip, but then again most people will want a front mount IC for more performance and looks anyway. All in all, you will spend approx 1.5x more to do a GTE swap and get it to the same level.

Anyways, what do I know. Just my opinion of things lol

 

That right there is the _key_ statement. If you want 400rwhp and down, do NA-T, if you want MORE than 450+rwhp do full GTE swap. 400-450 is the grey area.

For me, I'm planning on going 500+rwhp, so the swap was needed. (not needed, but ends up being cheaper for that power level).

But my recommendation is if you're really only wanting a little boost (350rwhp), then NA-T, it's quick, its pretty easy, and not too costly.

Jeff

 

or you can not be a hackjob and drop the GTE in so you have a factory reliable car. This is a key point that people look at when buying a Toyota / Lexus (reliabiity)...so why steer away from that? doesn't matter if you want 300, 400, 800whp, the GTE swap is going to be cheaper in the end. You get it all with the GTE swap; power, reliability, efficiency. So why would you pay the same money to drive a ticking time bomb?

And who are you to say you have a better perspective on things? You have no idea of what all of our experiences are on building and tuning cars.

 

I wasn't insulting anyone, nor saying your tuning skills were lacking.

As far as experience, I've built over 20 NA-T Cars. And pushing 30 GTE swaps (28 I think). Not all 2JZ, but lots of them were. Lots of MKII/MKIII/MKIV Supras, GS300s/SC300s, 240sx's, 300ZX (always go turbo swap on those, they are a PAIN to work on). 240ZX (old school), custom designed turbo kits on mustangs (older fox bodies). Turbo'd 22R trucks, and Turbo 22RE-T Trucks, etc.

Jeff

 

i was directing my comment at jefftsai, sorry i should have made that clearer