Japan, home to the most technologically advanced culture, has several of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world. High standards of quality control, reliability, affordability and efficient engineering have led Japanese manufacturers to be a dominate force in the global automotive market. In this article, a comparison will be made between Japan’s modern engine-design methodology to use smaller-capacity, high revving, turbo charged engines, and that of America’s tradition of using large-capacity, low-revving, naturally aspirated engines. Japan’s most technologically advanced performance engine, the 2JZ-GTE, will be compared against America’s newest high performance engine, the LS2. The 2JZ-GTE engine manufactured by Toyota is a 3 litre (2997 cc), dual overhead cams, inline 6 cylinder powered by two sequential turbos and found in the Supra. Manufactured by General Motors, the LS2 is a 6 litre (5967 cc), 8 cylinder (v-configuration) pushrod engine found in the Corvette.

When comparing performance engines, the main thing that matters is the amount of power and torque the engine produces, right? Err…well yes, and no. There are many factors to consider when comparing engines. However, first, let’s take a side-by-side comparison of the power and torque figures for each engine. General Motors’ LS2 puts out an impressive 400 horsepower at 6000rpm, and 530nm of torque at 4400rpm. Toyota’s 2JZ-GTE makes a modest 320 horsepower at 5600rpm, and 440nm of torque at 3600rpm. From inspection of these figures, it looks like we have a clear winner. The LS2 makes more power and more torque, so why do I believe the 2JZ-GTE is a superior performance engine? An important factor rests on the size of the engine, the LS2 is exactly double the size of the 2JZ-GTE, yet the power and torque figures are not even 25% greater. Why the high level of inefficiency? Read the rest of this entry »