Love for the 1UZ

I was reading in some thread today that someone was fantasizing about a 1UZ-FE swap. I was just wondering... Why?

I have an LS400 and it doesn't seem terribly well endowed in the power department. There are power upgrades, sure, but they are rare and expensive.

Why the fascination with 250 horsepower from 4 liters?

In reply to Lugnut:

Cheap due to it's abundance and it's so well built they last a long time, so lots of availability, light, bountiful, smooth, overengineered (word is it was originally developed to be a race engine, didn't come to fruition so repurposed) takes boost like a champ too.

Later versions got up to 300hp.

They like bolt ons.

Also consider that your LS400 isn't exactly a lightweight.

A 1uz in a light small car = win.

Name another plentiful, cheap and reliable import V8

Yep. It's no monster in the power department (the early motors will do 250 whp with headers and fuel/ignition tuning), but it's very light, ridiculously reliable/overbuilt, and probably one of the cheapest V8s you can get today. (I see them in running condition in every junk yard I've been to in the past 3-4 years).

The major downside is that it was never mated to a manual transmission, so you need some custom fab work in that department. If it weren't for that fact I'd put one in every car I own.

Light alloy block, flat torque curve, high rpm v8 screamer with torque to back it up, cheap, reliable, has 6 bolt mains, small, looks good in any engine bay.

But the issue with the manual has pushed me away. I personally am leaning towards the VQ30/35 now. It looks like I can buy a full swap outright with a 350z 6 speed for the price of a flywheel and adapter plate for the 1uz.

I have a 99 LS400, and it is a monster motor. VVT-i. I think my Esprit Turbo will beat it off the line, but probably only after we both hit 60. When you drop the hammer, it will set you right back in the (comfy) seat. Set the cruise control at 75, relax, and you'll get 26 MPG.

So, unless you need 500 HP to be "big", I think the 99-up models are pretty impressive.

2uz actually WAS used as a race engine i believe, and 1uz is the same family for much less money and easier to find.
i love 1uz's!

and you can find plenty of adapter kits to fit a w58 (iirc it was that trans) up to it, along with several other yota trannys

That's me fantasizing about that swap. It's a rock solid well engineered piece and they are cheap used because they don't generally break, meaning salvage yards despair of selling them.

For instance, I can find them everywhere for $500-$900. Compare that to a 'sludgemaster' 2.7 Chrysler V6, if you can find one in decent shape it's going to get real close to $2K.

Get it out of that huge 4 door 4500 pound Lexus and into something around 2000-2500 pounds and bolt ons may not even be needed. But if you get greedy there are all kinds of power adders including superchargers and turbo kits.

It's smaller physically than a Ford modular V8 and more high tech than an LS1-LS3 or one of the Chrysler Hemi motors, or one of the older Big 3 pushrod V8's. I mean, quad cams and 4 valves per cylinder compared to pushrods and two per cylinder? Dood, awesome!

Weights as listed on t3h int3erweb are always suspect, but 400-425 pounds is probably pretty close. An LS1 appears to be around 460 pounds, since the LS3 has a cast iron block it will be heavier.

There's plenty of conversion kits out there to stick a Supra box behind it, along with a T56 or similar.

http://www.lextreme.com/1uzfe_info.html

now here is the real question. Will it fit in anything? It seems too wide for most of the applications that I would want it in. Say an mgb gt...

It likes bolt ons like what? And is it high rpm? I think mine redlines at 6500. According to Toyota, curb weight is 3780 for the '94.

The thing is that anything premade for boost is several times more than I paid for the whole car. And I don't think my skill is high enough to fab anything.

Lugnut wrote: It likes bolt ons like what? And is it high rpm? I think mine redlines at 6500. According to Toyota, curb weight is 3780 for the '94. The thing is that anything premade for boost is several times more than I paid for the whole car. And I don't think my skill is high enough to fab anything.

Let it breathe. If you can control it, it'll rev quite a bit higher than 6500rpms as well. I'm pretty sure the later ones did. (Like Hess's, which is probably also around 300hp.)

A good exhaust will open it up a bit and remapping the fuel and ignition helps a LOT. The engine is good to around 8,000 rpm stock, but won't make a lot of power up there without some port work on the heads.

We ran our 1UZ to 7,300 rpm when we won the challenge in 2010 and it put out around 275 bhp with a quick megasquirt tune and some so-so homemade headers.

Lugnut wrote: It likes bolt ons like what? And is it high rpm? I think mine redlines at 6500. According to Toyota, curb weight is 3780 for the '94. The thing is that anything premade for boost is several times more than I paid for the whole car. And I don't think my skill is high enough to fab anything.

I think the main point is that the LS400 was never fun and the motor never came with a manual transmission but that V8 can be a blast in small cars that came with 100hp. It's a way to double or triple your stock power in a smaller car (2,000 lbs not ~3,900 lbs) while keeping mpg up and weight down. It's also Grassroots priced..

I'd love to have any little old toyota with a 5spd 1uz behind it.

There was an article in GRM years back where someone stuffed one in a Pre-AE86 Corolla. Apparently it was massively fast. I like.

I saw that same Lexus powered Corolla run at an AX down here. Sweet car. I have done some measurin' and a 1UZ will fit behind the axle and under the bonnet of the Jensenator.

The word is that Toyota tuned the thing for fuel mileage and smoothness, leaving a fair amount of HP on the table to accomplish that. So as noted free up the intake and exhaust, then do some computerized tuning and 290-300 is supposed to be easily doable. There are supposed to be some cam timing mods which help as well but move the power to the upper part of the power range. The GS400 motors are supposed to have different cams that help on top end and are a direct swap in the LS version.

LS400 curb weights are all over the place, I see anything from 3650 to 3980 pounds. Those numbers are usually grossly optimistic; I tend to add about 10% BSF (Bull Shi+ Factor) to any numbers I see on teh int3rw3b. FWIW, the GS400 is claimed to be ~3750 pounds.

All i know is that they sound batE36 M3 crazy insane with IRTBs.

So if it only has a 30 lb advantage over the aluminum LS- I'd need some serious convincing that it was worth it. The "extra" cost of the LS would be more than made up for in the multitude of available rwd manual trans options.

Is it smaller than the LS motors? I can't imagine it would be with DOHC, but curious, nevertheless.

It's physically taller and wider because of the quad cams. The LS1 comes with a drag race tax (prices seem to hover around $2k for a Camaro runner, 'Vette motors are $3k and up, 4.8's and LS3 truck motors are cheap) that doesn't appeal to me, plus it seems EVERYONE has stuck one in something. I likes different.

Curmudgeon wrote: It's physically taller and wider because of the quad cams. The LS1 comes with a drag race tax (prices seem to hover around $2k for a Camaro runner, 'Vette motors are $3k and up, 4.8's and LS3 truck motors are cheap) that doesn't appeal to me, plus it seems EVERYONE has stuck one in something. I likes different.

Take a look at the VQ thread. That's the direction I'm heading in after lusting for a 1uz.

Not saying a1uzfe is better than an LSx, per se...

I just can't get LS1s for $150 like i can get a 1uz. All day. Every day.

Well I honestly think the two swaps get closer in price if you actually want a safely adapted manual transmission. You can modify stock flywheels to fit but, after seeing a few videos of exploding flywheels I think I'll shy away from that.

Maybe/probably true.

But again... i could do the manual trans RIGHT with a running 1uz for less than i can even buy an LSx around here.

1uzfes are ridiculously cheap. LSx + T56s aren't.