Supra Forums banner

Greatest Inline 6 motors ever?!

70K views 80 replies 55 participants last post by  CKxx 
#1 ·
I just wanted to start a thread about the greatest Inline 6 motors ever created? I wanted to see what other engines are out there that can compete with the 2JZGTE.

Share thoughts and opinions.......
 
#4 ·
IMO, the 2JZ motor is the best mass produced gasoline powered inline 6 engine ever built. There really isn't another that can compete or hang with it as the age and miles increase. The 2JZ motor was seriously over engineered and detuned to ensure reliability and longevity. I am not sure of the specifics but, I am sure some of the big inline 6 diesel engines that are used in big rigs could be described as pretty well made and capable of tons of power and go forever.

Not really a fair comparison though.
 
#5 ·
Yup, I agree in terms of inline 6 motors there are not many engines that come close to the 2JZ, but if there were challengers what do you think would be near the category of the 2JZ?
 
#8 ·
Yeh the BMW s54 in the e46 m3. Its a 3.2 inline 6 with individual throttle bodies 333hp stock. As some of you know HorsePowerFreaks can tune a STOCK engine/transmission to 600RWHP on meth. With built motor they have gone over 1000rwhp. Im not saying its better than the 2jzgte, but I am saying it compares in the class of amazing inline 6 engines.

Travis
 
#10 ·
The first inline 6 I fell in love with was the one in my '67 E-Type Jag. 4.2 liters, DOHC, triple sidedraft carbs...a monster durable NA engine that was in production from 1948 until about the mid 1970's. But I'm not aware of anyone pushing it nearly as far as what's been accomplished with the 2JZ.

I also had an old Plymouth with their Slant 6 so I have a soft spot for that super reliable little motor.

But for "greatest" inline 6 I vote for 2JZ.
 
#24 ·
A bit of trivia, I read somewhere that the M series of inline 6's (4M, 5M, etc.) were supposedly based off of the Jaguar inline 6 engine.....
 
#12 ·
Top three:

Toyota 2JZ series
Ford Australia's Barra 4.0L Turbo
BMW S54 coming in just behind those two, IMO, because of the 'all or nothing' nature of upgrading it, as well as the huge price tag attached to the 'all' option.

The Barra 4.0T is better known as the Falcon XR6T engine. It's a 24v DOHC inline 6 with a Garrett GT35R from the factory. The earlier ones made ~320hp stock, now they're ~415hp off the showroom floor. With a factory GT35R and a 4.0L displacement, it responds to modifications even better than a 2JZ-GTE on stock twins. Plenty of them in 1200+hp big build 2JZ-GTE territory, too. In the turbo inline 6 game of easy mods, massive power and great reliability, it's the 2JZ-GTE's only true competition IMO.
If only Ford had brought them here and put 'em in a Mustang or something... sigh

The S54 has the reliability part hammered down, but getting to big power is a massive expense for both the hard parts required as well as the tuning.
The RB26 is awesome in it's own right, but requires extensive reinforcement of the oiling system, cooling system, etc before pushing over 450-550 reliably - very respectable from a throttle response & exhaust note standpoint, but she just isn't the prettiest girl at the dance once a 2JZ or Barra 4.0T strut on in.

For classic sports inline 6 engines, I have to agree with Nick on the 4.2L E-Type. My personal soft spot is for the 3.4L though, since my grandmother had a '51 XK120 when I was a wee lad. It was pearl white with a crushed red velvet interior and a polished rosewood dash and was just unbelievably fancy compared to my Mom's Volvo 244DL. The original 3.4L engine ended up having fatal problems, so it was cleaned up to look pretty and put on a stand in the waiting area of the workshop that cared for her XK120. A more powerful and easily repaired replacement engine was sourced from some later year XJ sedan. My family wasn't very car-oriented back then so the details are lost to the mists of time. My uncle ended up selling the XK120 to the shop that cared for it when she passed, I was only 7 or 8 years old at the time.
If I ever hit Powerball, I *will* hunt down that XK120.

Other classic I-6's worth mentioning, IMO, are the Nissan DOHC S20 that made the GT-R nameplate what it is today, the Toyota 3M-G that would become the grandfather of all Toyota DOHC engines, and of course the Z's L-series. Chrysler Australia also made a Hemi version of the straight-6.




If we start talking diesels, the CAT 3406 wins. Though the 12v Cummins is a bad mamma jamma when it comes to diesels.
 
#14 · (Edited)
i havent seen most of those other motors but my friend has an rb26 in his r32gtr and its been rock solid and driven super hard with a t88-34d turbo kit.
oiling system has been touched though.

when we work on his car it feels alot like working on a mirror version of a 2jz except you need little hands to get down in there sometimes. the individual throttle bodies inside the intake plenum are champ in my opinion

besides that i swear its scary how similar the rb26 is to a 2jz. its like they just made it look different (toyota may have took design elements from it)

one thing we discovered though is that theres definitely more finniky things with the RB. for example on the ITB's if you remove the varnish looking material from around the throttle plates it will leak air and cause a high idle. no big deal, the fix is to not remove that "gunk" OR you can repaint it back on using model car paint which seals it back up.

the other thing is that with meth injection the nozzle placement is important (in theory) and ive heard a few comments about how the nissan oem plenum is not optimal.

besides that i havent seen anything that makes the RB26 anything but a solid performer.

i would definitely include it on the "shortlist of greatest inline 6" especially if we are talking about grabbing a random I-6 motor off the shelf and modding it to have fun.
that exhaust note is so crunchy and deluxe.

moving on... the 2jz is absolutely insane. love this motor.

its #1 for me and i dont even care what the other motors are.
dont ask questions just slap a bigass turbo onto a 2jz you find in a junkyard and give it enough fuel and call it a day. build complete.
 
#16 ·
Will someone have hurt feelings if we don't mention the 7M-GTE? Some other motors above had weaknesses that could be corrected and then people consider them "great" so the BHG problem seems rather mundane and easily addressed.
 
#17 ·
i think the 7m is pretty damn stellar after seeing duane's (upgradedsupra)

tekdeus has been running 500whp through his stock 7m for quite some time. i dont recall if it has cams or not but it might be a stock longblock.

its like the father of the 2jz. or maybe grandpa motor.

luckily the thread title is "greatest motors" and not "motor" so i think were fine to mention the 7m. especially if it becomes a shitbrick house motor if you take the valve covers off and re-torque the headstuds down a bit :dunno:
 
#18 · (Edited)
No toyota 1fz-fe Love?? This motor handles 2000hp like the 2jz handles 1000hp. I'm really surprised nobody has mentioned this motor yet. I think the 1fz would be one of the best replacement motors for are cars in the mile. Although I will say the 2jz is a lot better looking then the 1fz.

Devin P.
 
#19 ·
We all obviously know how good the 2JZ is... My other vote would be for a 6bt Cummins. I know its not a sports car engine, but its capable of huge power and super reliable. Glad I own both, haha.
 
#20 ·
I would say for making easy power, with little mod's, for a long time the 2jz is way above and beyond. It's bus lenghts ahead of any inline 6 to date.....

Like many said above sure...Jag, Ford, BMW all make/made great reliable motors but take any of them and try to make 800hp reliable with beating on it and get back to me with your results.

My motor has over 155,000 miles, it's bone stock no cam's no nothing, 700hp and 600 passes at the drag strip, countless street races/highway pulls and going strong since 2004 when i got the car with only 52,000 miles on it....so thats nearly 100,000 miles of hard beating and it dosen't smoke or sputter 1 bit.

So my list only has 2 motors and it's...

#1 the 2jzgte
#2 Cummins!!! ( it's simply the diesel 2jz )

( i know it's off topic ) but lately since a guy down the street from me bought a ww2 tank i been into tank motor's...since they are made to be incredibly powerful and reliable for battle. Alot of companys import and domestic made some really cool MASSIVE motors like the v13 Maybach which was a 800hp 1800lbd tq gasoline 23 liter motor. ( which Jay leno has in one of his cars i think? )
 
#35 ·
I have to hear the explanation on the rb better than a 2jz.... Cause I'm calling B.S.
 
#32 ·
the us spec s52b32 240 NA hp , is a nuterd version of the euro spec version that i have in my car but it did make 670 at 22 psi on a 4094r
but the 3.2 L of displacement is kinda nice to spool stuff , im sure everyone on here is familiar with the 2jz so i didnt bother to post a pic
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top