Engine Swap

#1
I was talking with my dad about getting more power out of the 2zr-fe engine in our cars when he told me instead of tuning or building the engine to just do a swap. what engines will fit in our cars that provide lots of power but are also very reliable and or cheap?
 

rk97

New Member
#2
define "lots" of power.

Toyota put the 2.4 liter Camry/Scion TC engine in the Corolla XRS for several years. It's got more torque, but I wouldn't call it "powerful" by any stretch.

IMHO, if you're serious about sinking money into adding power, find a good turbo kit. Nitrous is cheaper, but probably not street-legal. Or just sell your corolla and buy a used Mustang or Camaro.
 
#4
You put more power into it whether it's turbo or swap and all subcomponents including drive train, suspension, axels, cvt will start giving out. This is a commuter car, if you're trying to achieve more power you've made a mistake by buying a corolla. Sell it and buy yourself a more powerful car.
 
#5
I was talking with my dad about getting more power out of the 2zr-fe engine in our cars when he told me instead of tuning or building the engine to just do a swap. what engines will fit in our cars that provide lots of power but are also very reliable and or cheap?
Okay so for the sake of DIYers like you and me, I don't know of any engine that would be compatible with the stock mounting points on our cars. Now, a member here in Florida did get the Magnus supercharger parts for a lotus elise and installed it in his corolla since the block is pretty much the same. That would be fun.
 

ZeCorolla

I Love Corolla's!
#6
The 2ZR-FE engine can be built up or modified to produce more power already with the parts available for it and there are more parts that are coming for it too in the not too distant future (performance parts from MWR, tunable ECU's from OV Tuning, etc.). For an engine swap, there is no guide or list as to what engines are verified to fit the 11th gen chassis. However, I can make some educated guesses on what could fit with little to no modification.

The 2.4L 2AZ-FE from the 10th gen XRS may be able to fit since the engine bay size seems similar between the two generations of Corolla's so if you could get the mounts off a XRS, you could modify them to fit if you need to. I'd assume the 2.5L 2AR-FE could fit as well since it is a successor to the 2AZ but you would probably have to modify the engine mounts for the 2AR since the 2AR never came in a Corolla. A 1.8L 1ZZ-FE or 1.8L 2ZZ-FE should be able to fit in the 11th gen engine bay as well but I'm pretty sure the engine mounts would need to be custom made (although, I do remember seeing that some 10th gen Corolla Altis' came with a 1ZZ-FE in other markets so if you could source those engine mounts, you might be able to do something with them). If you want to go fully custom, I saw a 7th gen Corolla with a 3.5L V6 2GR-FE (or was it a 1MZ?) in it and I think the 2GR might be able to fit under the hood of an 11th gen. Now, with that being said, you would need to wire up these engines yourself since there are no plug and play kits for these engines to the 11th gen so that's another struggle itself.

There is also a 11th gen Corolla Altis that is being used for professional racing in Thailand and it has a 2.0L Beams 3S-GTE in it. That, ofcourse, is also fully custom made but it's another option if you are really going to go with an engine swap.

These are the engines that I think could be swapped into an 11th gen chassis and any of these swaps can be possible to do but only if you have the will, the money, the time, and the skill to do them.
 

rk97

New Member
#7
You put more power into it whether it's turbo or swap and all subcomponents including drive train, suspension, axels, cvt will start giving out. This is a commuter car, if you're trying to achieve more power you've made a mistake by buying a corolla. Sell it and buy yourself a more powerful car.
Exactly. Sell corolla, buy something with a V8 and tons of aftermarket support... any 5.0 mustang or 5.7 GM model will be cheap to buy and much easier to find information and performance parts.

his 2014 Corolla should bring $10k-$14k if he sells it. Taht will buy a 2003-2008 corolla and a running American V8 coupe.

I stopped buying 'fast' cars years ago. A cheap car and a fast motorcycle is much cheaper.
 

ZeCorolla

I Love Corolla's!
#8
Exactly. Sell corolla, buy something with a V8 and tons of aftermarket support... any 5.0 mustang or 5.7 GM model will be cheap to buy and much easier to find information and performance parts.

his 2014 Corolla should bring $10k-$14k if he sells it. Taht will buy a 2003-2008 corolla and a running American V8 coupe.

I stopped buying 'fast' cars years ago. A cheap car and a fast motorcycle is much cheaper.
What if he doesn't want a V8 muscle car that will suck on gas, cost more to maintain due to more failing parts, need more expensive aftermarket parts, and overall, he will have to pay for two cars instead of just one (insurance, maintenance)? What if he just wants to mod his current Corolla because he wants to and can? Anyways, I wouldn't be taking advice on what fast car to get from someone who "stopped buying fast cars years ago".
 
#9
Small mods like exhaust and CAi makes a difference, along with performance mass air flow sensor. i get more power at take off and a little better gas milage.
I plan on putting a turbo on next year. i can go up to 15 pounds of boist without damaging the CVT.
 
#11
Its not a kit, a buddy of mine in our car club is going to do it. i will have to find out and let you know. i know you cant tune the factory ecu, so he is gojng to do a piggyback system in order to tune it.
 
#12
What if he doesn't want a V8 muscle car that will suck on gas, cost more to maintain due to more failing parts, need more expensive aftermarket parts, and overall, he will have to pay for two cars instead of just one (insurance, maintenance)? What if he just wants to mod his current Corolla because he wants to and can? Anyways, I wouldn't be taking advice on what fast car to get from someone who "stopped buying fast cars years ago".
He's not obligated to take my advice, but making a corolla "fast" is going to be expensive, decrease its reliability, increase his maintenance costs, hurt economy, and it still won't be all that fast compared to other cars on the road that cost the same or less.

This guy is talking about swapping the engine out of a 2-3 year old car. You're telling me you think that's more economical and practical than purchasing something that has better performance stock, and a bigger aftermarket? Please explain to me how an engine swap is going to be cheaper than insurance on a second car. Don't forget to factor in the cost of a rental car while the work is being done.
 

ZeCorolla

I Love Corolla's!
#13
He's not obligated to take my advice, but making a corolla "fast" is going to be expensive, decrease its reliability, increase his maintenance costs, hurt economy, and it still won't be all that fast compared to other cars on the road that cost the same or less.

This guy is talking about swapping the engine out of a 2-3 year old car. You're telling me you think that's more economical and practical than purchasing something that has better performance stock, and a bigger aftermarket? Please explain to me how an engine swap is going to be cheaper than insurance on a second car. Don't forget to factor in the cost of a rental car while the work is being done.
I didn't say swapping the engine would be cheap. Of course an engine swap is going to be expensive. That doesn't mean he shouldn't do it. He has his own reasons to do the swap and if he really wanted a gas guzzling V8, he would have bought one in the first place. Telling him "don't do it, get a V8" doesn't help him get anywhere.
 
#14
I didn't tell him to get a V8, i told him he'd be better off financially if he went that route. My first suggestions was a turbo kit or nitrous.

The point of a forum is to get opinions you haven't considered. I think I was polite and fair to the OP. I didn't insult him or criticize his idea - I brought up financial questions regarding the viability of his proposed plan. You keep talking about "gas guzzling V8s," presumably because gas is expensive, right? So you're bringing up the same point I am, except you're endorsing his idea to spend thousands on an engine swap rather than spending an extra $20 at each fill-up.

I drive a LOT. that's why I own an old-ass corolla. I have tracked my fuel economy and fuel costs for the last 20 months and 37,000 miles. In that time, i have spent under $2500 on fuel. that's $125/month. Assuming a V8 gets half as many miles per gallon, and assuming I drove the V8 car daily (which wouldn't be the plan, but whatever) I'd be spending $250/month instead. How many months can you drive that more powerful, less efficient car before its additional gas consumption equals the cost of an engine swap? And remember, the swapped engine probably gets worse economy once you're done with the transplant, so monthly fuel costs on the finished products are going to be higher anyway.

A turbo corolla would be cool. A 200hp corolla would be fun. An engine swapped corolla would also probably be pretty fun, but that doesn't make it a financially practical goal, or a reason to ignore the more viable options.
 
#15
There is another thread on here with information on a turbo kit for our car.I personally can't say I know but others in our forum claim 15lbs of boost will be fine with our cvt. keep in mind these are just opinions but the honest truth and it sucks almost like 70% of the time in our unfortunate case it's cheaper to get a better performance base case from the gate. meaning a Subaru Wrx, the new civics, even the Lancer. assuming you wanting to stay in the Asian market. I've also been told the 2.4 engine from the camry will not give you all the joy you think because I actually posted asking about it my self and was told the celicas engine would give more bang for my buck. now I will say this if you have the money and this is the route you wanna take by all means make your car you, just a friendly opinion. also another member posted this earlier on your thread http://www.turbokits.com/Toyota/Corolla/Turbo_Kits/
 
#16
Guys tell him the solution which he can economy and power whenever he wants. Like if he is driving with family at 60 mph, he need economy and if he is driving alone he need power. This solution is optimal for corolla fans but what to do to achieve this.
 
#17
Thanks for all the replies guys, as for the turbo and supercharger im not really that into yet, and ive been looking at a lot of swapped engine cars that are really cool and different but also reliable, i even saw a delorean with an LS in it like damn!


I honestly just want to make my car different than anyone elses because i really hate seeing everyone on the street with an 11th gen corolla, i want it to be sleeper but if i need to pull past a truck on the highway peole will be questioning what the hell is in my car. Thanks again for the list that ZeCorolla made, cant wait to see more!
 
#18
Thanks for all the replies guys, as for the turbo and supercharger im not really that into yet, and ive been looking at a lot of swapped engine cars that are really cool and different but also reliable, i even saw a delorean with an LS in it like damn!


I honestly just want to make my car different than anyone elses because i really hate seeing everyone on the street with an 11th gen corolla, i want it to be sleeper but if i need to pull past a truck on the highway peole will be questioning what the hell is in my car. Thanks again for the list that ZeCorolla made, cant wait to see more!

Hey champion,

I know its been about 5yrs, but did this ever get anywhere?

I have a 2007 & have considered swapping out for the 3.5L v6 because they did it in Japan with the Blade Master G. We are now allowed to import and register them in Australia
 
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