[Matador]

Originally Posted by Dimman

I think what he was getting at, and what Dragon isn't fully understanding, is that if they had built a 2AZGE, or some dedicated 'G' 2.4L it would be more than just the valve angle. Imagine a Toyota dedicated-performance 2.4L L4. It would massacre the 2AZFE in all circumstances, stock, boosted, whatever. Plus likely be capable of way more before any internal mods would need to be invested in, or need as much boost, or money to make whatever power level the chassis could handle, as well as likely be more driveable as well.

Now if they had built a suitable chassis (FWD, AWD, RWD, doesn't matter, just a well put-together chassis) to wield this new fantasy motor, Scion/Toyota wouldn't be paying teams to use their product. Everyone would be buying them because they were the best and if you didn't have one, you wouldn't be competitive.

Instead they gave cars to the best teams, with access to factory support (which is more than just money, BTW Dragon) to make some exceptional racing cars, that inspire a few people to try to emulate that. That's marketing. That is the only reason people bothered to turbo a Camry motor. (The fact that it performs well under boost isn't amazing news. But there is no recent Toyota 'G'/Performance motor to compare against.)

Originally Posted by Exage

This is what I mean without any of my technical mumbo-jumbo. Toyota could have created in essence what Honda has now with its (~200hp) K24 5 years ago, sans the casted on exhaust manifold...

It could have been enough that peoples perception of Scion would have been slightly different then that of today. Particularly if the "theoretical" stock tC was able to stand its ground or beat the Civic Si, GTI, Sentra SE-R...

Regardless which brand sells the FT86 platform, I can only see this as a plus that Toyota (of all the manufactures) and Subaru are willing to design a fun, good looking (,somewhat less expensive) rwd car in a time of environmental concern and market recession.

My contention is that the actual design of a "G" headed motor wouldn't be much different than what's there, but I do agree that the 2AZ-FE could be far better than it's actual state of tune if Toyota chose for it to be a dedicated performance motor.


IIRC they use an AZ motor in one of the lower Japanese open wheel racing series. Akin to Formula Atlantic 4As I assume. Don't really have much info on it's spec though.