Well I gave it a shot. I had my turbo, intercooler and started building my header and started thinking about the engine management system when I thought... "why spend another $1,800 for the engine control when I can easily buy a whole V8 complete system for that much?? I was looking at some examples of Supra 6cyl swaps and they seem to work well. But here is the thing, they use MORE fuel than the Lexus V8 does! That's crazy.
So here is my reasoning for using a Lexus V8 instead of a smaller turbo engine:
1. Instant PowerI would rather have more torque and be able to have more power right off the bat when you slam on the gas. It's a no brainer! Unless you are drag racing you don't need MAX hp.
2. My experience with I've driven allll sorts of cars on race tracks and have had a lot of experience driving many hours on all sorts of different engines. I think the instant torque and smooth hp will be a great power recipe for offroading. If you need instant power to lift up the front end over some woops or to roost on your buddy you NEED torque not turbo lag. Yeah you can build systems with hardly any lag but that gets expensive and lag will not ever go away. I've driven a couple of Lex v8's hard on a closed course and loved them.
3. Super power can be had in the future. People put dual T3 turbos on the Lexus LS400/1UZ-FE engine and they run great.
4. Availibility The 1UZ engine is one of the best every produced and they are abundant in wrecking yards. The Lexus cars that they come in never break! SO there is no demand for the used engines. They last forever and if it does break internally I'll just upgrade it or throw it away and get another block for like $300. Seriously these engines are just laying around in cars that have been wrecked. Other people have put these engines in Hilux (Tacoma in the US) models in other countries so it can't be that hard. I've been studying everything involved for a couple months and have parts on the way. It's a green light on this project.
5. Price Bang for the buck can't be beat here. You can buy a whole car for $1,000 - $1,500 and take everything you need out of it. For a reliable V8 system with A/C you can't beat that.
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