The

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

VZ engine family is a series of V6

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

s ranging from in displacement and both

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

and

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

configurations. It was Toyota's first V6 engine, being made as a response to

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

’s VG engine, one of Japan’s first mass-produced V6 engines. The VZ family uses a 60° V-angle design, and introduced many changes for Toyota, including various EFI, ECU, and engine improvements from generation to generation. The low angle

and

cylinder heads excel in low-mid torque and power, making the VZ series well-suited for various uses in cars, trucks, and SUVs. The blocks are all strongly made using cast iron with large interconnected main bearing cradles and two bolt main bearing caps. Cylinder heads are made from aluminum.

Forged steel Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...

s, and cast iron

main bearing Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

support girdles became standard with the 3VZ-FE. Piston and ring construction are typical parts, with rods varying between large and very large for stock V6 production engines.

1VZ-FE

The 1VZ-FE is a version, produced from 1987 to 1993. Bore and stroke is . Output is at 6000 rpm and at 4600 rpm. It uses a DOHC layout with a cast iron block and an aluminum 24 valve head. Applications: * 1988–1991 Toyota Camry Prominent (Japan only) * 1988–1991

Toyota Vista The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

(Japan only)

2VZ-FE

The 2VZ-FE is a version, produced from 1987 to 1991. Bore and stroke is and the compression ratio is 9.0:1. Output as fitted to the North American Lexus ES250 is at 5,600 rpm and at 4400 rpm with redline limit of 6800 rpm. It uses a DOHC layout with a cast iron block and an aluminum 24 valve head. Applications: * 1988–1991

Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

* 1989–1991 Lexus ES 250

3VZ-E

The 3VZ-E is a version, produced from 1987 to 1995. Bore remains at but stroke is pushed to . At introduction output was specified as then later bumped to at 4800 rpm with of torque at 3400 rpm. It uses an SOHC layout with a cast iron block and an aluminum 12 valve head. Despite sharing an engine family designation with the 3VZ-FE, the 3VZ-E and 3VZ-FE only have few parts in common. Applications: * 1988–1995

Toyota 4Runner The Toyota 4Runner is an SUV manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota and marketed globally since 1984, across five generations. In Japan, it was marketed as the and was withdrawn from the market in 2009. The original 4Runner was a compact ...

* 1988–1995

Toyota Pickup The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although they ...

* 1992–1994

Toyota T100 The Toyota T100 is a full-size pickup truck produced by Toyota between 1992 and 1998. It was developed strictly for the US (and Canadian) markets, where larger pickups have a sizable market share. History As Toyota firmly established itself in ...

* 1990–1995

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although they ...

3VZ-FE

The 3VZ-FE is a version, produced from 1992 to 1997. It is a revised variant of the 3VZ-E, mated with aluminum DOHC 24 valve heads. It retains the same bore and stroke, and has a forged steel crankshaft and cast

connecting rod A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the cranksh ...

s. The upper intake plenum is of the split-chamber design with Toyota's ACIS variable-intake system feeding three sets of runners for both heads. Because the VZ series was originally for

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

and

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

use, the 3VZ-FE happens to be a physically tall motor. To make the engine fit in FWD engine bays, Toyota tilted the motor towards the firewall. This "tilt" is so severe (approximately ~15 degrees) that reaching the rear bank of cylinders is nearly impossible without first removing the intake plenum. Parts-wise, the 3VZ-FE shares very little with the rest of the VZ engine family. The main bearings are shared with the 3VZ-E, but little else. Cams can also be interchanged between the 5VZ-FE and 3VZ-FE heads. The 3VZ-FE was used on the Camry platform from 1992 to May 1997 depending on the market: North America saw the engine only in 1992 and 1993, while Australia and New Zealand had it from 1992 to 1996. The engine was available in some parts of Asia in the Toyota Windom until May 1997. Following 1994, the 1MZ-FE engines replaced the 3VZ-FE in most applications. However the 3VZ-FE continued to be used in Australia until 1996, especially in the Camry. The power spread of the 3VZ-FE is wide, having close to maximum torque between 2500–4600 rpm, with power trailing off by 6000 rpm. The stock redline is 6600 rpm, and the ECU's fuel/ignition cut-off is 7200 rpm. The 1992–1993 engine is rated at at 5800 rpm and at 4600 rpm. Compression ratio is 9.6:1. The 3VZ-FE is fairly common in most parts of the world, having a long lifespan in popular models. Applications: * 1993–1996

Toyota Scepter The Toyota Camry (XV10) is a mid-size car that was produced by Toyota between 1991 and 1996 in Japan and North America, and 1993 and 1997 in Australia. The XV10 series represented the third generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside ...

(Japan only) * 1992–1993

(North America) * 1992–1996

(Australia and Europe) * 1992–1996

Toyota Windom The is a series of mid-size executive cars marketed since 1989 by Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, across multiple generations, each offering V6 engines and a front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout. The first five generations of the ES used ...

(Japan only) * 1992–1993

Lexus ES300 The is a series of mid-size executive cars marketed since 1989 by Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, across multiple generations, each offering V6 engines and a front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout. The first five generations of the ES ...

(North America)

4VZ-FE

The 4VZ-FE is a version, produced from 1992 to 1998. It was built to replace the 2VZ-FE as Toyota's new 2.5 L V6. It uses a DOHC layout with a cast iron block and an aluminum 24 valve head. Bore is and stroke is slightly shorter than that of the 2VZ-FE at . Output is at 6000 rpm. Compression ratio of this engine was raised from 9.0:1 to 9.6:1. Applications: * 1992–1996 Toyota Camry Prominent (Japan only) * 1993–1996 Toyota Windom VCV11 (Japan only)

5VZ-FE

The 5VZ-FE is a version, produced from 1995 to 2004. It replaces the SOHC 3VZ-E engine. Bore is up to and stroke is while the compression ratio stays the same as the 3VZ-FE at 9.6:1. Output is for Tacoma and for 4Runner at 4800 rpm with of torque for Tacoma and for 4Runner at 3600 rpm. It has a cast iron engine block, and aluminum

cylinder heads. The 5VZ-FE uses

sequential multi-port fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All compr ...

, has four valves per cylinder with shim-over-bucket tappets and features large cast connecting rods, one-piece cast camshafts, a cast crank (unlike the 3VZ-FE, which was forged) and a cast aluminum intake manifold. This engine also sometimes features an oil cooler (depending on application) and a

wasted spark A wasted spark system is a type of ignition system used in some four-stroke cycle internal combustion engines. In a wasted spark system, the spark plugs fire in pairs, with one plug in a cylinder on its compression stroke and the other plug in a ...

ignition system with three coils. Camshafts are belt-driven. It is a non-interference engine. Applications: * 1995–2004

Toyota Tacoma The Toyota Tacoma is a pickup truck manufactured by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota since 1995. The first-generation Tacoma (model years 1995 through 2004) was classified as a compact pickup. The second generation (model years 2005 t ...

* 2000–2004

Toyota Tundra The Toyota Tundra is a pickup truck manufactured in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota since May 1999. The Tundra was the second full-size pickup to be built by a Japanese manufacturer (the first was the Toyota T100), but the ...

* 1995–1998

Toyota T-100 The Toyota T100 is a full-size pickup truck produced by Toyota between 1992 and 1998. It was developed strictly for the US (and Canadian) markets, where larger pickups have a sizable market share. History As Toyota firmly established itself in ...

* 1996–2002

* 1993–2004

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado The is a full-size four-wheel drive vehicle in the Land Cruiser range produced by the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Prado is one of the smaller vehicles in the Land Cruiser range. From 2009, the Prado is based on Toyota's J150 platform. In ...

* 1995–2002 Toyota Granvia * 2004