A540E and 3VZ-FE Strength?

[theangrytomato]

I'm looking to do some light tuning on my 93 camry v6 just to squeeze a little more horsepower without having to do any major and expensive overhauls. I know that the main things limiting how much I can gain with stock components are the pistons and the auto transmission but I'm not sure what they're both good for before you really start to risk breaking them. I want to say I saw that they were both good for about 250 at the crank in my past research but I can't find that figure anywhere now that I look for it and was looking to double check. Thanks!

[RonR]

In 1993 the 3VZ-FE had 185 HP, in 1994(and up) it had 200 HP, both at 5,800 RPM

I wouldn't think 250 HP would cause any problems, but you are talking about an engine and transmission that just hit 20 years old, and 20 year old parts break sometimes.

The other thing is that when you have a car with 250 HP you WILL drive it like it has 250 HP, lol, and "shit" will break, so if you got a car that came stock with 250 HP engine and drove it the same, the same "shit" will break.

They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on racing engines and "shit" breaks, because of the way they drive them.

The whole point of beefing up the horsepower on an engine is to see how far you can go, otherwise you just buy a bigger engine

[BMR]

The V6 from '94 onward is a completely different engine; the 1MZ-FE. Aluminum block instead of iron, amongst numerous other differences. IIRC, the 3VZ-FE is reputedly stronger, as-built.

Edit: US-market (and Canada?) Camrys got the 3VZ in '92 & '93. The Aussies got it thru '96.

From what I've read, either engine/trans could handle 250 HP.

On your 3VZ-FE, there are a couple things you can do to get a bit more HP for free. One is to set the ignition timing at 17° BTDC. Stock is 10°. The second is to adjust the AFM leaner per this thread: 3s, 2vz, 3vz free power, OH MY!