I think your 2zr will last a while. The 2zz produces reliable power as well. One issue with the 2zz is it's cost to produce power. I've looked into building up a 2zz and it costs more than the value of my car.

MWR is the supporter for the 2zz, but still charges quite a bit. The supercharger is around $7k USD. Stroke is shorter on a 2zz versus a 2zr.

 

I think your 2zr will last a while. The 2zz produces reliable power as well. One issue with the 2zz is it's cost to produce power. I've looked into building up a 2zz and it costs more than the value of my car.

MWR is the supporter for the 2zz, but still charges quite a bit. The supercharger is around $7k USD. Stroke is shorter on a 2zz versus a 2zr.

Thanks. I didn't know about the supercharger for the 2zz. Definitely on the steep side! I've looked at MWR when considering engine items for the 2ZR. I also have a 1NZ in my garage and have been considering doing a forged build on that. I guess the 1NZ makes a great little forced induction engine.

 

That's pretty cool. I don't know much about the 1nz. The thing about the 2zz is the 3rd cam lobe that provides the lift at 6200 rpm. This is oil pressure controlled. Have not heard of a frankie build between a 1zz, 2zz or 2zr. Though the dimensions might be close and usable. The stroke on the 2zr is longer and therefore has torque. 2zz lacks this unfortunately.


Lift is similar to vtec.

 

the lotus engine just looks reorganised to fit in a tighter space... I see the oil filter on top, which seems like its great for easy maintenance compare both without the engine beauty cover : the block and how the coils are plugged on it look the same from the top. I wouldnt be surprised if the internals of the lotus one were a bit fortified but they could be the same the engine in the lotus seems rotated 180 degree, but I think its because the picture is taken from the back? so the engine is still in the same angle, just placed in the mid-rear for nicer balance

 

After doing some research about this myself, I also believe that the 2ZR in the Lotus is the same exact engine as the 2ZR in the Corolla, Matrix, etc. At first it would seem odd that Lotus would just pick a regular unmodified Corolla engine to use in their performance cars. But if you really think about it, Lotus must have done a lot of testing and research on the ZR engine and came to the conclusion that it is a competent enough motor to be used in a sports car with a supercharger strapped to it. Even Toyota used the same supercharged ZR in the Yaris GRMN.

This is what makes the 2ZR attractive to me, there's some serious potential in it albeit, you'll have to spend a bit of money on forced induction or engine mods to get there. MWR supports this engine pretty well too with upgraded cams, pistons, rods, cranks, etc. The only limitation for now is tuning the stock ECU, a piggyback or standalone is required for most types of tuning. There's even other possibilities such as using a 3ZR block to make a 2.0L engine. Transmission choices are plenty as well with various C5x, C6x, and EC6x options available. With enough money, the possibilities are endless!

I'd love to do an N/A build of the ZR in my Vibe but forced induction would be nice as well. If only I could find the Lotus's Magnuson supercharger for a decent price!

 

The factory elise came with a 2zz. In the image, it's a 2zr with a 2zz intake. Not sure what the compression is in the 2zr, but I assume it's close to the 1zz. As it has close to the same torque or close to the 1zz. 2zz is not a motor that has torque. In the 9th gen corolla xrs, it was 164 hp/120 lb ft torque.

Of the boosted applications with the 1zz, they like the setup as it can hook better off the line and through the gears. In my 2zz, it's mid range power and floats at higher rpm to red line.

Op, your yaris 2zr build is plenty stout as is. Your curb weight is close to that of the Elise/mr-s. I would suggest you look into an lsd. What I've found with elise 2zz is that it suffers from oil starvation. No baffle in the oil pan. The 1zz has a baffle for oil. Does the 2zr also have a baffle in the oil pan too?

 

The factory elise came with a 2zz. In the image, it's a 2zr with a 2zz intake. Not sure what the compression is in the 2zr, but I assume it's close to the 1zz. As it has close to the same torque or close to the 1zz. 2zz is not a motor that has torque. In the 9th gen corolla xrs, it was 164 hp/120 lb ft torque.

Of the boosted applications with the 1zz, they like the setup as it can hook better off the line and through the gears. In my 2zz, it's mid range power and floats at higher rpm to red line.

Op, your yaris 2zr build is plenty stout as is. Your curb weight is close to that of the Elise/mr-s. I would suggest you look into an lsd. What I've found with elise 2zz is that it suffers from oil starvation. No baffle in the oil pan. The 1zz has a baffle for oil. Does the 2zr also have a baffle in the oil pan too?

The 2ZZ intake manifold on a 2ZR is something that I'd like to do. One guy who did it had to get an adapter plate made since the bolt holes are different. Also a larger DBW throttle body needs to be used as well. I do think this would give some good gains as the 2ZZ manifold is a 2 piece manifold that looks to flow a lot better than the 1ZZ/2ZR intake manifolds.

As for the 2ZR oil pan, I am not sure if it has a baffle. When I took my Vibe to an open lapping track day, I overfilled my oil a little bit as a precautionary measure so that the engine doesn't starve around corners. When I'd come to the pits after 4-5 hot laps, it seemed to have burnt the extra oil so I'd assume it doesn't have a baffle. That makes me wonder how the Lotus 2ZR's oil pan looks like as that must have a baffle in it.

EDIT: Looking at the ZR oil pan, it has 2 portions. The lower "pan" portion and an upper portion. Would this be considered a baffle? It doesn't look like it to me

 

Thanks gents for these great replies. Lots of great stuff to discuss here. Have to get ready for work, but will respond a bit later.

 

Guess it's not baffled? I can't tell by the images.

 

It's not baffled in the lower section (the black pan) so I'm presuming the upper portion has some sort of "baffling" to prevent the engine from starving oil around high G corners. I mean, with so many of the Elise owners tracking their cars and there being no reports of engine failure due to starvation, there has to be something within the ZR's that does the work of a normal baffle within the sump assembly. I'll be doing some more research to find a definitive answer though.

As a sidenote, I'm starting to get a really strong urge to want a Series 3 Elise. They weren't sold in Canada so I'd have to wait 5-15 years to import one but hopefully by then the prices may have dropped (hopefully they don't rise too much either).

 

It's funny that the 2ZZ wouldn't have baffling in the sump, especially since the oil pump has been known to disintegrate if it looses oil for a millisecond. Or so I've heard. I remain completely convinced that the Lotus and Corolla 2ZRs are identical. It makes me feel very good about my build.

 

After some searching, I've found an alternative supercharger system for the ZR that's not the Magnuson unit... kind of. A company in the U.K. that makes aftermarket parts for Lotus' called Komo-tec sells a rotrex supercharger upgrade for the 1ZR Elise's. It should bolt up to the 2ZR based on my knowledge however, there are a few problems. First off is the price. It costs almost 8,000 euros (about $9,600 USD or $12,100 CAD) which is quite a lot without factoring in shipping, taxes, etc. The next problem is the EMU it comes with for tuning. As you can see in the picture below, the Lotus ECU seems to be made by Lotus in-house so I have doubts that the EMU would work with the North American ZR ECU's. This means that you'll have to do custom tuning to your ECU whether it be a standalone or reflash.

So yeah, it's another supercharger alternative which is really cool to see but unless you are dedicated to supercharging and have the money to get the kit, it's kind of out of reach for us in North America. Here's the link anyways:
Phase S200 Turbodrive Upgrade +60hp/+55Nm Elise (1ZR)

 

There's also the Katana supercharger as well. It can be adapted to the evora v6.

 

Sounds like turbo is a more affordable way to get power. The turbo kit also produces more power - or has the capability of doing so.

As an aside, I have been communicating with a guy at Lotustalk and he's sending me data logs of his friend's Lotus Elise. The car is producing 300 bhp on the 2ZR. I had expressed interest in the target AFRs per boost level so that I can eventually get a tune that mimics those. I have no doubt that Lotus has the absolute best tune for these engines.

 

Sounds like turbo is a more affordable way to get power. The turbo kit also produces more power - or has the capability of doing so.

As an aside, I have been communicating with a guy at Lotustalk and he's sending me data logs of his friend's Lotus Elise. The car is producing 300 bhp on the 2ZR. I had expressed interest in the target AFRs per boost level so that I can eventually get a tune that mimics those. I have no doubt that Lotus has the absolute best tune for these engines.

I'm guessing it's this Elise in the video below? It sounds really good and it looks to be Komo-Tec that may be developing a 300bhp upgrade kit for the ZR Lotus's. I wonder if it's a stock motor with no headwork done because that's a really good power and torque level for the ZR!

 

I did a lot of research before I bought the turbot from TKC about power. I've spoke to several people that race and mod Toyotas and have done so for decades. They all said the 2ZR was a strong engine and could handle up to 275hp at the crank and that number kept coming up from everyone. If you want to exceed that you need to build the engine. That's why I decided to stay in the 225-230hp range at the crank for reliability. It's really plenty of power to have a lot of sun with a car that weighs 2900lbs. And the other benefit of a turbo is that I get better MPG. Since I installed my turbo 4 years ago I've still seen tanks between 30-40 mpg depending on if I'm driving harder or cruising on the open road. It would be cool though to see someone do a supercharger if they could make it work.

 

Given my research and what I've been told directly from those with experience, I think 275 crank is a reasonable figure, with the caveat that a good tune is needed as well as safety measures - knock control and more stable fueling. I wouldn't trust the AEM F/IC at that power level - at least as far as my ability with it goes and the fact that it is largely unsupported. I've contacted a few outfits and no one is interested in working with it anymore that I can see. All along I have been looking into other options. My tune with the F/IC and W/M injection is safe, I believe, but I think there are better ways to get a bit more power, efficiency and stability out of the setup. I'm going to create a thread outlining my latest thoughts on what I'd like to do with my car.

 

I hear good things about mega squirt. Though I don't know if it supports the 2zr.

 

I too have heard good things about the megasquirt. I have a 14 corolla and am looking at taking it to the track next year hopefully. Have a couple of things I want to do before I take it such as an aftermarket oil cooler, fill my engine mounts with poly (the motor currently rocks so much I wouldn't be surprised if my mounts were actual jello), replace the clutch, and retrofit some bilstein b6 shocks from the 9th gen onto the car (I also tow a trailer with the car so they are double duty), along with some other small fixes. Its nice to know that our corolla's are pretty similar to the lotus in the engine department. I wonder what else we can do to it?

 

Lotus Elise Owner here. Watch our JUBU Performance - Schneller, höher, stärker - JUBU Tuning. sadly only in German.

I tuned my Elise from 220Hp do 265HP. The Jubu Guys are maybe the biggest expert in tuning of the 2ZR Lotus here in europe. They told me 265Hp is the maximum you can get with original parts (Pistons etc.) if you are a regular driver on street and not on track. For intense track drive they recommend also a bigger intercooler for 265hp as overheating could be a problem.
They provide also 285HP and 300HP but this is hella expensive and they basically change the whole motor. In Europe it is almost impossible to get this tunings street legal.

Hope it helps.

 

Lotus Elise Owner here. Watch our JUBU Performance - Schneller, höher, stärker - JUBU Tuning. sadly only in German.

I tuned my Elise from 220Hp do 265HP. The Jubu Guys are maybe the biggest expert in tuning of the 2ZR Lotus here in europe. They told me 265Hp is the maximum you can get with original parts (Pistons etc.) if you are a regular driver on street and not on track. For intense track drive they recommend also a bigger intercooler for 265hp as overheating could be a problem.
They provide also 285HP and 300HP but this is hella expensive and they basically change the whole motor. In Europe it is almost impossible to get this tunings street legal.

Hope it helps.

Hey there, good to hear from a Lotus Elise owner. If you don’t mind I have a couple quick questions about your 2ZR. What is the factory redline rpm? And after having it tuned from 220 to 265hp, did the tune increase your redline rpm at all? Was this hp increase solely from ecu tuning, or did you change anything physically to the motor?

 

This thread and a quick search of the lotus engine specs has me excited to add a little boost after get my tune dialed a little more. So the Toyota 2ZR makes 132-138BHP at 6000rpm and the lotus makes 243hp at 7200 from the hit I read. I know 8500 is too much, but the way the motor spins to redline now with little effort I would be interested in moving the rev limiter if there was a way. Only after proving my Fic tuning progress and reliability for a while.

 

Did you have Travis tune it at Fast Specialties? I'm working on a possible tune for our factory ECU so hopefully in a few months that will be a possibility.

 

Awesome, thanks so much for the info. I feel pretty confident to play with a little more boost when I get my current tune dialed in. I’m running home built 3” exhaust from the 3” Downpipe back, with a hi flow Cat.
It sounds like the Elise stock exhaust was possibly limited to the stock pressure limits.

 

Exhaust nowadays is limited bcs of co2 emission limits..... That's also why it gets harder to get such mods street legal 😭

 

I have the 3" SS exhaust from TKC and it came with a nice free flowing performance CAT so that was a plus.

 

Any progress on working out a Tune? I'm interested in helping any way possible to get this project going.

 

I just got back from a big road trip so I'll be getting in touch with my guy and seeing about when he can work my cars in. He's going to do my 2009 Corolla S Turbo 5MT and 2017 Corolla iM 6MT.

 

Hey Gents! Still deep in packing up our house and getting ready for our move - 05 July. I've been driving the car a lot and really enjoying it. I had a slight bit of bucking today on the highway. Before, I just adjusted individual fuel cells, one at a time. Today I tried adding fuel in a cluster of adjacent cells. It seems to have worked. Some more tweaking is needed, but I'm getting great power and with my W/M injection now kicking in at about 2.5 psi, things seem very safe. More to come later after we're settled in to the new place.

 

I have a question. Would the Supercharger for the 2zz fit the 2zr engine?? If so can you guys let me know? Thank You

 

Nope, they are different engines.

 

No

 

I have been in continuous contract with some people..... A supercharger specifically made for the 2ZR should be coming out next year as I speculate, with tuning along side it. Let me know if you would like to be updated as time goes on.

 

I've been chasing this option for years, I know an 11 gen owner who did it with a Lotus supercharger but I couldn't find where and how he got it install, which company are you taking about that will do the supercharger? Magnuson? and if that is true price range?

 

There’s a company in the UK that created the Katana Supercharger for the 2zz.

Lotus Supercharger Kits - eliseworks.com

There is a lot of confusion about the various supercharger installs on either Lotus Elise or Exige models. So, what is out there? I am just discussing the Toyota engined s2 and s3 models of the Elise and Exige. Lotus Elise s2 – 2zz ge engine N/A (naturally aspired) without supercharger 189hp...

www.eliseworks.com

 

Back since 2015, I contact : MWG (Monkey Wrench Garage), they just do email, Greddy, Deroure LTD, rickstanks, BOE, Hydramotorworks, magnuson and I just hang up with superchargers online, the answer is NO (WE DO NOT DO SUPERCHARGERS FOR THE 2zr-fe engine), besides Deroure but they don't know the pulleys and other components need it, I try to track the owner of the Corolla who did it but it was impossible last thing I know regarding that car it was sold in South Florida. My believe is if Lotus decided to supercharge this engine instead of Turbocharged is for a reason, forget about reliability, this engines are so reliable they don't care what you throw at them.
But for me, my completion the right way is the supercharger, lately I've been very busy at work and I didn't have time to enjoy my cars not even my GR Corolla, but my loyal friend deserves the supercharger.

 

Been lurking on these forums for a couple years now and finally made an account so I can say thank you to Corolla trd and SuperchargedMr2 for putting in countless hours of work pushing this topic forward. The first time I ever pushed my rolla to its top speed, I knew there was more to these cars than what’s on the surface. The info you guys have provided in these forums will be invaluable to low key tuners like myself who really wish to expand on this platform; these cars truly are sleepers with enough love. I pray that we all have fast supercharged 2zr’s ones day but I will be planning on the tkc kit until we can import lotus engines for cheap. From the deepest part of my being, you guys are truly awesome!