History and details of the 3S-GE & 3S-GTE Engines

3S-GE

The Toyota 3S-GE is an in-line 4 cylinder engine manufactured by Toyota and tuned by Yamaha Motor Company Ltd.. Its cylinders are numbered 1-2-3-4 with cylinder number 1 beside the timing belt. The cylinder heads are made of aluminium alloy. The pen-roof combustion chambers are complemented by a cross-flow intake and exhaust layout. The spark plug is located in the center of the combustion chamber. The ignition order of the cylinders is in the 1-3-4-2 order.

The crankshaft, located within the crankcase, rotates on five aluminium alloy bearings and is balanced by eight weights. Oil holes are located in the middle of the crankshaft to provide oil to the connecting rods, bearing, pistons and other moving components.

The intake manifold has four independent ports and benefits from inertia build up to improve engine torque at low and medium speeds.

A single timing belt drives the intake and exhaust camshaft. The cam journal is supported on five points between the valve lifters of each cylinder and on the front of the cylinder head. The cam journals are lubricated by an oiler port located in the middle of the camshaft.

The "Outer Shim Type System" allows for the replacement of the shims without the need to remove the chamshaft. To adjust the valve clearance, adjust the shims above the valve lifters.

The pistons are made from an aluminium alloy, designed to withstand high temperatures. An indentation is incorporated into the piston head to prevent the pistons from hitting the valves, should the timing belt break (this is not true of the 3S-GE BEAMS motor). This is sometimes referred to as a "non-interference" engine. Piston pins holding the pistons in place are locked by snap rings.

The first compression ring and the oil ring are made of steel, the second compression ring is made of cast iron. Compression rings 1 and 2 prevent exhaust leakage from the combustion chamber while the oil ring works to clear oil off the cylinder walls, preventing excessive oil from entering the combustion chamber.

The cast iron cylinder block holds four cylinders which are approximately two times the length of the piston stroke. The top of the cylinders are covered by the cylinder head. Build into the cylinder block are coolant channels, which cools the block which houses the pistons.

At the bottom of the cylinder block is an oil pan which stores the oil. A panel is used to ensure that there is sufficient oil available in the oil pan, as the oil moves around the reservoir during movement of the vehicle. This prevents oil from being shifted away from the oil pump suction pipe.

History


There are four generations of the 3S-GE, which were used in the Toyota Celica, MR2 and Toyota Altezza. All 3S-GE engines had a displacement of 2.0 L. Additionally, the 3S-GTE engines were based off of the 3S-GE designs.


Gen 1
First generation 3S-GE was produced from 1986 to 1989, arriving in both Northern American versions, as well as In Japan as a second variation. The Northern American engine was slightly less powerful, producing around 135 bhp or 100 kW. This engine was the only Gen 1 3S-GE to come to North America, in the Celica GT-S (ST162). The JDM version, sported a more aggressive ECU, and among other things a lack of the EGR valve system, pushing the output to somewhere around 150 bhp or 111kw, and 175 ft·lbf of torque.


Gen 2
The second generation was produced from 1990 to 1993. Receiving a slight boost in output to 113kw (154PS). Peak torque went to 186Nm. It also proved to be a slightly more reliable engine. The 2nd Gen also did-away with the T-VIS system, which was replaced by the ACIS (Acoustic Controlled Induction System), proving to be much more efficient.


Gen 3
The third generation 3S-GE was produced from 1994 to 1999. Power output was increased to 131kW (178PS) over the gen 2, while torque figures stayed the same. It received a minor revision in 1996 for emissions (EGR) which reduced power output to 127 kW (173 PS).


Gen 4
The fourth generation 3S-GE, also known as the BEAMS 3S-GE began production in 1997. The first version was equipped with VVT-i and produced around 200 bhp (149 kW). It was available in a few models sold only in Japan - the MR2 G and G-Limited, the Celica ST202 SS-II and SS-III and the Caldina. BEAMS is an acronym which stands for Breakthrough Engine with Advanced Mechanism System.

In 1998 a second version was released with dual VVT-i (variable timing on both the intake and exhaust cams), titanium valves and a slightly higher compression ratio. This engine powered the Altezza RS200 and produced around 206 bhp (154kW).

The two variants are easily identifiable by colour. The cam covers on the earlier model are red and on the later model, black. They are often referred to as the "Red Top" and the "Black Top" respectively.

3S-GTE

The 3S-GTE is an in-line 4-cylinder engine from Toyota utilising a turbocharger. It was fitted to the MR2 , Celica and the Caldina. Its cylinders are numbered 1-2-3-4, cylinder number 1 is beside the timing belt. The cylinder head is made of aluminium alloy. The pent-roof combustion chambers are complemented by a cross flow intake and exhaust layout. Spark plugs are located in the middle of the combustion chambers. When ignited, the cylinders starts in the following order, 1-3-4-2.

The crankshaft, located within the crankcase, rotates on 5 aluminium alloy bearings and is balanced by 8 weights. Oil holes are located in the middle of the crankshaft to provide oil to the connecting rods, bearing, pistons and various other components.

The intake manifold has 8 independent ports and benefits from the inertia build up to improve engine torque at low and medium speeds.

A single timing belt drives the intake and exhaust camshaft. The cam journal is supported on 5 points between the valve lifters of each cylinder and on the front of the cylinder head. The cam journals are lubricated by oiler port located in the middle of the camshaft.

To adjust the valve clearance, adjust the shims abouve the valve lifters(Outer Shim Type System). This allows for the replacement of the shims without the need to remove the chamshaft.

The pistons are made from an aluminium alloy, design to withstand high temperatures. An indentation is incorporated into the pistons to prevent the pistons from "knocking" into the valves. Piston pins holding the pistons in place are locked by snap rings.

The 1st compression ring and the oil ring is made of steel, the 2nd compression ring is made of cast iron. Compression ring 1 and 2, prevents gas leakages from the combustion chamber whilst the oil ring works to clear oil off the cylinder walls, preventing any excessive oil from entering the combustion chamber.

The cast iron cylinder block holds 4 cylinders which are approximately 2 times the length of the piston stroke. The top of the cylinders are covered by the cylinder head. Build into the cylinder blocks are coolant channels, which cools the block which houses the crankcase.

At the bottom of the cylinder block is an oil pan which stores the oil. An panel is used to ensure that there are sufficient oil available in the oil pan, as the oil moves around the reservoir during movement of the vehicle. This prevents oil from being shifted away from the oil pump suction pipe.

Racing history of the Celica

In racing, the Celica is known for its rally racing prowess. The first World Rally Championship (WRC) victory came in 1982 Rally of New Zealand with 2000GT (RA63). From 1983 to 1986, the Group B Celica Twincam Turbo (TA64) won all six WRC events in Africa they entered. Celica GT-Four competed in Group A Rally racing from the 1988 to 1997. Celica GT-Four have won two manufacturer's titles, and four driver's titles. Carlos Sainz was the most successful driver, winning WRC titles with the ST165 in 1990 and the ST185 in 1992. The ST185 also won 1993 and 1994 titles with Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol respectively. The ST185's fourth consecutive Safari Rally victory came in 1995, which was also Toyota's 8th victories in this event. Soon after introducing the ST205 in 1995, Team Toyota Europe was banned for 12 months from the WRC because of cheating. Some time after TTE switched to the shorter Toyota Corolla.

Special editions of the GT-Four models were produced for the public in extremely limited numbers (5000) due to homologation demands. They are considered a collector's item by some enthusiasts. The ST185's homogolation version is called the Carlos Sainz (CS, after the driver), or RC in Japan.

In road racing, The Celica was raced by Dan Gurney's All American Racers team with factory backing in the IMSA GTU and GTO classes from 1983 to 1988. The team captured many class wins and the GTO Championship in 1987. Slightly modified versions of stock Celicas were also used as the spec car in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race from 1976 to 2005.


Bandoh Racing's Weds Sports Celica in actionTeam Racing Project Bandoh created a special rear wheel drive variant of the seventh generation Celica using a 3S-GTE engine[3]. It was entered into GT300 class of the Japanese Grand Touring Championship.

The 1st generation liftback (known as Celica LB Turbo) was used to compete in the DRM between 1977 and 1978, the car was capable of producing 560 BHP. The car was entered by Schnitzer via Toyota Deutschland and was driven by Harald Ertl and Rolf Stommelen for the following season. The car had a limited sucess scoring only 4th and 8th and was plagued with various problems throughout the two seasons before it was sold to TOM'S in Japan which under company founder, Nobuhide Tachi, it had a sucessful career. Tachi also had a sucessful career with the second generation version. Despite its limited sucess in the series, the DRM liftback was immortalised by Tamiya as a 1/12 radio controlled car and a 1/24 static model.[4]


Stommelen in action at the Nürburgring NordschleifeSeventh generation Celicas were also successfully campaigned in the NHRA Sport Compact Drag Racing series during the early 2000s. Toyotas run in the NHRA Funny Car class also used Celica bodies, although besides the body, these cars do not share any resemblance to their street counterparts.

The Celica (usually the 1st through 3rd generation Rear-Wheel Drive model powered by the R series engine) is sometimes raced privately in stock car racing, usually in four-cylinder classes at the grassroots level. A less stock version of the Celica with factory backing and development was campaigned successfully by several drivers in the Goody's Dash Series. These Celicas started racing in 2000 and had 6th or 7th generation bodies but a steel tube-frame race chassis and a production based V-6 engine that was not available in the street Celica. Robert Huffman won the 2003 Dash Series Championship driving one of these Celicas.

Toyota MR2

Manufacturer: Toyota
Production: 1984-Present (Production ending in 2004 in the US).
Class: Mid-Engine Sports Car
Body style: Coupe
Engine: 4A-GELU
3A-LU
4A-GZE
3S-GE
3S-GTE
5S-FE
1ZZ-FE
Similar: Honda S2000
Mazda MX-5 Miata

The Toyota MR2 was a two-seat, mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car produced by Toyota from 1984 to 2005, in three different design series. The latest version was called the Toyota MR-S in Japan, the Toyota MR2 Spyder in the United States, and the Toyota MR2 Roadster in Europe. When said in French, the name MR2 sounds like est merdeux (is- s h i t t y). Thus, the car was sold there only as the MR. In English, the MR2 is frequently called the "Mister Two."

It is a common misconception that the MR2 was Lotus-designed but assembled and distributed by Toyota. In actuality the Lotus M90 (a.k.a. the X100) project was scrapped after a single prototype was built and Lotus was later bought out by General Motors, ending its relationship with Toyota. The MR2 was designed by Toyota with Lotus engineer Roger Becker involved on its suspension and handling. With its mid/rear engine and small size, the MR2 is often compared to more exotic sports cars.


Origins

The MR2's life began in 1976 when Toyota launched a design project with the goal of producing a car which would be both enjoyable to drive, yet still provide decent fuel economy. Initially, the purpose of the project was not a sports car. The actual designwork began in 1979 when Akio Yoshida from Toyota's testing department started to evaluate different alternatives for engine placement and drive method. It was finally decided to place the engine transversely in the middle of the car. The result was the first prototype in 1981, dubbed the SA-X. From its base design, the car began evolving into an actual sports car, and further prototypes were tested intensely both in Japan and in California. A significant amount of testing was performed on actual race circuits such as Willow Springs, where former Formula One driver Dan Gurney tested the car.

Toyota made its SV-3 concept car public in the autumn of 1983 at the Tokyo Motor Show, gathering a huge amount of publicity both from the press and the audience. The car, scheduled to be launched in spring 1984 in the Japanese market under the name MR2 (initially standing for "Midship Runabout, 2-seater" but later claimed to be "Mid-engine, Rear-wheel drive, 2-seater"), was to become the first mass-produced mid-engined car to come from a Japanese manufacturer.

MR2 Continued -
First generation (AW10/AW11), 1983-1989

1987 MK1 T-TopThe small and light MR2, designated AW11, was perhaps something no one had expected from any of the Japanese car manufacturers, known for their economical and practical cars. The two-seat MR2 was definitely not practical as a family car, but the design criteria were different from that of most previous cars. The most important features of the AW11 were its light body (as low as 2,200 lb in Japan and 2,350 lb in the US), superior handling and relatively powerful, small-displacement engine. Thanks to these features, the AW11 is considered by many to be very enjoyable to drive. Its behavior mimics that of highly expensive supercars and is easy to control and nimble in its movements. Toyota's cooperation with Lotus during the prototype phase can be seen in the AW11, and it owes much to Lotus's legendary sports cars of the 1960s and 1970s.

As a powerplant, Toyota chose to use the 4A-GE 1600 cc I4 engine with two overhead camshafts which allowed the use of 16 valves for a better gas flow through the combustion chamber. The engine was also equipped with a Bosch L-Jetronic type multi-point fuel injection and a variable intake geometry (T-VIS), giving the engine a maximum power output of 128 hp (95 kW). US-spec engines were rated at 112 hp (84 kW), Euro-spec at 124 hp (93 kW), and Australian-spec at 118 hp (88 kW). The engine had already been introduced earlier on the Toyota AE86, gathering a lot of positive publicity. There was also a JDM model AW10 which used the more economical 1500 cc 3A-U engine, but it didn't gain too much popularity.

For the 1986 model year, the AW11 went through several changes which affected both its looks and performance. The most important addition was probably having the option of a removable t-top, not available in the US until the next model year. The exterior was modified by color-coding the bumpers and side stripes, adding small side skirts and a translucent spoiler to the rear of the roof. Other new options included a leather interior and a four-speed automatic transmission. Some further changes were made to the exterior the following year, but more notable were the addition of larger brakes and a heavier C52 transmission which replaced the older C50. Also noteworthy is the lack of a rear anti-sway bar after 1985 (though some 1989 models were equipped with them again). There are kits available which makes it easy to install Toyota or aftermarket sway bar onto most cars which were not originally equipped with them. Models with the rear bar are considered more valuable to those who enjoy racing.

In 1987, Toyota brought a new choice for an engine for people longing for more power. Based on the same block and head, the 4A-GZE was equipped with a roots-type supercharger and therefore the compression ratio, valve timing and ports were modified. The engine produced a maximum power of 145 hp (108 kW) and accelerated the small car from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 6.7 to 7.0s. In addition to the new engine, the MR2 SC was also equipped with stiffer stabilizer bars and reinforcements in the bodyshell to improve rigidity. Unfortunately, this model was never sold in European markets, although some cars were privately imported.

The press received the AW11 with open arms and praised its innovation, great feeling, and responsive engine. American car magazines Road & Track and Car and Driver both chose the AW11 on their lists of ten best cars which included some tough competition, such as the Ferrari Testarossa. The Australian Wheels magazine chose the 1988 AW11 as its favourite sports car. The MR2 was Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year for 1985. In 2004, Sports Car International named the MR2 number eight on the list of Top Sports Cars of the 1980s. The MR2 was on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for 1986 and 1987.

MR2 Continued -
Second Generation SW20(Japan)&(EUR)/ SW21, SW22 (N.America) 1989-1999

1991 Toyota MR2 TurboThe MR2 went through a complete redesign in 1989, when the new Mk II body was produced. The new MR2, designated SW20 (in America the chassis codes were SW22 for the turbocharged model and SW21 for the naturally-aspirated model), was longer, wider and heavier than its predecessor and had smoother bodylines. While the AW11 was a pure sports car, made in the spirit of Lotuses, the SW20, being quite larger, could be classed as a GT-car. Since the resemblance between the Ferrari 348tb and the Ferrari F355 and the new MR2 was quite striking, the SW20 is sometimes referred to as a "poor man's Ferrari". Indeed, many bodykits became available to make the SW20 imitate the Ferrari F355 with, sometimes, indistinguisable effects.


1993 Toyota MR2
MR2 SW20 sporting a Ferrari F355 bodykitWhen the SW20 went on sale in spring 1990, it was offered with four different engine choices depending on the market area. All engines were 2000 cc I4 engines with DOHC and 16 valves, excluding the naturally-aspirated US model which used the 2200 cc 5S-FE engine. The most powerful engine was the turbocharged 3S-GTE, which was again only available in Japan at 220 hp (164 kW) (as the MR2 GT) and the USA at 200 hp (149 kW) (as the MR2 Turbo) so Europeans had to settle with the naturally-aspirated 156 hp (116 kW) 3S-GE engine. The Japanese MR2 GT model was able to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 5.9 to 6.2 s.

The SW20's entry to the market was not quite as smooth as the AW11's. Toyota's goal was to make the car's suspension geometry work the same way that true supercars do. This made the SW20's cornering abilities quite excellent, but it was much too easy for an inexperienced driver to make a mistake, leading to sudden oversteer (also called "snap oversteer") which can result in a spin unless the driver reacts both quickly and correctly. This trait was not considered very desirable among the press, because the MR2, unlike expensive supercars, was priced so that even "average people" were able to buy one. Some magazines made overstatements where they claimed that the SW20 was downright dangerous to drive.

To respond to the feedback they had received, Toyota changed the 1993 model to include wider rear tires and changed the rear suspension, mainly the vehicle's height, shock absorbing properties and longer rear toe links, so that the car would be more prone to understeer, thus making it more difficult to push the car into "snap oversteer". Along with the suspension changes, the SW20 also got new 15" wheels to fit the larger brakes that were also introduced. Some shifting problems which plagued the first revisions were remedied with stronger synchronization rings. The car was withdrawn from Canada in 1993, and the United States in 1995.

The next big change occurred in 1994, when SW20 received all-new engines for each model and some considerable changes to its exterior. For 3S-GTE the use of a MAP-sensor, the removal of T-VIS in favor of smaller intake ports and the new CT20B turbocharger running an increased turbo boost pressure increased the maximum power to 245 hp (180 kW). The normally aspirated 3S-GE received fewer changes but still improved its maximum power to 172 hp (128.3 kW). Having been an option earlier, a limited-slip differential was introduced as standard on all turbocharged models. New round taillights and a color-coded center panel replaced the old square-shaped lights and the rear grille. The original three-piece rear spoiler was replaced with the lighter one-piece spoiler which attached only to the trunklid. The side stripes and skirts were also color coded. 1995 was the last year Toyota sold the Mk II in the USA. In 1996, the front and side signals were changed to use a clear lens but no other modifications were made. The 1998 model, known as the "Revision 5" model, came modern looking 5 spoke 16" alloy wheels, a more aggressive spoiler, and a leather shift knob with red "Type-R" style baseball stitching.

On the SW20's last production year in 1999, the car was updated with a few significant changes. While the turbocharged engine remained the same, in JDM models the normally aspirated 3S-GE engine was equipped with Toyota's VVT-i system which allowed the timing of the intake camshafts to be modified according to the engine's rotation speed and load. This, and some other changes improved the engine's power output to a respectable 198 hp (148 kW). All models also received new wheels, optional Recaro seats, and a three-way adjustable rear spoiler.

The SW20 has become a major collector's car since the 2003 Ultimate Street Car Challenge win of Brad Bedell and his yellow V6-powered MR2. The 1MZ-FE motor, that comes from the V6 powered Solara and Camry, has quickly become a popular modification as the expense of switching to the V6 motor is roughly in line with installing a turbocharged motor into a formerly naturally aspirated car.

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