IS200 more power > Turbo / Supercharger or Engine Swap (which)

[andykao]

i know the 1g-fe engine is crap and it's already maxed out on power. love the is200 and would like to keep it running but it really needs more power. i have changed all the bushings and suspensions, now i only have to deal with the engine and exhaust.

i'm looking for a cheap and easy way to make more power, i'm looking to get at least 250 bhp but the more the better. i'm not in the UK, i'm in Continental europe, but i guess the same options apply when it comes to lhd/rhd. here are my options :

1. keeping the 1g-fe and adding a turbo or supercharger - cost will be around 2k Euros, i'll probably set it up myself and even source the parts separately, so i'm looking at a cost of around 1k which is decent. bad part is, when getting around 250 bhp, i'll have to build the engine (forged rods at least) and that's gonna be another 2k

2. 1JZ or 2JZ swap - will be generating more power than the stock 1g-fe + forced induction but i hear doing a swap is pretty complicated. first, i don't know if the engine mounts correctly or it needs custom mounts or other things like a custom oil sump, modified fuel lines, etc.  second, there's the ecu, and since i'm not good at all when it comes to wiring, that's gonna be a pain in the a$$.  third, and this is a costly one, the manual gearbox - which is really expensive. overall cost would be around 1.5-2.5k for the engine + 4k for the manual gearbox.

i love the straight 6 engine - i was thinking about swapping a 3S-GTE (cheapest option) but i do love the sound of the straight 6. also a v8 (1uz or something similar) would be too heavy...

which would be the cheapest, most achievable option? any other option that i may have missed? i'll start working on this as soon as spring is here, but not i just wanna start sourcing the parts...

[rich1068]

Tbh if you're looking at spending ££££ on parts alone I think you need a different car. Not because I think such mods are a waste of time, I don't and I've done plenty of daft things to cars in the past. But because you mention cost more than once and also your lack of experience with one or two aspects of the conversion. Could you not source an IS300 and go from there?

[scudney]

Like Rich has just said you are probably better off finding yourself an IS300 which has the 2JZ engine and saving yourself a whole lot of time,money and hassle 

[dandydons]

I had a IS200 and had a TRD supercharger installed almost immediately and had it on the car for about 2 years . The kit cost me £2,000 second hand . It did not improve the performance by a massive amount really - despite claims of just above 200bhp but I did like the sound from it . I stripped the kit off before selling the car and got £1,950 for it so was £ for £ the best mod I ever did on any car . 

[chaser@lexus250]

 andykao 

i got a is200 and a 1jzgte conversion on my car and ya if you can get a is300 it would be cheaper but depends on your power increase and what you looking for.

 if you only want 250bhp then a is300 would be a good choice but if you want to turbo it then a 1j swap is the cheapest to go with as you can get a Toyota mark 2 or crown and a chaser and if you can get a front end nose it will have everything you need swap it like engine,gearbox,ecu,wiring.

any questions on it i can help