The JZ family of Toyota engines consist of 4 valve DOHC, inline-6 motors designed for longitudinal mounting and rear wheel drive. The 1JZ was first produced in 1990 and can still be found in the Mark II BLIT Wagon. The 1JZ-GTE was the turbo charged version of the first line of JZ engines. The 1JZ-GTE could produce 280hp at 6200 rpm and were used in Toyota's higher end sports cars (including the Soarer and the Supra). The engine was commonly coupled with an automatic transmission, although a 5 speed manual was available on the Supra 2.5 GT.

The reason the engine is such a popular choice for tuners is because it is an inline 6 turbo charged engine which costs about half the price of a inline 6 RB26DET. The engine has a reputation for being solid and dependable and is known for its strong internals. Most of the problems associated with the 1JZ-GTEs are with the turbos. The turbos have a well known design flaw: a faulty one-way valve on the head. Most enthusiests change the turbos before modifying the engine. They end up with more power output but suffer greater turbo lag. The stock turbos are meant to run at the limit of production turbo RPMs which could be another reason for such common failures.

In the end, the 1JZ-GTE is excellent bang for buck. A well known, tried and test engine with a solid history.