- The Toyota Century is a luxury sedan that was hand-built for Japan’s elite. It is designed to be understated while exuding elegance and poise.
- The second generation Century featured a unique 5.0-liter V-12 engine, the only V-12 engine ever produced by Toyota. It had lower horsepower due to a Gentleman’s Agreement between Japanese car brands.
- The 1GZ-FE engine in the Century is known for its engineering ingenuity, smoothness, and reliability. It has a square configuration, and two throttle bodies, and is underutilized in terms of its tuning potential.
The Toyota Century is Japan’s answer to the Rolls Royce, a luxury sedan rarely seen outside Japan. It is hand-built at select Toyota facilities to chauffeur the upper echelons of Japan’s elite businessmen and heads of state. Unlike its German counterparts, Toyota styled the Century to glide under the radar while drawing minimal attention. It was named so because it came out on the centenary of the birthday of the founder of Toyota in 1967. Since then there have been three generations of the Century. Now in its third generation, the Century is all about understated elegance and poise.
The second generation Century, available from 1997 to 2017, had a unique engine never seen in a Japanese production car. A 5.0-liter V-12, the 1GZ-FE is the only V-12 engine ever produced by Toyota. The official power figures of the engine are 276 horsepower and 355 pound-feet of torque. This might seem less, especially for a V-12, but the engine was limited due to a “Gentleman’s Agreement” between Japanese car brands in the 90s. Toyota rated the export variant of the Century at 295, and it is widely believed that even the domestic versions had an output of 300 horsepower.
Note: In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including Hagerty, Lextreme, Road and Track, Tuning Pro, and Toyota.
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Toyota Manufacturing
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Every Toyota Century is meticulously crafted by hand, at its own dedicated factory space separate from regular car assembly lines. Situated within Toyota’s East Japan Higashi-Fuji plant, this facility exclusively handles the production of every Toyota Century.
It hosts only the most highly skilled craftsmen, handpicked for their expertise in crafting the Century. The manufacturing process involves numerous specialized techniques, ensuring the creation of the world’s most luxurious Toyota.
Automakers in the past have achieved over 300 horsepower with fewer cylinders. However, Toyota’s approach to employing a substantial V-12 for generating comparatively lower horsepower was rooted in the pursuit of crafting one of the most seamlessly smooth engines ever made.
Toyota has always maintained a reputation for over-engineering its engines to perfection, and this principle certainly extends to its flagship sedan. The inherent smoothness of the 1GZ-FE stems from the shorter interval between successive power strokes, which occur three times as frequently as those in a four-cylinder engine at any given RPM.
Engine Specifications
(Source: Toyota)
1997 Toyota Century engine
The 1GZ-FE engine block features slant-squish combustion chambers, Denso iridium spark plugs, and Toyota’s VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing-intelligent) technology to enhance both smoothness and efficiency. Additionally, the engine block and cylinder heads are made of aluminum, which greatly helps in reducing engine weight while not compromising on strength.
The engine boasts a nearly square configuration with dimensions of 81 mm x 80.3 mm for its bore and stroke. The cylinder heads are positioned at a 60° angle and adhere to Toyota’s “Economy Narrow-Angle” style, emphasizing efficiency and fuel economy rather than prioritizing high performance.
Front 3/4 view of the 2024 Toyota Century SUV
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The 1GZ-FE is a 48-valve engine with a DOHC design that features timing chains to operate, just like most engines. The 1GZ-FE is a part of Toyota’s Breakthrough Engine with Advanced Mechanism System (BEANS) family of engines. Other notable examples of BEANS engines include the 3S-GE, developed jointly with Yamaha for Toyota’s sportier models, like the Celica. The 1GZ-FE is composed of two inline-six engines sharing one crank.
The 1GZ-FE’s true party trick is that it comes with two throttle bodies, two fuel pumps, and two ECUs. This means that even if one ECU fails, the 1GZ-FE can function as a six-cylinder engine and keep going. This makes the 1GZ a remarkably reliable engine, but it can be a little challenging to tune, owing to the dual ECUs. Valve shims in the 1GZ-FE are specifically engineered to exhibit exceptional resistance to abrasion. This is accomplished by applying an additional titanium coating on the shim surface.
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Depending on who you speak to, everyone seems to agree that the 1GZ-FE is underutilized. The engine is large and versatile enough to make some serious power in the right hands However, the tuning process has to be undertaken with extreme caution as the stock internals of the Toyota V-12 are not built for performance. One of the things that the 1GZ has going for it is its incredible low-end torque which puts out nearly 300 pound-feet by 1200 RPM.
The internals of the 1GZ-FE require a complete overhaul to deliver more power, which includes forged rods and pistons with ported cylinder heads. Hartley’s Performance makes performance parts like forged conrods, pistons, billet cam covers, and intake manifolds designed exclusively for the 1GZ-FE engine. In the past Hartley’s performance has squeezed nearly 720 horsepower out of a custom build 1GZ-FE in which they completely swapped out the internals and individual custom throttle bodies for each of the 12 cylinders.
Some Notable V-12 Builds
- One of the most popular builds of the 1GZ-FE was done by none other than the drift king himself – Smokey Nagata. He swapped out the 1GZ into his personal Supra and tuned it to make a surplus of 1000 horsepower. The 1GZ in Smokey’s Supra has gone through a handful of changes and modifications to become the fire-breather it is today.
- Drifter Jaron Olivecrona built a 700 horsepower Nissan S14 with a 1GZ using custom-made parts from Hartley performance. The engine has a compression ratio of 13:1 and consists of new sturdy internal components completely designed and manufactured in-house at Hartley. They built another one for the 2020 season which had twin turbos, a new camshaft, and a new exhaust system rated to make about 1017 horsepower.
- John Proulx built a V12-swapped Subaru WRX that manages to produce a respectable 1000 horsepower. In this particular WRX, to accommodate the anticipated increase in power, a BMW dual-clutch unit has been chosen as the transmission and is connected to the Toyota engine through a custom adapter plate.
- South African custom shop FatBoy Fab Works builds a 1GZ-powered Hilux that makes 535 horsepower and 715 foot-pounds of torque thanks to a couple of Garett GT35 turbos. The truck was built in a record time of two weeks for the Simola Hillclimb event and features a custom prop shaft and the Hilux’s original differential.
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The Toyota 1GZ-FE was an underrated engine, that was a testament to Toyota’s engineering prowess and consequently, it also boasted exceptional reliability. It exhibited minimal common issues or major flaws over long-term ownership, save for the typical oil consumption expected in high-mileage engines. The 1GZ engine could run more than 200,000 miles before requiring a rebuild, showcasing remarkable durability. Its reliability was so remarkable that it served as the preferred power plant for transporting the Japanese Emperor during the mid-2000s.
Over the long term, the 1GZ-FE generally encounters minimal issues, primarily revolving around oil consumption and occasional electrical wiring shorts. Oil usage tends to increase after surpassing 100,000 miles, though it remains within reasonable limits. Early models of the 1GZ faced sporadic electrical concerns related to components such as throttle bodies, ECUs, and sensors. However, these issues were largely addressed from the year 2000 onward, with instances being relatively uncommon and not widespread.
These engines have become rarer to be found in the wild as they are no longer in production. However, since it was in production for 20-odd years or so, you can find an example if you are in the market for one. As the only 12-cylinder engine ever to come from Toyota, the 1GZ-FE is highly sought after, especially for performance teams across the world. If you’re looking for a piece of automotive history with buttery smooth performance and reliability, look no further, you have found the perfect powerplant.
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