Toyota Engine Codes

1ZZ-FE

The first number describes the revision level of the engine.  These are reserved for significant changes that generally affect the engine block.  The engine installed in the MR2 Spyder still uses the 1^st block design of this engine family and thus carries the ‘1’ designation.  The ceramic reinforced block of the GT-S Celica carries a ‘2’ designation (2ZZ-GE)

This is followed by a one or two letter engine family designation.  In this example, the ‘ZZ’ engine family common to the MR2 Spyder, Corollas since 1998, and Celicas since 2000.  Other Toyota engine families with long development history include the ‘A’ family (4A-GE) and the ‘S’ family (3S-TGE).

The letters following the hyphen denote features and traits of the engine.  These are generally reserved for traits affecting the cylinder head.  Some commonly used designations include:          

                F                fuel efficient

                G                high performance

                T                turbocharged

                Z                supercharged

                E                electronic control

                C                carbuerated

In the case of the MR2 Spyder, we see that ‘fuel efficient’ and ‘electronic control’ are used.  In the 180hp Celica GT-S engine, the code for ‘fuel efficient’ is replaced with ‘high performance’ (2ZZ-GE).