Wide Body Supercharged Reliability

[kiwi_PeopleMover]

Hi all, I'm thinking about replacing my aging narrow body Estima with a lightly less aged wide body Previa. There are quite a few here in NZ that are supercharged, and I'm wondering about the reliability of this particular variant.
The reviewer here (Buying a 1997 Toyota estima with supercharger - AA New Zealand ) doesn't think too highly of them, yet I read a lot about US Previa's that have very high milage with no problems?

[Chris Howarth]

as a rule the uk spec previa didnt come with a supercharger.mine is a singapore import as is similar to uk spec as that has no supercharger.think the U.S. and N.Z. were very lucky to get them with superchargers as standard

[mr mince]

The petrol engine seems to have better reliability, no head issues and a timing chain instead of belt. (that hurt to admit that)

Won't run on veg oil but with the cost of veg in your part of the world that's not an issue

[propnut]

As stated we have never had them over here but our American cousins have had them since the early 90's and judging by reviews on their forums they have been extremely reliable. Only marginally more thirsty than the normally aspirated but with a good 30BHP more.

I have had considerable experience with SC's as I used to drag race V8's and always found them extremely reliable, never a single failure in 25 years. Whilst it is true that SC's bleed a little power from the engine they give a hell of a lot more than they take out. What's more there is no lag as you would find with a Turbo and as such not only is power instantaneous overall they are more economical. Reason being as that both SC and TC engines run slightly lower compression ratios than normal cars. On a TC the lag translates to a period of time where you are running on low compression hence not using your fuel efficiently whereas with the SC the grunt is there always.

Best of luck, as a Previa owner I can 100% say that these motors (if looked after) are almost bullet proof.

[kiwi_PeopleMover]

yeah I've had a good run with my Estima ( 2.4 Petrol) apart from a blown head gasket. With 5 children I'm kinda keen for the extra few inches in space, try and get the kids further apart
Here's an example of the type of wide body that we can get in NZ Toyota Estima Previa 1997 for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand
Just out of interest propnut, what sort of car did you drag race? I've always loved the sound of a V8, and I've wondered about trying to make a Toyota V8 fit into a Previa There was a Toyota Hiace that came out standard in Japan with the V8 as an ambulance...that'd make an interesting people mover.
My other car is a Rover SD1 Vitesse...

[propnut]

Camaro's Mustangs, Buicks, Pontiacs, even the occasional Holden Monaro (still a Chevy I know). If it had a V8 I would race it. Listen my advice is stick with the 2TZ-FE. It was built for the car and works well and is extremely reliable. Yes the head gasket occasionally blow but most will see over 300,000Kms before this happens. Compare this level of reliability with a diesel cousins where the engine was NOT designed originally for the car and whose heads are known to crack.

[kiwi_PeopleMover]

yeah, definately not going the diesel route that's for sure. Just a decision between normally aspirated or supercharged 2TZ motor.
Monaros? You not in the UK then ?! You'll know what I mean when I say my project car going nowhere fast is a UC Torana with 350 chev sitting in the engine bay

[propnut]

I am in the UK but it is my adopted home.

Stick with the standard 2TZ-FE. I am a firm believer in the less you have to go wrong the better. As you know from your previous car the standard engine has a good turn of speed and acceleration. What's more it is lighter on gas than the SC variant. With energy prices going up world wide this must be a consideration. Best bet would be to find a manual version for that extra saving.

The biggest cause of high consumption in these in my experience is binding brakes. This is followed by too much or too old oil in the autobox. Going fully synth in the diff also helps to reduce rolling friction as too can cleaning and repacking the wheel bearings. Semi synth is the engine is also a good plan as too is changing the oil filter half way between services. This keeps the oil clean thus improving cooling and reducing crankcase friction losses.