087: Is Toyota’s 4A-GE Worthy of its Legendary Status? [

The 2JZ-GTE isn’t Toyota’s only iconic tuner engine - before the famous straight six was anywhere near production-ready, enthusiasts and racers were already years deep into the development of the venerable 1600cc four-cylinder 4A-GE. In this episode, we sit down with Matt Trevena of MT Performance Engines to discuss everything Toyota 4A-GE, engine building, and much more.
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Use “MTPERFORMANCE50” for 50% off our HPA Engine Building Fundamentals course here: hpcdmy.co/engi...
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As a teenager, Matt Trevena fell in love with a neighbour’s 4A-GE powered KE70, and that exposure, combined with a healthy dose of Initial D, started Matt on a path that would shape his entire career, culminating in where it is today, building some of the most hardcore 4A-GEs around - including a genuine holy-grail Formula Atlantic motor.
Matt spent the first few years of his career building everything from lawnmower engines to massive car-sized 16-cylinder train engines before jumping on board with Sydney’s Maatouk’s Racing to put together big-power RBs and everything else in between. Now running his own performance engine building company, Matt has become the go-to guy when it comes to hardcore Japanese motors - but especially the Toyota 4A-GE.
As you probably already guessed, this episode goes way deep into the weeds on all things 4A-GE, covering the differences between the available variants, the best combinations of parts and generations, how to extract the most power, revs, and longevity out of them, as well as a deep dive into the ultimate 4A-GE - the Formula Atlantic motor.
This conversation also covers plenty of general performance engine building information, so even if this classic Toyota motor isn’t of particular interest to you, the knowledge found in this episode makes it a must-listen for any self-respecting enthusiast.
Follow MT Performance Engines here:
IG: @mtperformanceengines
FB: MT Performance Engines
YT: ‪@NEVER-LIFT‬
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Don’t forget, use “MTPERFORMANCE50” for 50% off our HPA Engine Building Fundamentals course here: hpcdmy.co/engi...
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#mtperformanceengines #4age #4age20v #formulaatlantic #enginebuilding101 #enginebuild #highperformanceacademy #learntotune #learndriveoptimise #motorsport #buildtunedrive

[@hpa101]

🔥 Win a T-Shirt or Mug by leaving an Apple Podcast review, or even a question! www.hpa-tunedin.com/ This also really helps us gain more traction for the podcast, ensuring we can keep bringing you more and more episodes 😎

[@suronsoon8913]

Could you do a podcast with Garage 4age, he the real deal on 4a

[@radezlojutro8872]

Thanks HPA for giving Matt and Niko some love I’ve been watching your’s and their channel for a long time there series on 4A/7A builds are fantastic so much great information , hopefully it will encourage everyone to have a go😊.

[@customzdream]

Enjoy listen to the back ground stories of your guess. Passionate and curious seams to be theme amongst the guess and Matt is no exception. Good on you HP academy, you never fail to deliver on your knowledgeable guess and there content.

[@Makeorbreak1]

Thank you matt, 39yo here who grew up loving the 4age, I appreciate you sharing you knowledge, thank you

[@sardengineering]

Been saving this episode up, and it was well worth the undisturbed sitting. Really appreciate the insights and also the honesty behind each pragmatic advisory. Thoroughly enjoyed it, learned way more than I was expecting and already looking forward to the next underdog gem! Cheers!

[@salloroc20]

Would love for you to have Garage4AGE and Barry Manon on the show!

[@supposedbigfoot1859]

Short answer is yes.

[@feral4mr2]

4ag ftw!! 26 years playing with 4ag's, love them!!

[@marlo0oty213]

Im thinking to turbo mine silvertop with a speeduino.. got the speeduino installed but how many psi could i get on stock motor

[@ManjiMachine]

I catch something new every time i listen so good

[@robertbelcher5068]

To maximize the quality of machining jobs always drop it off tuesday morning and pick up thursday. Friday and monday work is the dangerzone

[@GroovesAndLands]

Politely and and courteously making it clear you have the tools, know-how and *intent* to double-check all the work also helps.

[@lateralus6512]

I’ve owned three of them. Two Blacktops and one Silvertop. They are great engines. The only real issue I had with them was that they use oil for some reason. All three of them did it.

[@fregisz]

thanks for the podcasts and guest, gives ideas for thinking

[@hpa101]

Cheers for the support mate - Taz

[@mikemikeyee]

Grade A 4age nerd content! Now I want to know more about offset grinding a 7afe crank for use in 4age block. That just seems wild

[@coollee303]

Yaaay... the mighty 4A-GE!

[@RBGgermanKX250F]

This has been fantastic to listen to. Really interesting and also quite relatable. Personally also started with a 4A swapped KE70 that I also sold and have now bought back 😂 but I also started learning tuning standalone ECUs when I was bed ridden in hospital after a bike accident ( using the HPA courses), after which the first job I did was tuning my friends 4A KE70. I did / do have a background in motorsoprt engineering and was an engine development engineer but was always really interested in the tuning side of things.

[@hpa101]

There's always an upside to something not quite going to plan in life and stoked that we could be a small part of you using your time for more than 'beers on the couch' while you recovered from that accident dude! So awesome to hear and I hope you mended up well enough to be swinging a leg back over these days. Glad you managed to get the KE70 back too and cheers for the podcast support 🤘 - Taz.

[@QcumberDolphin]

Please try and get a podcast with Steve Morris, the knowledge he has and shares on his youtube channel is crazy, I think it would be a really good podcast. loved this episode, keep up the great work!

[@hpa101]

We have reached out. If he's keen he's keen, if not that's cool too 😎 - Taz.

[@QcumberDolphin]

@@hpa101 awesome!

[@hpa101]

Just a quick update, recorded, 2-3 weeks away from release at most 😎 Turns out he has missed our previous messages in the chaos that is an email inbox these days haha - Taz.

[@QcumberDolphin]

@@hpa101 Awesome! Can't wait for the episode

[@GroovesAndLands]

Another interesting discussion; thank you for it. To pick nits: Higher valvespring spring-rate does not rob an engine of power. While it's of course true it takes more power/work to compress them - you get it back as the spring rebounds... except for the portion that is dissipated as heat on account of the strain of the valvespring steel. Of course, no argument that higher spring rate stresses and strains the entire valvetrain more.

[@QcumberDolphin]

because of camshaft profile, the work exerted by the cam to squash the spring may not have an efficient enough transfer back into the camshaft to give total power back. No Idea if this is true, just a theory

[@GroovesAndLands]

@@QcumberDolphin That could be true, but I think we're really getting into the minutia. Higher stress creates more strain, deforming the cam lobe and the follower - which could lead to more friction and therefore energy/power dissipated as heat. But at the levels of strain you'll see in a lobe/follower - we're really talking about separating fly poop from the pepper.

[@monkeypainter808]

Thought experiment. You have valve float. That means all the energy in the spring isn't enough to return the valve closed in time. Thus none of that spring energy is being returned to the cam. To minimize loss and wear, while solving valve float, you use the minimum required valve spring rate to solve the valve float issue. So that means you increased the valve opening pressure requirement, while having minimal energy returned to the cam. Do you still say there is no power loss?

[@GroovesAndLands]

@@monkeypainter808 If you had theoretical valvesprings that kept the cam followers 0.0001mm off the cam lobes during the valve closing event - you wouldn't "re-capture" any of the work/power that went into the valvesprings during the opening event. I see your point: you don't get ALL the work back that you put into compressing the springs... You get back all the work put in MINUS the inertial forces that tend to hang the valve open. Put another way: If you have an engine that doesn't float the valves - you wouldn't lose any power at all by installing stiffer springs.

[@monkeypainter808]

@@GroovesAndLands at all? There will at the very least be more friction due to increased normal forces. Not to mention the nock on effects that can lead to even more losses.

[@TitillatedGoat]

i love 4ages ❤ i got a cuppla 20v 4age and ones in a ae92

[@Dostiempos.Canarias]

Best podcast ever❤

[@REDLINEBECKONZ]

@garage4age is proof that it is actually pretty darn good.

[@rubberrocket7620]

It's kinda hard, it was great back in the dayz but its massively overshadowed by do many other 4cyl engines, don't get me wrong I owned a black top Levin but it's just not held up as much as other more accessible and common sub 2.0l engines

[@exvils]

In this age i would go with 2ar-fxe (x2ar-y32t) very cheap and easy 300-340hp N/A thanks to factory 280° cam (intake, that can be put in exhaust, so 2x280°)

[@Roller_ae86]

Yes

[@notsponsored103]

Hey Andre, I'm curious to know if upon reflection Matthews "10 hours" comment (which initially clearly surprised you) is actually close to your experience with race engines. Not just race engines you've been involved in developing but just race engines generally.

[@AndrewGoodluckae86]

Missed it by 1 episode 😂

[@hpa101]

Damnit! Hindsight eh 😂

[@Wangan400]

Amazing

[@craigauty6756]

Im surprised so many love the 4age and a underdog with very little fan boys is a 2zz which is far superior

[@shaymusmcdonald3204]

So much more history in the 4age I guess

[@ramonharper3460]

Check Jamaica for the 2zz love

[@lomfmur]

Seriously, anybody who likes the 4A should theoretically LOVE the 2ZZ but the 2ZZ is constantly overlooked. Guess we need an anime of our own. Doesn't help the 2ZZ never got a really popular tuner car, unlike the 4A or 2J

[@TitillatedGoat]

disco tado the ol t28