The Best Japanese V8 Engines EVER

When the normally hears or thinks about a V8 engine, almost always they're going to think of an American engine. After all, over the last 50 plus years, pretty much all US based performance cars are equipped with V8 engines. Obviously that's changing a bit with modern times, but the point still stands.

With that in mind though, the US is not the only country to produce awesome V8 engines, so today we're going to flip the script on its head and look at the best Japanese V8 engines ever.

There's some other engines from Japanese that I think are worth mentioning real quick, including the Toyota R36V which is an insane 3.6L V8 that outputs upwards of 1,000hp, the Toyota V which is Toyota's little known hemi V8 engine from the 1960s and we'll have a video on that soon, and the Mitsubishi 8A80.

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[Dustrunnersauto]

What engines would you add to this list?

[brenteason]

The 5.7L Toyota 3UR-FE was the best gas engine I ever had in a truck. The supercharger kit made that engine a beast.

[haatch]

1uz is also aircraft certified for light plane use which is a 60 to 80 percent throttle test for 8 hrs so not only are they reliable toyota got them certified to fly litterally

[ChrisRobato]

The VK56DE is actually made in Nissan's Tennessee plant.

[janamaro]

Sounds like an amazing idea, My older brother has 2 Toyota Tundras with a 4.7l V8, He recently bought a 2010 Nissan Titan 2WD with a 5.6l V8 engine.

[leecline]

Man forgot the ACTUAL king of Japanese V8s that you can actually buy.
The VK56.
The fact he mentioned the VH which is worse than the 1UZ and not the better than both VK is clear bias, or just ignorance.

[Sir.VicsMasher]

The 390hp VK50VE powering the 09-14 Infiniti FX50 was legit. I believe it was the 2nd or 3rd quickest SUV at time of launch behind the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and SRT8 Grand Cherokee.

[dreid]

Good list but the Vk45de and Vk50ve needed to be mentioned both race inspired Nissan engines 💯

[ArkiCaloyzki]

Awesome video! Very informational. Keep on making videos like this. :)

[hangfire]

Nice video. I'm familiar with the hot rod scene in the US and the aftermarket support for various engines. I would be interested to learn about what support is available for the Japanese V8 engines. They seem to have a lot going for them.

[roskataqv]

I believe the 2UR in the RC and GSFs had more upgrades than just a compression bump.

[AB-these-handles-are-stupid]

What about the LFA. I know it's a 10 but isn't that more powerful?

[dannythompson]

looks like your hair dryer was powered by a V8...

[SilviaT]

I have a 2011 FX50S VK50VE with 390hp and 369tq.

Runs 13.4 on the 1/4 mile on 21” wheels.
Some are running high 12’s only with a tube and simple bolt-ons.

There is a G37 coupe with a VK50VE running 700whp+ on 10psi rear mount turbo, stock internals(130k+ miles), with plenty to f room to go over 1, 000hp.

I think nothing touches the VK engine series as far as Japanese v8’s go.

[WieDrDerJonge]

Hartley in New Zealand pushes their build NA VK56 to 900hp and 10.000rpm. Performance wise Toyota doesn't come close they said.

[ryannylander]

Believe the Toyota Lexus 1UR-FE V8 non DI in the GXs and base Tundras are also just as reliable as the 5.7 Yota engine. I have one. Lower output but stone reliable. Great vid. But yes, the LFA has the highest output of a Lexus production car as mentioned in another comment….

[sabastiangipson]

One to add is the v8 from the lexus ls 430

[justin]

You should do a list of the best Japanese diesels. I have cars with a Nissan TD27 diesel, and that thing is bulletproof.

[skillstacking]

Dude you’re the best. Keep up the great work.

[Scary_Yet_Happy_Miata]

my dream swap is a toyota 3UR-FE with a tremec t56 magnun in a 1966 ford Mustang GT and with the TRD supercharger i do think its a great swap