Toyota has added two new engines for its European Toyota Avensis. Their Europe cars seem to be getting the best that can be found in their engine range. I wish it’d trickle down to markets like ours sooner. They seem to be phasing out the Dual VVT-i engines with the new Valvematic engines that also incorporate Dual VVT-i technology, and the stats for the engines look pretty good.

The Avensis gets a new 1.6 litre Valvematic engine that does 43.5 mpg on the combined cycle, and can take the D-segment Avensis up to 100km/h in 10.4 seconds. This new engine is called the 1ZR-FAE and puts out 130 horsepower at 6,400rpm and 160Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, which is pretty good as its a 100Nm to 1.0 litre of displacement ratio. Anything beyond this would usually start requiring implementing some kind of aggressive high cam tuning or direct injection. A 1.8 litre Valvematic engine also exists – the 2ZR-FAE making 145 horsepower at 6,400rpm and 180Nm of torque at 4,000rpm.

And of course we are already familiar with the first ZR family Valvematic engine that was ever unveiled and first installed in the JDM market Toyota Noah. The Avensis does not get this 158 PS 3ZR-FAE engine though, with the larger power options deserved for turbodiesels, as befitting European market tastes. The Avensis has a new turbodiesel engine called the 2.2 D-CAT 150, which is cleaner than the 2.2 D-4D 150 engine. It produces 148hp at 3,600rpm and a massive 340Nm between 2,000 to 2,800rpm, and for the first time in a diesel-powered Toyota passenger car it can be mated with a 6-speed automatic transmission, while the 2.2 D-4D 150 is only available with a 6-speed manual.

Toyota’s Valvematic technology incorporates continuous valve lift control together with Dual VVT-i’s existing valve timing control. Valvematic eliminates the need for a throttle butterfly, instead controlling the volume of intake air using variable valve lift. This is similiar to BMW’s Valvetronic technology and quite interestingly the Toyota 1ZR-FAE beats the BMW-PSA Price normally aspirated 1.6 litre engine in terms of peak horsepower and equals it in terms of torque, however the Prince engine beats it by making the peak 160Nm at an engine speed that is 150rpm lower.

But still, all of these engines seem to be a little pale in terms of spec sheet numbers and excitement factor in comparison to the 1.4 litre and recently 1.2 litre TSI engines from the Volkswagen stable.