very good point, having had all 3 motors mentioned, nothing takes to sheer full throttle abuse like the 4ag. its like toyota designed it to be that way. oww wait they did. that being the spec motor for Froumla atlantic for 20 years or so(1.6L 240hp 11,500 rpm's on a FACTORY toyota crank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). i see alot of good responses,. i've had both american and japanese cars and i just feel that the build quality is alot poorer int he american cars, not saying they all suck, but for the most part you get alot better and solid feel from a japanese car ( one that was actually built in japan). the bran new 60k caddy's still feel like a cavalier. the new mustangs seating postion may be better than the fox, but it still sucks. a big part of that is the fact that japanese car manufactures use better quality materials when they build their cars, which has a huge roll in how the car will age and fell when it gets older.