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Toyota Solara

3978 messages,  Last post on Jul 14, 2012 at 2:34 PM

You are in the Toyota Solara Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Camry Solara, Coupe, Convertible

Messages Page 37 of 398

#359 of 3978 infamous solara.. by nori10

Dec 10, 2000 (12:57 am)

Just came to my mind today, watching the car and drvier best 10 cars for 2001, that toyota was not even in one of the sixty candidates... and accord was once again the winner. Where did camry go?..
Not only that,almost everyone in this forum loves their solara, but so little reviews and attention is put into solara from motor trend..C&A..R&T and any internet sites. Also shopping for carparts online, many times from the scroll down bars, there is no such a choice as Solara. ( I guess they just classify it as a Camry). Why do cars such as accord get soo much attention and not the Solara? when they are in the same market? Is it just not popular yet? how are the sales statistics? I was just wondering..
Can anybody make me more proud of owning a SOLARA!!

#360 of 3978 nori10- by fastdriver

Dec 10, 2000 (2:29 am)

nori10-


Don't fall for all those car awards and top ten nonsense! It's all CRAP and POLITICS just like all those Hollywood awards. Go and read http://www.autoextremist.com and look through the archives- specifically the Motor Trend Car of the Year article and you'll see what I mean. I have the 1999 Car of the Year- 300M- it's the worst car I have EVER owned!


Your Solara is 100 times better then my "Car of the Year"!


fastdriver

#361 of 3978 car of the year by radracer

Dec 10, 2000 (2:58 am)

Isn't that UGLY ass wimpy 4cyl PT Cruiser the car of the year? I always see old ladies driving it. I think it looks hideous...and the AZTEC as well. In fact, one dealer told me how he thought that AZTEC was so ugly and that he'd promise not to try to sell me one of those.

#362 of 3978 radracer- by fastdriver

Dec 10, 2000 (3:49 am)

radracer-


Right! Watch how many Chrysler ads- multi-page/ pull-outs- will now appear in Motor Trend. Of course, with their current slashing/cutbacks and new ad agency, maybe MT will be in for a surprise with no big buck ads to bolster MT's coffers!


fastdriver

#363 of 3978 nori10 by automophile

Dec 10, 2000 (5:08 am)

fastrdriver is right on - magazine awards are total crap and politics (Is this redundant?) - they usually go to the largest advertiser. It is the same in ANY industry. Just try to find a BAD review in any magagazine that takes advertising - Cars, hi-fi, computers - never happens!


The Solara is a great car, mine was admired again today by an Accord driver that is now going shopping for a Solara. Enjoy!

#364 of 3978 I feel better now ~(*_*) by nori10

Dec 10, 2000 (8:30 am)

I guess its true.. its all about advertisment and politics here. toyota doesn't need to advertise as much to sell thier cars, since the driver's advertise it for them! Reliable and "good-value"...well depending on which dealer you buy from (me? a monopolostic 'buy or leave' kind of dealer). Its actually funny,,my last choice for the car I was getting was toyota, toyota gave me an image of family sedans..so generic and typical and bland styling. But I do not regret buying my solara, beautiful stlying and luxurious ride. But one think that shocked me was detail parts such as door handles or aircon vents are the same ones used on tercel and corollas..even for the lexus. I guess toyota is smart since they can use the same part for lower costs for all there cars, I just hope they change that "smartness" have more character in each car. A camry and a ES300...the differences are slight..a lexus mark..vvt-i..and leather. But my solara its unique! I never think I am driving a camry solara, but that I drive a solara. Toyota should keep up with cars like this!

#365 of 3978 extended warranty by vitahawk

Dec 10, 2000 (5:49 pm)

Speedracer - thanks for the link. Helpful info. I will take the info to the dealer and see if they will beat the price. Bill

#366 of 3978 horsepower bump by gpolt

Dec 11, 2000 (5:58 pm)

Happy that Paul is content with his Nissan, however, for those considering Solara but longing for more umph, next year's engines will receive considerable improvement with the addition of variable valve technology. Should the base Solara/Camry engine jump up in size and rececive the Highlander's 2.4 liter, it could be the economy sleeper "car of the year".

#367 of 3978 BHP inpiration from gpolt by paul116

Dec 13, 2000 (6:00 am)

I am intrigued about the rumored new 2.4 liter engine for the Solara, as I am one that gloats over performance specs. Before I test drove anything, I calculated peak BHP per ton of curb weight. This figure serves as a very good indicator when comparing prospective new cars to recent ones that I have owned. I had always loved the styling and interior of the Solara, but was disappointed when my figures indicated that the 4-cylinder Solara would not be much faster than my ex-Focus. For a long time, I ruled out the Solara because of this calculation, but finally told myself that maybe my figures were erroneous for just this one case.


The respective BHP per ton figures are: Focus SE=83.46, Solara SE=86.54, Sentra SE=108.45, and Solara SE V-6=123.84. Since these are all calculated from peak horsepower, which no one ever really achieves in real world driving, this could explain some of the bias. As it turned out, the Solara was slower than the Focus on the interstate. Performance-wise, the Focus' weak area was merging onto interstates, but it had no problem in going from 70-90 in little enough time to get out of a "roadblock" created by daydreaming drivers. The base Solara would be stuck behind the daydreamers. Like I said previously, the base Solara is an "economy car that pretends to be a close relative of the Lexus."


My new Sentra SE has more than enough power for my needs, with the Solara SE V-6 having another theoretical 14% power over my Sentra, which I really don't need.


So, if one were to divide 108.45 by 86.54 and then multiply this figure by the BHP rating for the base Solara, the theoretical desired Solara horsepower rating to match the Sentra SE would be 170 to 175 BHP, or about a 2.6-2.8 liter with VVTI. So if the 2.4 liter engine were optimized in design with VVTI, it would indeed be a true "sleeper". If Toyota could do this, they could simply drop the 2.2 and 3.0 Solara engines, and offer this new engine as the only choice. Had this been available on my test drive, I may well have bought the Solara. As it stands now, the two Solara engines are at the extreme ends of the spectrum.


By the way, I am REALLY glad that I did not buy the Alero, as I was shocked to hear that GM plans to phase out the Oldsmobile division. How could they? They should get rid of Buick instead.


As for those of you who are thinking of buying a Sentra over the Solara, I must warn you that the two suspension systems are like night and day. The Solara's was a bit too soft for my tastes, but Lexus drivers would say that the Sentra SE rides like a pickup truck. Personally, I like to know when the road is bad, so that I can adjust my driving. The Solara will disguise bad roads so well, until you finally need another front end alignment. The Sentra will slap you in the face as soon as the road gets bad, which is the way I like my cars - very, very, tight. I doubt if there is another driver out there who would choose a Sentra SE over a base Solara, but it fits my needs very well.


So, Toyota! How about a 2.5 liter VVTI with a true sport suspension on the next Solara? It sounds like my dream car, and I'm sure that a whole new group of buyers would be attracted.

#368 of 3978 NO! by radracer

Dec 13, 2000 (10:08 am)

there is no replacement for displacement! the Solara needs a 3.2 or 3.4L so it can have more low end torque. A 2.4 or 2.5 would be to wimpy. Even Ford's zetec 2.5L in the new Cougar puts out 196hp but only 168ft-lb torque. If economy is what you're after, then Toyota should drop in an inline 6 from the IS300 and bump up the IS300's power. This would give it good power and much better fuel efficiency.


VVTi sounds great, but there's a huge flaw...there are two torque and power curves, one peak occuring at lower rpms, around 3000, and the other at peak rpm, but after 3000rpm, the power and torque drops until 4000rpm and rises again. This "rerouting" of power is great for every day driving, but really slows down 1/4 mile and 0-60 times. that's why the solara v6 can whoop the celica GTS and IS300.

Messages Page 37 of 398

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