new here, couple of opinions on buying a solara please :)

[SuperAsian]

hi all, i'm new here and would like some of your opinions about the Solara. the one i have in mind is a 99 SE V6 5 spd. its black and has 65K+ miles and is listed at $11K although i'm confident i can get it down to $10K. anyways, my question here is what is you opinion of them for my needs. what i plan to do with it is probably a once or twice a month 1/4 mile racing. i use to have a 95 maxima auto that i loved to death but sold it in hopes of getting a five speed and less doors. my maxima ran 15.3's consistently and i would love to get a stock car that can run high 14's bone stock. a stock maxima 5 spd with a good driver is capable of that. eventually i'll mod the crap out of the solara, but it'll be intake and exhaust of the bat. i'm 22 so hauling people around isn't a big deal and i love toyota's reliability. any opinions?

[Yanks0114]

I would say you have one hell of a car lined up. Make sure that the timing belt service has been done because all together thats a $400 tune up. Also check the tires, and the condition of the rest of the car. If any of these need replacing use that as a bargaining point. Check a carfax report. I love my solara.

One of the first mods you'll wanna do is suspension. It will help your launches and it'll especially help handling at high speeds. With he SC, 5spd, intake and exhaust you could run low 14s no problem if you can drive stick

[SuperAsian]

i can drive a stick ok. i'm use to launching an auto, especially a high torque auto. i'm wondering if i get intake and exhaust, rims with better tires, and light suspension mods like shocks/struts, if i can run a mid 14. i guess i'm comparing this to the maxima even though they aren't as similar as i thought. a stock s/c maxima runs high 13's. with a few pulley size smaller, bigger injectors and fuel pump, easily a mid to low 13's. i'd love to run a low 14 all motor in a solara

[Yanks0114]

With the mods you listed and a very good stick driver then you probally could run mid to high 14s. I don't know of anyone who has broken into the 13 sec category on the solara, although we do have a lot of guys pushing high HP who havent taken it to the track.

[AGENT 0007]

Well to be honest, if your looking for a two door to run quarters I personally think that the Solara is a bad choice. The car is much too heavy for what your looking for. The reason you get a Solara is because it has the perfect mix of luxury, sportiness, and value. I got my Solara because it was all of the above and plus I liked the idea of being some what original in the fact that I don't see too many of them around. That is my opinion of course so take from it what you will.

[Yanks0114]

Well to be honest, if your looking for a two door to run quarters I personally think that the Solara is a bad choice. The car is much too heavy for what your looking for. The reason you get a Solara is because it has the perfect mix of luxury, sportiness, and value. I got my Solara because it was all of the above and plus I liked the idea of being some what original in the fact that I don't see too many of them around. That is my opinion of course so take from it what you will.

Very well put. I feel the same way. The solara is not a race car, nor is it a sports car

[cdssolara]

I've got to agree with the last two posts. You can certainly take your Solara to the drag strip and have fun with it, but don't expect to knock anybody's socks off. Without a supercharger, I don't see getting into the 14's. An intake and exhaust, without the supercharger, won't give you more than a few hp. If you go to teamsc3.com, there is a page with 1/4 mile times. If I recall, all the times in the 14's were supercharged cars, with the exception of one turbocharged car which had a swapped engine. There are some people who go fairly regularly and have got to low 14's with superchargers, upgraded pulleys, and intake/exhaust.

I'm not trying to talk you out of the Solara. With the right upgrades, it can become a very fun car, in addition to being fairly luxurious and reliable. There are people who are coming up with some new mods that are really increasing the hp. To get to the levels that you are talking about with the Maxima, you will need to spend a lot of money. Don't expect much out of the car in stock form. It was definitely built with comfort, not performance, in mind.