First Drive of 2004 Solara @ Edmunds...

by **hari-bhari** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 12:15 pm

u kno i was thinking, if i was an engineer, what would i do for the 04 solara? they got a few things right, 17 inch wheels, the optional body kit, and the nice interior. if i had to redesign the 04s to something more acceptable, i would do a couple things. i would go back to the 03 body style, but change out the taillights and headlights to something a little classier. i wouldnt mess with the interior at all, i like the 04 interior a lot. 5 spd with sportshift is a great thing, but they should make the 5/6 spd manual optional for the v6 as well. and i think that 17 inch wheels and trd body kit should come with all the models. it would look awesome then.

by **Grazi07** » Wed Jul 23, 2003 6:46 am

Given the Toyota/Lexus pairing, I gotta say that the designer was prolly using the SC as inspiration.... that still doesn't justify what they've done to that poor thing.... :cry:

by **Missay** » Wed Jul 23, 2003 9:23 am

I couldn't finish reading the article, it was too depressing to me.

If they had just wrote that article, but there were no pictures available, I would have been SO excited and eager to get a 04'. They seemed to have done almost everything right (minus the no V6 sticks) and seemed to have improved everything that sucked w/ the previous models.

Then you see the outside.........

by **TMC** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 11:48 am

You guys are being brutal. :evil:

You need to take a good look at the new sport grade, then DRIVE it. It is sooooooo much better than the Gen 1 as far as Power, ride and Handling not to mention wind and road noise. The picture above is one for the old ladies that bought the Gen 1's. The sport grade SE with the better suspension, ground effects, and sport interior is for the real drivers.

I love the fact the you guys love you old Solaras, but this is a definate improvement

by **SammySolara** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 12:00 pm

Hello TMC!!! Well, in my opinion the new Solara looks nothing like the older versions thus the reason that it should not be called a 'Solara' but rather a 'cat w/ down syndrome'* Sorry, but I guess I just love my 02! We all have different opinions though and I respect yours.

*Blaze's comments today in the NEW chat feature!!!

:lol:

Website · by **DavPak** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 12:37 pm

TMC, why don't you sign up so we can get deeper into discussions regarding toyotas.

by **roblectric** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:25 pm

It was the same when Ford redesigned the Taurus, Dodge trucks, Ford trucks,,etc. Just takes some getting used to. I wonder how long it will take for some of those crying "yuck" to have one in their garage. :roll:

by **SammySolara** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 6:45 pm

roblectric wrote:It was the same when Ford redesigned the Taurus, Dodge trucks, Ford trucks,,etc. Just takes some getting used to. I wonder how long it will take for some of those crying "yuck" to have one in their garage.

NNNEEEEVVVVAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

by **hari-bhari** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 6:58 pm

roblectric wrote:It was the same when Ford redesigned the Taurus, Dodge trucks, Ford trucks,,etc. Just takes some getting used to. I wonder how long it will take for some of those crying "yuck" to have one in their garage.

i partially agree with your statement. when i first saw the new accord sedans, i thought they were butt ugly, then after a lil while, they were ok, then after a lil while, they started looking decent, and now i think they look really good. its a well-designed sporty-looking car, even the sedan. so maybe it will grow on you. but the opposite holds true too. when the sc430 came out, i thought it was gorgeous, i liked it a lot.......but then, the more i saw it, the uglier it got. now i dont like it at all. so i guess it could go both ways, but since the solara is closer to the sc430, i doubt ill start liking it more, but who knows

by **solaryellow** » Sat Jul 26, 2003 8:04 pm

Everyone I know that has seen it in person says it's fantastic. Pictures don't do it justice. I think we should chill until we can see one in person.

by **{-_-}** » Sat Jul 26, 2003 9:22 pm

I remember when I first saw the Gen 1 I was not too crazy about the look. A year later I was a proud and happy owner. I am not too crazy about the rear of the new Solara either, but I think I will accept it with time. Cant wait to see it in person though.

by **impactX** » Sun Jul 27, 2003 4:46 am

roblectric wrote:It was the same when Ford redesigned the Taurus, Dodge trucks, Ford trucks,,etc. Just takes some getting used to. I wonder how long it will take for some of those crying "yuck" to have one in their garage.

It's fugly.

by **RobVanDiesel** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 3:51 am

Its going to take a lot of warming up to do for me to even tolerate the styling, or maybe a 6 pack.. But what irrates me the most about this car is no 5 speed manual with the V6, I just don't get it, why waste a decent motor on a power eating automatic transmission. Boo to toyota on this one.

by **TheTamago** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 6:29 am

well Toyota's main site is showing the 2004 Solara in a mini window pop up. The interior sure makes me jealous. I preferred the steering wheel on my 2000 model then the 2004. Although the part with the remote for the soundsystem is appealing to keep your hands on the steering wheel. Even though i am capable of keeping my car going straight when tuning my deck, some people i know can't keep the car centered when touching their deck. :roll:

The shift plate is pretty neat. The dashboard has that sexy but gay kinda blue lite up seen on those custom dashboard liteup kits. The odometer is on the left side as well with the oil/gas indicators on the right side. Pretty spiffy.

The sports package deal is sexy and jealous of it as it wasn't really an open option to us Solara owners unless we wanted a TRD version which could pony up $2k extra perhaps on the certain stage we were seeking. I'm not much of a car buyer but it sounds about right yes?

The 2001+ Celicas popped up with nice sports packages with aero body kit and suspension ups i think.

Nice step up as its a pretty sweet deal now for a 2004 owner if vouching towards a 4cyl manual/auto. V6 manuals sure would've brought justice as i've seen it in most of these posts to win us over. But hence not unless someone is willing to do it in.

On a side note, yep, definately needing a sexy spoiler for the rear. The rear got a bad low hump to it even with the body kit skirts on.

by **hari-bhari** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 6:36 am

RobVanDiesel wrote:Its going to take a lot of warming up to do for me to even tolerate the styling, or maybe a 6 pack.. But what irrates me the most about this car is no 5 speed manual with the V6, I just don't get it, why waste a decent motor on a power eating automatic transmission. Boo to toyota on this one.

the solara is marketed to 40-50 year old baby boomer generation who has jus sent the kids off to college and want something luxurious, sport, and reliable. i think their catch-phrase for the previous generations was 'no guilt.' or something like that. anyways, because this is marketed to older buyers, i guess toyota figured that a manual version would be uneccesary. plus it costs them more to design and produce two transmissions, so i guess they didnt want to waste their resources since demand wasnt too high,

First Drive of 2004 Solara @ Edmunds...

Who is online