The End of the Road for My Solara
by Eye8Pussies » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:32 pm
well, I don't know if anybody here remembers or even knows, but I picked up a 2000 SLE last year for a steal in NJ, and my sis has been driving it for over half a year in Toronto.
When I went home for Canadian thanksgiving this year (past weekend), I finally imported to Canada and it is now sporting Ontario plates and registration.
I had some good times with the car- a road trip down to MD the day after I picked it up as an acid test, maintenance after I bought the car that kept me busy at Adam's place for the first couple of months I was in NYC, and of course....shannonville track day this summer
(I had to take the Solara because I had just dropped my engine back into my camry and finished the bodywork after the accident, but I had problems while converting my hydraulic PS fan to an electrical one).
So, the end of the road has come for me in regards to the Solara- may my sister keep it well and clean.
And she has to hope that I don't steal her muffler too...haha....it's got a tip big enough to put a grape fruit in, and yet, it's almost silent...
Solara Stuff:
- TRD Supercharger @ 4PSI
- KYB GR2 Struts
- Eibach Sport-Line Springs
- TRD Front Strut Bar
- DEPO Blacked-out headlights
- 6000K H4 HIDs
- 3000K 9006 HID Fogs
- Blue SAFC II
- De-Chromed Front Grill
- Custom fitted Dodge Dakota Sport 4.7L Performance Transmission Cooler (Friggin HUGE!)
- Genuine Gen1 TRD Kit and Spoiler
- Tanabe axle back exhaust
- 18" 5Zigen 5ZR Hyperblack w/ 225/40/18 Kuhmo SPTs (Front) 712s (Rear)
- 5mm spacers (rear)
- 35% Tints
- Torque Rod
- JBL P650 Front Components
- Diamond Audio Professional Series Custom Mounted 6.5 Rear Components with Crossovers
- 2x 12" Random RF Subs + Random Zapco Amp
- Cali-Spec car with stock pre-cats only = 181whp 190ft/lbs
For shits and giggles...here is what happens with cold tires, 26lb wheels and an automatic transmission, and lack of an aftermarket RSB at the track = major understeer into second corner of first lap of a run
And lol- yes, I'm a good driver- I hardly use the brakes- even with this boat of a car, I was able to keep up with RSX's, subie's, 3-series, 5-series, etc and also pass quite a few. It was just a minor...miscalculation haha.
On the note of tracking though, our cars need ALOT of work to actually become a track beast.
The car felt heavy, slow (even with the supercharger- though, admittedly, it's cali-spec and didn't put down that much power), and the brakes would start fade half-way through the first lap (the shannonville track is pretty long - 4K, and the heavy wheels don't help).
On a good note though, the handling was very predictable- you knew when it was going to slide, and even after the brakes have faded and heat-soaked, they still were able to slow down the car enough to hit the turns well. Also, a supercharged 1MZ without the pre-cats would also be able to do much better, as the engine got noticeably more sluggish between the first lap of a run and the last lap (I would usually only do them 3 or 4 at a time), most likely from the extra cats heating up like mad and causing lots and lots of back-pressure.
The biggest downfall of this car on the track though, was that it was automatic. With the supercharger, the car was fast enough to get out of 2nd gear all the time, but with the way that the car was geared, the bottom 3rd gear doesn't have enough power to pull very well. It would have been great if the track was slow enough that the car could stay in 2nd. A 5-speed would have made it a lot easier- also because you can then keep the car in gear and feather the throttle instead of having to mash the pedal coming out of the hard turns to get the car to downshift.
But long story short- I'm going to miss my Solara. *sniff*
When I went home for Canadian thanksgiving this year (past weekend), I finally imported to Canada and it is now sporting Ontario plates and registration.
I had some good times with the car- a road trip down to MD the day after I picked it up as an acid test, maintenance after I bought the car that kept me busy at Adam's place for the first couple of months I was in NYC, and of course....shannonville track day this summer
(I had to take the Solara because I had just dropped my engine back into my camry and finished the bodywork after the accident, but I had problems while converting my hydraulic PS fan to an electrical one).
So, the end of the road has come for me in regards to the Solara- may my sister keep it well and clean.
And she has to hope that I don't steal her muffler too...haha....it's got a tip big enough to put a grape fruit in, and yet, it's almost silent...
Solara Stuff:
- TRD Supercharger @ 4PSI
- KYB GR2 Struts
- Eibach Sport-Line Springs
- TRD Front Strut Bar
- DEPO Blacked-out headlights
- 6000K H4 HIDs
- 3000K 9006 HID Fogs
- Blue SAFC II
- De-Chromed Front Grill
- Custom fitted Dodge Dakota Sport 4.7L Performance Transmission Cooler (Friggin HUGE!)
- Genuine Gen1 TRD Kit and Spoiler
- Tanabe axle back exhaust
- 18" 5Zigen 5ZR Hyperblack w/ 225/40/18 Kuhmo SPTs (Front) 712s (Rear)
- 5mm spacers (rear)
- 35% Tints
- Torque Rod
- JBL P650 Front Components
- Diamond Audio Professional Series Custom Mounted 6.5 Rear Components with Crossovers
- 2x 12" Random RF Subs + Random Zapco Amp
- Cali-Spec car with stock pre-cats only = 181whp 190ft/lbs
For shits and giggles...here is what happens with cold tires, 26lb wheels and an automatic transmission, and lack of an aftermarket RSB at the track = major understeer into second corner of first lap of a run
And lol- yes, I'm a good driver- I hardly use the brakes- even with this boat of a car, I was able to keep up with RSX's, subie's, 3-series, 5-series, etc and also pass quite a few. It was just a minor...miscalculation haha.
On the note of tracking though, our cars need ALOT of work to actually become a track beast.
The car felt heavy, slow (even with the supercharger- though, admittedly, it's cali-spec and didn't put down that much power), and the brakes would start fade half-way through the first lap (the shannonville track is pretty long - 4K, and the heavy wheels don't help).
On a good note though, the handling was very predictable- you knew when it was going to slide, and even after the brakes have faded and heat-soaked, they still were able to slow down the car enough to hit the turns well. Also, a supercharged 1MZ without the pre-cats would also be able to do much better, as the engine got noticeably more sluggish between the first lap of a run and the last lap (I would usually only do them 3 or 4 at a time), most likely from the extra cats heating up like mad and causing lots and lots of back-pressure.
The biggest downfall of this car on the track though, was that it was automatic. With the supercharger, the car was fast enough to get out of 2nd gear all the time, but with the way that the car was geared, the bottom 3rd gear doesn't have enough power to pull very well. It would have been great if the track was slow enough that the car could stay in 2nd. A 5-speed would have made it a lot easier- also because you can then keep the car in gear and feather the throttle instead of having to mash the pedal coming out of the hard turns to get the car to downshift.
But long story short- I'm going to miss my Solara. *sniff*
HaHa
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Ripped...and the girls are loving it.
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Ripped...and the girls are loving it.
- Eye8Pussies
- SolaraGuy Street Racer
- Posts: 1662
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:35 am
