Upgrade Advice Please
Hi guys, new to the SolaraGuy forums, although I've had my car for about 3 or 4 years. I bought the car on Ebay around 2007 I think for $5,000. It's Pearl White, 5-speed, 4-cylinder. I bought the car originally as a commuter for good gas mileage. Soon thereafter I got bored with it and started upgrading. Here is what I've done so far, and what had been done prior to my buying it.
Cheap ram air intake - (previous owner - must go at some point)
Custom Borla dual exhaust w/ tips (previous owner - sounds great, will keep)
Lots of lights and crap (previous owner - ripped out)
Vogtland lowering springs (my upgrade)
KYB GR-2 shocks/struts (came with the springs)
Akita 17" wheels (my upgrade)
Fuzion HRi tires (my upgrade)
Deck, subs, etc. (my upgrade)
The next part of the story is when I realized I wasn't going to get what I wanted out of the 5S-FE motor. I really want to achieve 300 hp. So... I found a wrecked '99 SE 5-speed with the 1MZ-FE and bought it for $1,000. Has the transmission, motor, computer, ABS, everything basically (other than a smashed front end). So I'm working on the motor swap. The next question is - how am I going to get to 300 horses (or more).
I assume I need the following things:
Headers (are the OBX on Ebay worth it?)
Cat upgrade (V6 is missing converter, have had lots of CEL's with the 2.2L motor) (haven't researched this)
Engine management upgrade (looked into these long ago, recommend something please)
TRD supercharger (this is going to be the hardest thing to find)
Bigger injectors (from what?)
Better intake (recommendations please)
Brakes (have to make the swap from disc+drum on the current body to the 4-wheel disc on the "donor")
What am I missing?
I want to have a really unique car (paint, body, etc.) with surprising performance. *No one* (that I've spotted) has a non-factory Solara where I live (Eugene, OR). The car drives decently right now, and has moments of feeling like it wants to be fun, but I want to really tear it up. This will be a commuter (with occasional country drives) so I want to run on 87-octane and balance reliability and ease of use with dramatic increase in power. I realize I'm asking for 110 HP over stock, but I feel like the 100 HP/L of displacement is achievable with this car. I have a Tacoma I drive daily at the moment (when I'm not biking) - so tearing this car to the ground is no issue.
Budget: I'd like to do it with the *best value* to achieve my goals. I want to embarrass the Honda/Acura junkies around here, not to mention the idiots in 4 ton F-350's. Money is always an object, but I will pour some thousands into this over time. I intend to run the car a long time and hand it down to a/my youngster at some point. Pre-2000 Toyotas are the best cars in the world.
Cheap ram air intake - (previous owner - must go at some point)
Custom Borla dual exhaust w/ tips (previous owner - sounds great, will keep)
Lots of lights and crap (previous owner - ripped out)
Vogtland lowering springs (my upgrade)
KYB GR-2 shocks/struts (came with the springs)
Akita 17" wheels (my upgrade)
Fuzion HRi tires (my upgrade)
Deck, subs, etc. (my upgrade)
The next part of the story is when I realized I wasn't going to get what I wanted out of the 5S-FE motor. I really want to achieve 300 hp. So... I found a wrecked '99 SE 5-speed with the 1MZ-FE and bought it for $1,000. Has the transmission, motor, computer, ABS, everything basically (other than a smashed front end). So I'm working on the motor swap. The next question is - how am I going to get to 300 horses (or more).
I assume I need the following things:
Headers (are the OBX on Ebay worth it?)
Cat upgrade (V6 is missing converter, have had lots of CEL's with the 2.2L motor) (haven't researched this)
Engine management upgrade (looked into these long ago, recommend something please)
TRD supercharger (this is going to be the hardest thing to find)
Bigger injectors (from what?)
Better intake (recommendations please)
Brakes (have to make the swap from disc+drum on the current body to the 4-wheel disc on the "donor")
What am I missing?
I want to have a really unique car (paint, body, etc.) with surprising performance. *No one* (that I've spotted) has a non-factory Solara where I live (Eugene, OR). The car drives decently right now, and has moments of feeling like it wants to be fun, but I want to really tear it up. This will be a commuter (with occasional country drives) so I want to run on 87-octane and balance reliability and ease of use with dramatic increase in power. I realize I'm asking for 110 HP over stock, but I feel like the 100 HP/L of displacement is achievable with this car. I have a Tacoma I drive daily at the moment (when I'm not biking) - so tearing this car to the ground is no issue.
Budget: I'd like to do it with the *best value* to achieve my goals. I want to embarrass the Honda/Acura junkies around here, not to mention the idiots in 4 ton F-350's. Money is always an object, but I will pour some thousands into this over time. I intend to run the car a long time and hand it down to a/my youngster at some point. Pre-2000 Toyotas are the best cars in the world.
- srkovarik6
- Just Licensed SolaraGuy
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:10 pm