Faster accel

[Craziluke]

hey how much fast would your excelleration be if you added a new muffler is ther anyting that would help the acceleration

[FLASH]

Muffler would give more HP more in later gears, somethin like a CAI would help acceleration. Also bigger wheels and better tires would help with grip off the line.

[Yanks0114]

Muffler would give more HP more in later gears, somethin like a CAI would help acceleration. Also bigger wheels and better tires would help with grip off the line.

...but bigger wheels will hurt acceleration. More to get spinning.

A muffler will do nothing for your acceleration.

[GR]

I was being taught on the tire concept with this shoe analogy:

Let's say you're comfortable wearing a size 9 shoe.
If you wear a size 13 shoe, what happens? Not only you're wearing a size that is not comfortable for you, if you force to walk with it, don't you need more power to finish each step?

Now, associate these with tires. With a wider tire width (such as 195, 215, etc.), you need more horsepower to get the car going. You have also modified the settings that are not specifically engineered for the car. One example is unsprung weight - Toyota's steel/alumi wheels have been extensively tested to ensure that their weight, quality and geometry will not cause them to rub the fender, will not bent significantly under severely bumpy situations, etc. Steering properties, acceleration properties, braking properties - they've all been modified to some degree -either positive or negative in each category. It's not as bad as it sounds, just be aware of what you've changed.

[ICrazyChrisI]

With a wider tire width (such as 195, 215, etc)

Don't you mean profile/depth? ie. 60/50/45

[SolaraT]

Lighter wheels!!!! 13lb each!

[JoeB]

I'll take a stab at the wheel/tire subject:

Starting with wheels. The larger the wheel, usually the heavier it is which increases parasitic loss and will make the car slower. Not in all cases though. I went from the stock 16" rim to the 17" TRD TSW rim which was larger but slightly lighter. Then went to an 18" SSR Comp which is even lighter still. It looks great but a 16" SSR Comp would be even lighter which would be even faster and allow a greater aspect ratio which would help with traction too.

The overall tire diameter changes the effective gear ratio of the vehicle. The larger the tire diameter, the slower it will be off line apearing to give more traction because of the lack of torque. It will also increase the top end speed. Conversly, a smaller tire diameter, will give more torque, less traction and a slower top end speed.

The tire width can help increase traction. Along with increasing the traction, you increase drag, rolling resistance. This makes it harder for the vehicle to move in any direction. Requiring more power.

The tire's aspect ratio also plays a part in traction. That is the middle number in the tire's size, 225/40/18 =40. The smaller the number there, the thinner the rubber is between the wheel and the road. A larger aspect ratio will allow you to decrease pressure and gives the sidewall of the tire more give increasing traction. Look at the pro drags one time. It looks like their back tire is real low on air. It is very difficult to accomplish that with low profile tires. -JoeB

[Solara916]

Dude Joey, I felt like I was reading a textbook or something.

This is my take on acceleration. The Solara isn't meant to be fast, at least not from what I have experienced. I have a 4-banger, and by no means is it quick in any way, so I figure, if it can't be fast, why not just make it look good?

So I figure, go with any tire size/weight/color whatever Luke, because when you think about it, there will always be a better and faster car out there.


-Alan

[Mole]

Dude Joey, I felt like I was reading a textbook or something.

This is my take on acceleration. The Solara isn't meant to be fast, at least not from what I have experienced. I have a 4-banger, and by no means is it quick in any way, so I figure, if it can't be fast, why not just make it look good?

So I figure, go with any tire size/weight/color whatever Luke, because when you think about it, there will always be a better and faster car out there.


-Alan

you hit the nail right on its head.

[Nutty101]

I dunno, anything can be made fast. Just takes money to do it.

[Solara916]

If money was no object, then this question wouldn't pertain to you.

[cdssolara]

The easiest answer to quicker acceleration would be to get more power, and the most obvious solution would be to get a supercharger. Other than that, you would want to lighten your unsprung weight or reduce parasitic drag on your engine. As mentioned above, buying lighter wheels is a very good solution. JoeB mentioned SSR Competitions, but there are also selections from Volk and Racing Hart, among others, that are as light as 12 or 13 lbs each. For the lightest possible wheels, you should also stay with smaller diameters, like 15" or 16". They don't look as good as bigger diameter wheels, so most people don't go that route. The brands I just listed can also provide some pretty light 17" and 18" wheels. The problem is that all the superlightweight wheels are very expensive. To reduce parasitic drive train loss, the best solution would be to get a lightweight flywheel. That would only apply if you have a manual transmission, though.

[Solara916]

How about just buy a car that is fast to begin with?

[Jackass-Jeff]

How about just buy a car that is fast to begin with?

You found the answer to life =P

If someone wants a really fast car, dump the SOlara and get a Nissan =P

The Solara is a slow cruiser vehicle. It's fast enough for daily use. No matter how much money you put into it, there will be another car that is faster. If you start with the world's fastest production car and modify it you'll have it faster than another, but there is a f15 jet that > you. etc =P

The most typical answer of "engine swap" makes the Solara NOT A SOLARA anymore =P

[Solara916]

Before I say anything else, I just want to say that I don't mean to offend anyone, because everyone has done a really good job on their cars, at least from what I have read and seen in pictures on this site...

So with that said...

I was just thinking about this earlier today. People spend thousands of dollars on their cars, just to make it better than it was when it rolled off the assembly line. People spend all their money to make their car equivelant to a car that they could have purchased in the first place, when you put into account the price for the car plus all the money for modifications.

I totally agree with Rave Boi.

I mean I bought this car because it was big, comfortable, and it got better gas mileage than the Montero Sport I used to drive. I can understand putting some money into the car to change it asthetically, but to modify it to the point where it isn't even considered a Solara anymore just doesn't make any sense.

Why not go and buy a Kia or a Hyundai and supe that up. They are cheap in regards to quality and price. I think if someone were to invest a bunch of money into one of those models, and have it competing against higher end automobiles, that would be something to give priase for.


-Alan