Thats right gang, I got the opportunity to drive this sleeper. that1mexguy, a member of SELOC surprised some of us with it at our last Friday night meet. He offered me the keys to test his baby out. How could I say no?

This is my first time driving a TRD S/C Solara but I have driven a stock V-6 before and have ridden in a S/C Camry before.. His car has the TRD kit as well and a short shifter. It had been awhile since I've been in a Solara but its amazing the interior this car has for a Toyota. Well built and he replaced the wood garnish with carbon fiber.

Upon startup, you can hear the lil "whuuuurrrr" of the S/C but otherwise, it could be mistaken for a stock engine. UNTIL you let the hammer down. The car accelerates like the usual Solara until about 2500 RPM and WHAM, the S/C kicks in hard!! You have to control the steering wheel as the power to the front wheels hits aggresively, not unlike the new Altima/Maxima and TL. Since its a manual, you really can control where you want your power in. From 3-5500 RPM, the car is VERY strong, we flew by some unsuspecting people. This car is a total SLEEPER. I kept thinking "this is a Solara"? Its like knowing that cute, quiet chick in high school, who never got the attention of her more popular sister (SC). Then, 5 years later, her body fills out, the glasses are gone and IS THAT CLEAVAGE! That is how driving this car felt.

The short shift kit is just that, not as smooth as stock and not as smooth as a Hondas. The thing about it, it give the car character, as the shifts match the tone of the engine when the S/C kicks in.

I was very impressed and surprised by this car. I don't think he's tuned it yet but it should me making about 225 to the wheels at least, as I think he did switch to a smaller pulley. He's going to surprise a lot of people at the track and at the street. SInce its a TRD piece, there is added confidence its a quality kit buitl to Toyota standards.



More pics here
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/562643/1

 

Good review Sick!

Ugh the TRD/SC. Great idea, poor technical backing by TRD USA. The biggest issues w/upgrading to a smaller pulley is the fuel factor. I hope he has done other things than just make his pulley smaller...otherwise he's asking for....BOOM....POW, surprise!

Even running with the stock Denso plugs, you run into the problem of blowing the knock sensors. That's one of my gripes about the Camry/Solara world...which is why I never bothered to S/C my Solara 5spd Manual.

 

I saw a bone stock black non-convertable Solara with Ivory leather interior at a dealer the other day that looked really sharp. I stopped and peaked in the windows and was very impressed. It reminded me of a Lex.

 

The Solara looks sharp, and I love the dark green color, not to mention the matching calipers

 

The solution to this problem is at www.urdusa.com. I installed bigger injectors, a bigger fuel pump, and a Split Second FTC piggyback unit in my supercharged 2001 3.4 liter Tacoma 2wd. (A similar setup is available for the Camry/Solara.) After some tuning, my 5vz engine went from 205 to 248.8 whp at the wheels, torque is at or near maximum anywhere above 2200 rpm, and there's not even a hint of a suspicion of a memory of the pinging it had before. The truck is really fun to drive now, and I'm still getting about 23 mpg. Highly recommended.

 

sounds interesting. any pics

 

Here's one. It's a Tacoma SRunner, 5 speed, LSD.

 

cool, how about motor pics? ever run it at the track?

 

Here's a pic of the engine bay and one of the interior. It's raining in DC, so the pics are little blurry from the water spots on the camera lens...Oh yeah, torque went from 235 to 256 fps with the basic fuel system upgrades. Another Tacoma guy is getting close to 300 whp and 300 torque fps with water injection and a smaller pulley. No track time yet; the problem with high torque in a lightweight rwd truck is that you get lots of tire spin and some wheel hop too. Fatter rubber, drag radials, LSD, and traction bars would help a lot. I've got the LSD, and that's about it for now. I think my setup would be good for high 13 second quarter miles with all the above AND a good driver, but I'm no Ryan Woon .

 

The cabin.

 

Again, nice review sick. Now you know what I have been feeling for the past few years ! I still love it

Yeah urdusa is a big help to the TRD SC community ! I've only got their fuel pump and a few other odds and ends so far. So far over 46k boosted miles of fun on my Camry
My knock sensor did let go once. The techs and I think it was more of an age thing versus fuel delivery since it occured after the fuel mods. It was only a $120 part, so for this much fun... I'll deal with it blowing every 30k miles.

 

And this is the guy who's SC Camry I rode in.

 

and the guy im constantly bugging to help me add my toys without having to blow the engine! LOL I'd like to say that Will (wiz2) has been helping me a lot in making sure I just dont get a diff size pulley without having to upgrade additional stuff, and yes... i've replaced the injectors, the fuel pump, spark plugs and cables, fuel system, etc.... expensive hobby may i say but again, thanks for the review Mike... although it is not pushing the numbers i'd really like to. I'll let you know when I've added the rest fof the stuff i got in mind that should get me at least 250ish to the wheel (and that is just with a conservative set up)... if i ever decide (translation: win the lottery) to add more hp... there will be some drastic changes i'll have to make, but yes.. it is possible... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/378213/1

 

I got a solara 5 speed black on black to replace my es. Cold air, cat back with borla muffler, hyper voltage kit, ngk ignition wires are a few of my mods and the new suspension is coming in next week along with some new bronze wheels. Its a fun car to drive and its got great kick even stock. Its a very classy looking car and turns heads when their modded.

 

I agree with you on that. I feel it's even more so than the newer 2nd Gen Solara.