Super-Supra
(Banned)
- 4,111
WE DONT WANT IT TO be a chick car, said a Toyota Solara program executive. Hey, some of our best friends are chicks. They have pretty good credit, too, and theyre buying cars all over the place now. In fact, almost 60 percent of Solara sales go to chicks. You could say chicks dig the Solara. Its just that Toyota wants to sell even more Solaras, so the new one has to have a broader appeal.
In the first half of this year Toyota had to add $500 in incentives to move Solaras out the door. The 2004 model you see here, on sale now, is new from the ground up. Toyota wants it to appeal to chicks, dudes and whoever else can pony up the nearly $20,000 entry price.
To do that, the designers made the new Solara sportier than the old model. It inherits all the platform improvements that first appeared under the new Camry, so it starts with a stiffer chassis. To that is added a performance-tuned suspension, which, in this case, is a relative termeven the sportiest Camry is still a Camry. So dont look for a performance coupe. But this is certainly the sportiest Camry ever made.
The starting point was actually the Camry SC. The suspension geometry is the same as the SC, but the Solara has stiffer bushings and optimized springs and shocks. That doesnt mean every suspension component is stiffer, but everything taken together is aimed at a more responsive feel.
The standard tag line at the product intro was that every mounting and pivot point between the suspension and the body was repositioned and recalibrated.
In that sporty vein, the entry-level SE model comes standard with 16-inch alloy wheels, replacing the 15-inchers from the previous model. Along with its own sport-tuned suspension, called the SE Sport Grade, 17-inch wheels are available on the SE and SLE V6 for the first time.
Ah yes, the V6. As with its Camry-platformed brethren, the new Solara inherits the 225-hp, 240-lb-ft 3.3-liter VVTi V6. That engine is a 27-hp and 28-lb-ft improvement over the old 3.0-liter six. While the V6 comes with a new five-speed sequential automatic, geared for more sporty shifting than the otherwise identical unit found in the Camry, the term sequential is a little overused nowadays and this one, like many others, is basically an automatic with another gate on the shifter plate. There is no manual because Toyota figures less than 2 percent of buyers would go for a stick. So the whole thing loses some of that sporty credibility.
A five-speed manual is available with the 2.4-liter four, which is the same base engine as the previous model. A four-speed automatic is available with the four-cylinder, too.
The new Camry/Solara platform is longer, wider and higher than before, which translates to more room inside. The wheelbase is two inches longer at 107.2 inches and it is almost that much taller, 1.8 inches more to make headroom 38.1 inches.
Inside is an almost all-new interior, including a unique dash and Solaras own instrument fascia. If youre looking to load up on standard features, the Solara offers more for your money than Camry. Everything from ABS and side airbags to a tilting, telescopic steering wheel with redundant audio controls is standard.
Exterior styling is all-new. If you think you see some Lexus SC 430 in there, youre not alone.
In some ways it is very similar, said chief engineer Shigeki Terashi (not the guy who made the chick car comment). But the price is different, half-price.
So think of it that way, an SC for half the sticker. That should attract more buyers.
Duh.
