Solara News

Well I decided to change my life around started with a new job and a new life. I decided to let go my Solara as part of my new life resolution. The car has been great after I fixed it up but I just wanted something new. I had the Solara since 1998 September, so I had it for 8 years. It's time to let it go. I missed it alot since we got so much history together. Supercharger kicked ass! I traded in on the Labor day weekend for a 2006 brand new Lexus IS350. It was the last and cheapest IS350 on the lot, but it's the power I want. It has 306hp so it's close to my Solara. The car has some serious speed alright. But it feels somewhat the same as Solara. Solara is front wheel drive and the IS350 is rear wheel drive. So the IS350 acceleration feels like it's pushing you instead of pulling. It is a different feeling. I enjoy the push start button and the electroluminescent gauges, very neat. And the car just feel refined instead of roughly modified. I should enjoy it for quite sometime. Thanks everyone for reading my page, I will still keep this page up for a while. I should have an IS350 page up sometimes....

Decided not going to deal with the CEL P0171 and rough idling anymore. I think I got it fixed for good this time from this past month. Long live my Solara!

7-8-06 to 7-16-06
Right now I am doing some deeper work in car repair and maintenance than just the oil change. After I realize how easy it really was with brake repair, I decided to look into my mysterious Check Engine Light (CEL) P0171 (Bank 1 too lean) problem. Since I already paid the Toyota dealership 2 years ago to diagnose the problem and I paid top dollars for it without resolution, I wanted to get it fixed myself for good. Plus it's more of an achievement I can earn for myself (not much of that in my life, sadly to say).

I already cleaned up my throttle body by removing the whole assembly. It was a bitch, but I did it. CEL comes back. So I decided to yank out my supercharger and replace some gaskets and possibly cure some vacuum leak issues. Since everything important is under the supercharger, it's good that I took it out and work on what's underneath it: mainly the 3 spark plugs under it, the spark plug wires, PCV and hose, and the rear valve cover which I later on discover that it is started to leak. The rear valve cover is a pain, I have to disassemble and loose the electrical harness on the right side of the engine just to remove it. I have 85% of the electrical connectors for the sensors unplugged. All my parts are ordered and on the way.

I also decided to change my fuel pump to a higher flow one to see if more fuel to the engine would help with the problem. It was fun installing it since the fuel pump assembly is submerged in the gas tank. Any tiny spark would be Kaboom for me and the car. I got it done alright, it was a pain as well. I'm not going into the detail on it. I'm just glad that I got it done, and hopefully done right.

I also ordered the fuel filter upgrade kit which includes fatter hoses for fuel delivery to the fuel rails. It's recommended by all the forum members with supercharged Solara. I got the parts and waiting for others to put in first.

I just hope after I put everything back together and the car is not going to blow up! This coming week will determine if my car is a go or no go! I know I can do it!

7-19-06

7-20-06
Finally got my valve cover bolts today and rushed home to put them in. I was anxious to see if the car would run. I put the key in and tried to start the car, everything lighted up, but no cranking! I was not happy. I checked everything and everything seems to be fine. I thought the fuel pump wasn't pumping any gas into the fuel rails. I checked the fitting and it was dry. I thought I heard the old fuel pump working when the car was turned on but not running. I didn't hear the fuel pump running. So I thought the fuel pump did not make the right connection or something. I was about to pop the fuel pump out again to check it then I realized that the windows were rolling down really slow....Battery! My battery was weak! I had it disconnected for the past two weeks and it should be okay. So I hook up the jumper cable from Darlene's car and the car started to crank and started! I was ecstatic! Then out of the windshield I saw something shooting out the engine bay! I quickly stopped the car and got out to check it. Damn, I forgot to screw the fitting on the fuel filter to the fuel rails! I missed it! I quickly screwed it in tight and jumped started the car again. Went out the car and check everything. All seemed well! Valve covers are not leaking. Nothing was shooting out. I saw some light smoke coming from behind the supercharger and I was like, "Shit! The rear valve cover leaked and dripped the oil on the rear exhaust header!" But it didn't smell like burned oil. I quickly stopped the car again and checked for leak, nothing. Then I was able to start the car without the jumper cable. Next I ran the car for about 5 minutes, no problem at all. I decided to take it out for a spin. Ran just fine! I was very happy! The Walbro fuel pump is very loud. I can hear it a little bit inside the car. I can hear it whining louder outside the car. I don't care, the car runs fine now. I took it to get dinner and it drove great! No check engine light so far, no funky idling problem. I may have the problems solved...for now! Happy for now! What a relief!

Do I feel like updating this site every two years or what? Still got the same old Solara. It is still running...okay. I've been ignoring P171 Bank 1 Too Lean Check Engine Light all year long. I don't even feel like resetting it anymore. Not too long ago the CEL decided to go away on it's own and I was so happy....for 10 miles and then it came back. Oh well. Got excited for nothing.

Sometimes last year I decided to troubleshoot the P171 problem on my own with dealer's help. I replaced MAF sensor, 2 O2 sensors, timing belt, PCV. The CEL P171 still comes back. It comes to a point where the dealer just kinda gave up on diagnosing it. They just plain sucked. I ended up putting my old air box back but still with K&N filter, no help. I ripped out my SAFC, no help. Besides the CEL problem, my car starts to idle weird. I spent about a grand in parts and labor and I finally gave up as well. I decided to let the car run as is and just let it die whenever or until something goes wrong. As the time goes by, the car still runs great without any problem. So I just don't know what to say...

For the last few months the steering wheel started to pulsate when I brake in high speed. I saw the damn rotors in the front warped and has grooves in it. So I took the car to the repair shop thinking they could resurface it and put some new pads on it. They told me they couldn't turn the cross drilled rotors and the new ones needed to be installed. They quoted me some insane price of 500 bucks for two front rotors. I said I'll just order the parts on internet and have them install it.

So I ordered new Brembo rotors again from eBay. This time the rotors has zinc plated to prevent rust. I love it. The old shitty Brembo (if it was Brembo at all) rust like a bitch. I also bought new Hawk street performance pads for front and the back. I decided to replace the brake lines with Goodridge SS ones. I got all the parts for about 400 bucks. Good stuff. I didn't feel like taking it back to the repair shop (Big 10 Tires) since they don't know squat about parts (yea, those dan' sports rotors, yada yada). So I tried to call around to get some estimate over the phone. The first place I called, JustBrakes, they don't even install aftermarket parts due to liability. So I decided to replace them myself, I got the Haynes manual, shouldn't be that hard.

I managed to install the rotors and the pads myself. It was easier than I thought. I just didn't feel like getting my hands dirty. Shit I will replace all the pads for my family members for free. Too easy. I did had some stupid issue with the rear pads not fitting but I didn't realize the lower sliding pin (duh, sliding) for the bolt was able to "slide around" to accommodate the new pads. I decided not to install the SS lines myself due to safety issue and more complicated procedures. The rotors and the pads work great!

After reading some forums and DYI sites about the SS lines. I had mix feelings to installing it myself. But after careful examination, the procedures looked pretty easy as well. I'm very mechanically inclined, so I decided to go for it and replaced the lines myself as well. I started the rear passenger side since it's the farest away from the master cylinder. I followed the instructions from the Haynes manual, and I couldn't get the fitting off the chassis for some reason. I took a hell of the time yanking it off, bitched and moaned. I got the lines off finally but I couldn't install the new lines back in. The fitting looked all screwed up. I sat on the garage floor upset and mad at the same time, stared at the setup and wondering WTF was wrong. I almost gave up and about to call the AAA and tow my car to a shop. Then I did more research on line. I found a site which had a slight different steps then the manual. So I plugged the line to prevent fast leaking and started the rear driver side brake line with the new steps I found on the internet. Bam, the rear driver side brake line replacement was done in less than 15 mins! So instead of trying to unscrew the bolt all the way, loosen it a bit instead, remove the U clip then unscrew it all the way. Haynes wanted me to unscrew it all the way then remove the U clip which I couldn't do and bent the fitting somehow. I was surprised! So I cracked open the fitting I had troubled with and compare them. I found out the fitting on the problematic one was a bit big which prevented me from loosing it and installing the new one. So I used the pliers and crimped it in around the fitting and finally got the damn line installed. DAMN HAYNES! I'm going to write a complain about the procedure they have. If you need help installing the lines please contact me poman2000@hotmail.com and I can help you out.

Bleeding the brake was easy, I bought the one man brake fluid bleeding kit from Discount Auto part and with the help of my wife I did it for the rear two brakes. Works well. I do notice tiny leaking on the fitting which I fucked with originally. But the leak rate was really small, I retightened it and it stopped leaking. I went ahead and did the front two lines as well. Easy as pie once I've done them. No problems at all. The new SS lines do not feel any different than the stock rubber one. Whatever....looks good though. Lots of people on the net do not like them since they don't last and may rupture sometimes. Oh well, I hope it does not happen.

That's pretty much it for my car. I removed my tint sometimes in the past because they are all screwed up. I kinda like it without. But in the process using the razor blade I scratched the rear defroster lines and it does not work. I bought the repair kit and attempted to fix it. But I have not encounter a cold day yet to try it out. That was an easy repair as well.

My Pirelli tires are pretty naked almost. I need another set soon. Lasted about two years with aggressive driving. It's a nice set of tires, very quite. Not sure of 400 UTQG though, seems to wear out fast for 400 rating.

I sold my Gen 1 Apexi SAFC on eBay and I'm thinking that it may fix my P171 problem if I install it back with rich mixture. So I ordered the new version Apexi SAFC Neo online from this damn place called www.revivedracing.com for $299 plus 13 bucks shipping. It is the lowest price anywhere for about 30 bucks difference. After 2 weeks of waiting, nothing. Then I realized the website could be a scam, no # to call at all and they don't respond to emails. The site looks very comprehensive and it fooled me! Buyers beware! I filed the claim with Paypal trying to get my money back. If the price is too good to be true, then it is. Stupid me once again! DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS SITE!

I wanted to get my car repainted and all the dings removed. Sometimes I guess. I still love my Solara very much. The Gen1 Solara lowered just look so damn sexy still.....since it has plenty of power and it's a Toyota, I hope it will last for a long time for me. I wanted a new car, but I will still keep this one as my side project. I'll put another update in about two years I guess, or until I got my P171 CEL fixed for good.

Happy 4th of July!!

Car has been running great with the 6lb pulley. My car started to have check engine light issues for about a year but I keep ignoring it by just retting the light with my OBDII scanner. The codes I have been getting are the P446 (Evap malfunction) and P171 (Bank 1 too lean). The P446 was due to my fuel cap gasket worn out. So I finally got the chance to replace it and now I have not getting both codes at all. So I think the improper pressure in the gas tank due to loose gas gap caused my bank 1 not shooting fuel properly?? We'll just have to see about that.

My car also started to have problem starting up. Every time I started the car my stereo receiver got resetted. It was annoying and my ignorance was telling me it's not the battery because I just had it replaced a year ago. Well the car died while I was out shopping one day and I could not get it to start back up. I had a friend helped me jump it and it actually started. So it was not the alternator or the starter or the ignition as I was expected. As I about to take the battery our for replacement and I realized that I have not add water to the damn battery and it was dry!! Then I realized that I have this same battery for 4 years!! I have not added water to it for 4 years!!! I got it prorated and replaced, cost me 25 bucks to replace and now it's all good. What an idiot I was.

My 3rd sets of tires finally worn out so I finally decided to replace them since I started getting hydroplaning in the rain a lot, scary situation. I have been faithful customer of Nitto NT450 Extreme All Season and they are reasonably priced and low noise and good wear. I have gone through 2 sets of NT450 and 1 set of Toyo Proxes FZ4. Toyo was just plan sucked with tread wear and high noise. Nitto lasted about 25K miles under aggressive driving. I started to shop for my next set of tires. I found this new one made by Pirelli, the PZero Nero M+S. The review and spec from the www.tirerack.com was just amazing so I decided that's the tire for me. It has a fantastic price, cheaper than my Nitto and the tread wear is 400 UTQG with AA traction and A Temperature, superb, excellent spec. The tire is actually back ordered for 225/45/17 until mid July and I didn't want to wait. I found a place on the net www.vulcantire.com and ordered the 215/45/17 instead and put it back on my old Niche Shock rims and had the local tire shop mounted everything. I have to say WOW, this tire is damn amazing, especially the noise level, so quiet! It's so quiet compared to any other passenger touring tires I have been in before. The grip is just amazing in dry or wet. No wonder people are crazy about this tire. If you are in the market for tire replacement, this is the ONE to get! In addition this ultra high performance all season tire is not directional tire so you can rotate them anyway you want, instead of front and back only with directional tire. This tire is highly recommended by ME!

Until then, enjoy your car, if you have a Solara that is, if not, I hope it's something better. I have been thinking about my next car already....hmm...No money!!! :(

Thanks for visiting my page again! Happy New Year (late again!) Time for another update, erm, rambling!

For all you people out there with the new 04 Solara, What's the matter with you???? Can't you see the people at Toyota screwed up the exterior big time??? Damn it's so fat and ugly! I can't believe my eyes when I first saw one up close! They tried to make you believe that you are driving a poor man's Lexus SC430 or what?? Although I do like the interior much better than the first generation. I wish they could just lightly rounded the exterior of the first generation and then change the interior to the second generation, that would be great! Or even better, change the front of the first generation Solara to the 1.5 Generation and keep the rest the same, that would be great. In fact I saw someone had a 1st Gen Solara with the 1.5 Gen front bumper, LOVE IT! By the time they would do that I would have something else better, hmm, Infiniti G35 coupe maybe? I need something faster, like in sub 5 seconds range, YEA!

It's been 5 months since I had my pulley changed to 6lb without any problems. I still get occasional CEL (Check Engine Light) for Bank one too lean. So I played around with my SAFC to ramp up the curve at the lower RPM and it's seems to like it. Never had the chance to let the supercharger loose at full throttle until one cold night, I decided to take it out for a test run with my new G-Tech Pro Comp meter. I have to say the 2 extra pounds made a huge difference in horsepower. I could not get any traction at all on the first gear until in the middle of the second gear my front tires finally grabbed the road and started to pull. It was a rush for me, but too bad I couldn't get a quarter mile finished. The result was bad on the G-tech meter, 0-60 in 7.6 second considering that I was burning rubber for a good 2 seconds or so. I have no doubt the car definitely moves fast since everyone else was in my rearview mirror :) Need to save some extra money for soft compound tires and maybe I could get 5.5sec or less 0-60!

Recently I have people started to me asking to put their links to my link page. I didn't know my poopy page gets so popular all the sudden. That's fine with me, perhaps I could collect referral fees later on from them :) I WANT DISCOUNTS! Hehe!

(7-5-03)

Holy moly this is the only update I had for year 2003! For those people who still visit here, shame on you, this is a shitty website for your Solara-info-craving needs! :) Between last update this this update, which is about 2 years apart, tons of things happened to me! I got married with the girl I love and "kinda" stopped working on my car. Now the baby girl is about due in a month, there are still more for upgrading.

- I installed Injen instake, not cold air intake, just for shit and giggle, which really do nothing but making more noises and "suppose" to give me more power. Looks good in the engine bay though.
- A gauge pod was also installed with a AutoMeter Boost Gauge and AutoMeter Air-Fuel Ratio Gauge.
- I bought a Apexi SAFC and wanted to get it tuned but couldn't find anyone in town to dyno-tune it. So I just punch in the setting for a more rich mixture.
- My old rims was giving me problems with the vibration at high speed. So I went to get a new set of rims, Mille Miglia Spider 17x7 and the vibration went away. I'm thinking maybe I should have that old rims balanced somewhere else so I can still use them.
- Brembo cross drilled and slotted rotors were installed in the front and back. Looks nice. I was having problem with the rust around the hub area, so I painted it black with high temperature paint. Looks good now again!
- I also decided to change out the pulley on the 4th of July weekend. I took out the old pulley assembly (took me day and a half, since my alternator bolt was being a bitch to remove; end up cutting the whole thing apart with Dremel), installed the new dynamic belt tensioner assembly. I decided to install the 6lb pulley after I heard so many people with the knock sensor problem. Since I'm here in Florida with 93 octane gas so I figured that I should be okay with it. The new pulley for some reason makes the car much faster, perhaps my old pulley with the old pulley assembly was never getting enough boost. Now my car should have about 300hp at the crank, ME HAPPY!

NEW pictures for you to see in the gallery section for the parts I have installed!

About time for me to update my site. I finally received the Solara rear sway bar from Toyotaparts4u.com after I ordered in back in April. Well it's a long wait but I got it installed this weekend. It was pain in the butt to install but I got it all done within 2 hours. To remove the old sway bar first you need to remove two bolts and nuts off the muffler (trust me it will make the job easier) then take off the rest of the bolts and nuts. I didn't realized that in the beginning and I tried to wiggle the old sway bar out and it took forever. After that everything was pretty easy. I didn't have the chance to really try it out on the road (rainy day) but I will post more after I get a good feeling of it. So far the car turns better, the rear of the car is not as heavy as it felt before.

For the past new months I had the check engine light came on several times and I didn't know what was causing it. I was going to take it to the dealer to get the code read but I never had the time. So I reset it by taking the negative terminal off the battery and put it back on. The car seems to run fine without any problems. Later on I finally realized what was causing it. It was the gas cap. Sometimes when I don't have it screw in tight and click it a few times the check engine light will come on after 100 or 200 miles. So make sure after you gas up screw that cap tight and make those clicking sounds!

I FINALLY realized what's wrong with my car's vibration problem at high speed. It was the damn rubber isolators!! What happened was about a month ago I accidentally hit a sharp curb and popped the front passenger side tire. It was a hard hit but my rim was okay. I got the tire replaced and drive on. One day I opened my hood and noticed the rubber isolator was missing on the passenger side strut. I thought it came off somehow when I hit that curb. To my surprise the passenger side had more suspension movement (up and down) than the driver side. So I knew the rubber isolator was making the suspension stiff. The reason it has the isolators installed because the knocking noises I had experienced with the first version of TRD struts. So I got the revised front suspension with the isolators installed. Well I thought I had to get that isolator replaced somehow. But to my curiosity I thought it won't hurt if I took the other one off as well so both side had equal softness. So I popped the driver side isolator off with a small flat head screwdriver. Now my front end has some suspension movements instead of the movements from the tires being compressed. Since then my car drives smoothly on highway and that mysterious front end/steering wheel vibration disappeared! Although the isolators are out I haven't have any problems with the knocking noises from the suspension. I think TRD's revised strut does not need that isolators after all (at least for my car.) I was trying to sell my wheels and tires before because I thought they were the problems. Now I get to keep my wheels and no more vibrations!

In addition, I'm really tired of my TRD muffler sound, it's just too loud still. My fiancé does not have a problem but I do. So I bought an used one from a Solara owner (Rod, Camryman Forum) and I'll be enjoying the quietness of the car once again.....Can't wait!!

Nothing much going on with the car. I just hit over 7000 miles with the supercharger and it's been running superb. My car is at 36,000 miles now and my warranty just ran out! :(

I wanted to install the TRD rear sway bar but I don't want to get it now for some reason. I read good stuff from other people who have one installed. Maybe I'll change my mind later.

It's been more than 2 months after my supercharger installed and 2500 miles testing in hard acceleration constantly and the supercharger is still running great!! I peeled alot and wasted more gas than usual so I could get the full effect of the supercharger. The gas mileage is down about 1 to 2 miles to about 18-19 miles per gallon. I have been busy with work so I didn't have much time testing out my car on the road much but I did managed to do some runs so I know if my supercharger is running the way it supposed to be. I'll post more results if I have time.

0-60mph - 6.77sec, 6,58sec, 6,51sec, 6.48sec, 6,35sec, 6,28sec, 6,11sec.

I couldn't get any faster than 6.11sec. If somehow I can control the peel off to minimum maybe I can go just a bit faster.

1/4 mile - 15.3sec @ 95.3mph (with a friend in the car), 15.0sec @ 96.8mph, 14.7 @ 97.7mph.

I only could do it 3 times. And these were all done on the state road and normal street at night (kinda scary). I need to take it to the highway sometimes at night and do it several times to get a more accurate result.

After visited the dealer 2 more times and they were unable to solve my metal clanking noises from the front passenger side strut, so I decided to diagnose the problem myself. I took the wheel off and found the nut and bolt attached to a vertical bar to the front anti-roll bar were loose! So I tightened it and the noises are gone!! Now the ride is great, no more noises from the struts except hitting a hard ditch. So my problems with the TRD suspension is finally put to the rest!!

I received my G-Tech Pro meter about a week ago and I have been testing my car with it for some time. The best 0-60 I did was 6.77 sec. I know I can do better if I don't make the tires spin out. It's not exactly a big boost from the stock but it's still better than stock. Motor Trend tested the stock Solara 8.2 sec 0-60 and Edmund's 8.0 sec. So I know the supercharger has to do better than 6.77 sec for the automatic. I might need to recheck my belt's tension, perhaps I'm loosing some boost. I didn't have the chance to test the 1/4 mile but I'll try to do it this weekend.

It's been about a week after my supercharger installation. Everything runs great without a problem. Gas mileage seems to be about the same. I tried to time my 0-60 with a stopwatch but the tires kept spinning out and I got poor results from delayed launch and my slow reaction for stopwatch (between 6.5 - 7.7sec.) I might get a G-Tech meter to get a more accurate result. Overall I'm pretty happy with the supercharger. I tried to pick a race with anyone I could find on the road but no one seemed to be interested (or afraid) to race me. So I don't know exactly how fast the car is compared to the others. I still have a lot of opportunities on the road through out the year and I'll update the sites again if interesting things happen.

I finally got the "Revised" TRD front struts installed yesterday by the dealer after I have been talking to the TRD East Coast Sale Manager Joe Sexsion for about a month. The knocking noises are GONE! That's the good news. I no longer have the knocking noises from the front struts when I backing out of the driveway with the steering wheel turn all the way to either directions. The bad news is that now the front struts are new and the car rides stiff again. In addition it creates another type of thumping sounds when the tires hit the ditch or small bumps while I'm driving. I don't know if it is normal or not for a stiff strut to create that "bottom-out" type of sound but I'll ask other people for opinions.

It took us 3 days but I finally got the supercharger installed on my automatic SLE V6. As far as I know, I'm the second guy (besides Green_solara from www.camryman.org) with the supercharger on an automatic Solara. My friend (David the "SUPER DAVE") helped me along the way (Thanks Dave!) It is not hard to install it if you have a friend to help you (I recommend it.) It should be easy for me if I have to do it again the second time. This was my first time working on the car at this kind of level. I think we did an excellent job overall.

Here's the breakdown on the progress of the installation:

Day 1 : (5 hours of labor logged) 7-31-2000
We started at 7pm because we both had to work. I started to take the intake apart then Dave showed up and started helping me. Everything was pretty easy to take it off except the EGR pipe. It was a pain because it was kinda hidden underneath the intake, behind the engine. We had to stop because we didn't have the right Allen Sockets for the idle plate and it was late. We also found out that one of the vacuum hose was not included or they forgot to attach it to the supercharger.

Day 2 : (2 hours of labor logged) 8-1-2000
I woke up bright and early to go buy the Allen socket set and a foot long 1/4" hose. The work resumed. Dave installed the idle plate and it went on easy. I installed the EBC (Electronic Boost Controller) behind the glove box. The alternator was a pain to move but we got it going. We had some tough time installing 2 idle pulleys. (the belt was so tight) We accidentally mixed the nuts that went on the 2 idle pulleys (Warning: These two bolts have different threads, make sure you have the right size nuts) and crossed threaded one of the bolts. It was 9:30pm and no one opened for business except Home Depot. We rushed there and found only the standard size bolts and nuts, no metric anything!!! (AHHHH Home Depot Sucks!) So we had to call it a night until the next day.

Day 3: (1 hour of labor logged, 1 hour of testing) 8-2-2000
We dig through the bins at PepBoys (Go PepBoys!!) and found the similar nuts in metric. I installed it without a problem and we double checked everything. We didn't have the Tensionometer but we guestimated and started the car. The car started fine and we let it ran for 15 minutes. The only problem we had right away was the tachometer, it wasn't moving!! We checked all the hoses and connectors again and found no errors. Then we decided to check the EBC. The connectors for the EBC were all correct and the tachometer was still not moving. I was anxious to see how the car run so we took it for a spin anyway. The supercharger makes a tiny bit sound at idle but you can hardly hear it. I felt the boost when I stepped on the gas and we were rolling fast! The supercharger make this low-toned gurgling sound when accelerating (weird at first but I will have to get use to that sound). I got the boost from the 1st gear (we later on found out it was not suppose to kick in at the first gear) all the way to the last gear. It pulled the car strongly to the redline. I loved it!!! After the test run we tried to figure out what's wrong with the tachometer. I told Dave to pull the tachometer tap off from the EBC and the tachometer moved when I started to car. After a few tests we realized the ground wire tap wasn't grounding at all. So we reattached it again and the tachometer works now!!! I test drove it again and this time the boost kicked in on second gear (the right way). The car ran great. There was no pings, no leaking, and no belt slipping. The transmission shifts just fine from the first to the last gear.

I'm very happy that I got the supercharger in finally after almost 2 years of waiting. Now I got more power and no more fears for Honda pocket rockets (Unless they have turbo or SC as well, then we would be about the same). I didn't have much time to thoroughly test the car but I will definitely post more test results and pictures later on. Stay tuned!!

FYI:
It's after August 1st and you can no longer order the supercharger from www.toyotaparts4u.com for the GREAT low low price of $2395.95 with no shipping charge. The new price listed below from them is still a steal. The price you pay will still be much lower than anyone you can find on the net. Check them out!

Part Number	Application	MSRP
00646-17620-303	97-00 Camry V6, Manual Trans	$2495.95
00646-17620-304	97-00 Camry V6, Auto Trans	$2495.95
00646-17620-301	99-00 Solara V6, Manual Trans	$2595.95
00646-17620-302	99-00 Solara V6, Auto Trans	$2595.95
00646-17620-305	98-00 Sienna V6, Auto Trans	$2495.95

After hearing many Solara owners reported positive feedback from the supercharger, mostly for the V6 manual Solaras, I decided to purchase one from www.toyotaparts4u.com. Since I have the automatic, and I only know one guy with the supercharger on his automatic Solara (He is not as happy as the people with manual, but he's happy!), so I wanted to be next disregarding the consequences (I've been waiting for it for too long). If you still want the supercharger you better be hurry, because Toyotaparts4u is pushing the price up after August 1 to about $100 or so. I will receive mine on July 31 and planning on install it myself (Yes, MYSELF! I have a friend (mechanic) who will help me if I run into trouble). He told me it's better to install it myself because I don't know who and how many mechanics are touching the parts and maybe screwing up and try to cover it up (he told me from his past experience at the shop). So I will let you know how it goes as soon as I can get it installed. I want to quote this guy Rod from Camryman's forum about his impression on his manual Solara with the supercharger, he explained it well.....

"The fit and finish were very high, and it rides very nice. It doesn't supply an overwhelming amount of power, but pulls strongly to redline--I didn't realize how fast I had gotten up to speed until I glanced at the speedo. You almost don't even realize the supercharger is on the car if you just drive it normally. Put the hammer down and wind to redline, and it's a whole different story. One thing to bear in mind-- I live in Denver, and am over 6000 feet up--that thins out the air considerably--performance would be much increased near sea level. Anyhow, **NO** problems at all shifting from first-second-third. There was a new part, an Electronic Boost Controller (black box) that was included, and was harnessed to the ECU (kind of behind the glove box in the passenger cabin), and that seems to do a very nice job. There is almost *no* lash noise or supercharger whine at idle. You wouldn't know it was installed unless you looked under the hood. However, at boost, it starts to whine a bit--*not* in a bad way. No pinging at all, and it seems to be perfectly happy running with the stock fuel delivery system."

The wait is finally OVER!! TRD finally released the supercharger for the V6 non-VVT-i 3.0L engine! The new supercharger will be under the brand name Kazuma (www.kazumaparts.com) by TRD (www.trdusa.com). The superchargers will be offered for V6 version of Camry, Solara, and Sienna. The superchargers will be available for both MANUAL and AUTOMATIC! The only downside is the warranty. TRD's originally stated that the superchargers will be covered for 5year/60,000miles warranty if purchased with a new vehicle. Now the new superchargers go under a different name and the warranty only cover the defective material for 12 months from the date of purchase. Optional pulleys with different sizes increase the overall boost with no warranty covered. If you want to get your hands dirty and install it yourself the online installation manual is available Here.

Part Number	Application	MSRP
00646-17620-303	97-00 Camry V6, Manual Trans	$3700
00646-17620-304	97-00 Camry V6, Auto Trans	$3700
00646-17620-301	99-00 Solara V6, Manual Trans	$3900
00646-17620-302	99-00 Solara V6, Auto Trans	$3900
00646-17620-305	98-00 Sienna V6, Auto Trans	$3600

Maximum hp Gain @6000 RPM	+70 hp
Maximum Torque Gain @6000 RPM	+62 lb.ft.
Peak HP Increase	+50 hp (197 stock vs. 247 S/C)
Peak Torque Increase	+25 lb.ft. (217 stock vs. 242 S/C)

Actual TRD dyno test results
Supercharged 3.0 engine produces more torque @2000RPM than the normally-aspirated engine does at its torque peak of 4400RPM.

Pulley Size	Max Boost	Max HP @6000 rpm*	Max Torque @4400 rpm*
2.00	10.00	343	373
2.20	9.00	332	362
2.40	8.00	320	350
2.60	7.00	310	339
2.80	6.00	298	316
3.00	5.00	287	294
3.20	4.00	276	271
3.40	3.00	264	260
3.60	2.00	253	249

- *All figures represent at flywheel
- Numbers in red represent initial supercharger configuration
(all data quoted from Kazuma's website)

This is the first supercharger release for the Solara, even though I wanted really bad (still debating on it), but I hate to be the guinea pig. I know TRD put a lot of hours of development and testing, almost 2 years, for this supercharger to be released. The price directly from Kazuma is just way too much for me to afford one at this time. But I have found this place on the internet www.toyotaparts4u.com and they are selling the supercharger at $2395.95!!!! WOW! I was happy all the sudden and I'm almost certain I would buy one at that price!!! I have talked to the parts manager Tim and he told me it will be available in two weeks!! I love that place! I finally found a site on the internet selling Genuine Toyota parts at a really good price! So I have 2 weeks to decide if I'm ready for one or not (almost certainly YES). I will keep your guys posted if I got one.

I emailed the TRD customer representative Chris Quintana about the TRD suspension knocking-sound problems again and he told me that they are experiencing the same problems with the suspension as well and the revised parts (the Bilstein strut is being redesigned) are on the way. So if you have the TRD suspension setup in your Solara you need to call TRD (800-688-5912) and leave your phone numbers so they can call you when the revised parts are in.

About the TRD supercharger, it's confirmed that only manual transmission V6 will get it. Automatic transmission V6 Solara owners have to wait until later!! @#$%^&!! Release date for the manual-trans. version supercharger is still not clear. May 15, 2000 perhaps, or maybe June 15,2000. We are still waiting . . . (Yawn!) I guess they wanted us to wait so the warranty will be shorter to cover if problems occur.

I saw the TRD supercharged Solara on Motor Trend TV show last Sunday. It was impressive. The performance numbers are better than previously announced (about time). Here are few highlights:

262 hp / 268 lb.ft (maybe TRD muffler hp added)
0-60 in 5.6 sec
1/4 mile in 14.3 sec @ 99.3mph
.90Gs skidpad (from previously .82Gs) (stock is .75Gs)
65.8mph slalom (from previously 63.3mph) (stock is 58.8mph)

They mentioned the car has bigger brakes (I didn't notice it) and rear anti sway bar installed. That's probably why the skidpad number is higher than stage 3 Solara at .82g. The car does not have the front strut tower bar installed (the supercharger is in the way). I'm sure they'll come out with something later on, like a curved one going around it. There's still no release date. I'm still expecting late April or early May. Some people predicted July. TRD might still have some bugs to work out or something. No one knows if it is still available for stick shift only or automatic only or both. I just can't wait anymore longer! My warranty is running out!

I had the opportunity to test drive my brother's brand new 2000 Accord Coupe EX V6 (was my first choice before I got the Solara). I have to say that my Solara is indeed a better car in comparison. I can tell you this because I already put 24,000+ miles on my Solara and broke in the Coupe for my brother. Few things I wanted to point out between this two cars:

1. The coupe's seat is uncomfortable. I was unable to find a comfy position with this 8 way power seat.

2. The Coupe's stereo doesn't have the tape, tweeters are too far into the dashboard, I could hardly hear the higher frequency. No bass unless cranks up loud.

4. Sunroof does not have 1 touch open and close. The opening area of the sunroof is not big enough.

5. The VTEC is overrated really (especially those people who worship it religiously). They are good at higher RPM only to compensate the low RPM loss. Street driving for the Coupe at low speed requires more effort. Gear Changing is jerky. Solara's transmission is smooth. Coupe's engine sound is much louder than Solara.

7. The stock Coupe does have a better handling compared to the stock Solara, but not by much. The steering wheel is tighter to turn. Coupe generates little unnecessary bounces on a flat road which is really annoying sometimes. Even my lowered Solara does not bounce that much.

10. The interior materials and craftsmanship for the Coupe feel cheap, not as upscale as the Solara. Solara does have a more luxurious feeling.

11. The Coupe's automatic shift knob does not have the 3rd gear button like the Solara. When making a turn I use that as a handle. I rest my hand on the shifter and frequently shift into third gear. I don't like it.

12. The interior lighting for the dash at night is better looking in the Coupe compared to the Solara.

13. Yes I do like the steering wheel radio volume and stations control for the coupe.

14. The coin box issue.... Coupe does have a better one. I don't care about the coins though. I use E-Pass.

17. People on the road does not look at the Coupe at all. I have Solara for over 1 year and I still have people staring and complementing.

20. Coupe's Interior light dim switch is between the tachometer and speedometer. It makes adjusting hard to do while driving!

22. Solara's cruise control is great. All functions are integrated into a single stick behind the wheel for easy reach. Coupe's cruise control button is separate from the buttons on the wheel.

24. The rear Honda emblem is anchored into two holes and then taped it on to the trunk with a tiny strip of tape. It's very easy for anyone to remove it without an effort. Then you have to replace it for $25 from the dealer!!

25. More aftermarket parts for the Coupe than the Solara. Well what do you expect? It's Honda!

That's about what I could find different between these two cars. I did have a lot more time to test drive these two cars. I'm sure the list could go on and on If I had more time. I really like the Solara better than the Coupe. I'm glad that I made the right choice.

According to TRD people, the upcoming supercharger will be made for the manual transmission V6 only. Releasing date should be around March or April (probably.) Apparently they are having technical difficulty fitting it on the auto-tranny. The auto-tranny version of the supercharger will be pushed back even further. Great! By the time they have the supercharger my car is probably passed 50,000 miles. That means there's no warranty for the supercharger or what?? What a sad story. I believed most of the Solaras out there have automatic transmission and TRD is loosing the chance for it. I don't know why they are having problems with the auto version. Most of the supercharged cars like Pontiac Grand Prix GTP or Buick Regal have auto-tranny and they don't have a problem with it. Urgh!

Hey guys just want to share my thoughts before the TRD supercharger is released (apparently it is delayed again to ensure the quality and to stand up against the 5year/60,000 miles warranty.) The TRD SC would be a great addition to the Solara, but not good enough to compete with the others. After I have the Solara for a year and the delay of the TRD SC is really getting on my nerves. I have been reading a lot lately and I realized people like to have a faster car now, well at least they are trying to make it faster. I admitted I love to drive fast, but in fact the Solara is not that fast at all. Ford Escort ZX2 can catch you pretty close. Sports sedans such as 300M and LS can stay in close proximity. Not to mention the modified Civic EX and other cheaper cars go fast. Solara's direct competitor Mercury Cougar is getting a supercharger from Paxton Auto Corp with 2 stages to choose from and the result is amazing (0-60 @ 5.4sec). Of course there's the HKS Accord with the turbo at the same spec of the Cougar. Other cars like Audi S4, M3, S2000, and other domestic sports cars are all faster than the supercharged Solara. I would be disappointed if only additional 50hp added to the car. I don't really want to modified my car big time. I was just hoping that the SC would satisfy my need for speed in one package. I hoped TRD knows this and get their gears together. I wouldn't buy it for $3000+ for a mere 0.5-1 sec faster.

After 2 months of hassle and frustration the dealer finally fixed the popping noises from suspension. The popping noises happened to me when the car turned slowly and when the tire hit the edge between the road and my driveway. Apparently the rubber isolators were the solutions. For the prior update, there's no TRD redesigned shock cover assembly or anything like that. It is the Toyota redesigned shock cover for the Camry and the Solara. So after April 30, 1999 all the Camry and Solara should have the new designed one. The rubber isolators are needed for both old and new shock covers.

- Make sure you have the rubber isolators installed for the front suspension no matter if you have the old or new shock cover design. (old design - prior to April 30, 1999)

- Make sure the rear springs are the same when they compressed. Before I had the passenger side spring compressed at the top and the driver side spring compressed at the bottom.

-If problem still exists, make sure the turn plates are putting on the right way by "assumed good" mechanics.

- I don't really know about the TRD suspension with stock tires, but I don't have any problem with my Niche shock Chrome wheels (17x7.5, 45mm offset, and chrome wheel is much heavier than alloy), and currently 215/45/17 Nitto tires. I think after you lower the car the max height of the tire shouldn't exceed 25", and max width shouldn't exceed 225. I have tried 245 and it rubbed when the car was loaded.

-Make sure every time after they played with your TRD suspension, realignment is "absolutely necessary" for all 4 wheels.

That's it for me. Hopefully this TRD suspension works for everyone. Go get a copy of Super Street November issue, they have some useful information about the suspension and Solara suspension installation guide.

It's been almost two months after I have my TRD struts and springs installed. The ride is nice and firm now after 2000+ miles. I guess they are broken in properly. The only problem I'm having now is the knocking noises from all 4 struts. When tire hits the slope between the road and my driveway causing the front suspension to make that knocking noise. The rear suspension makes the sound when I make a sharp slow turn sometimes. Apparently I'm not the only one having this problem. One guy from the Camryman's forum (Rod Chiapusio) was having the same problem but he had this problem solved. According to Rod's technician, the TRD strut was a few millimeters bigger than the stock. The solution? TRD came out with the redesigned shock cover assembly to replace the original one. I went to the dealer yesterday and told them to order the part for me. The guy at the dealer offered me the old solution of the problem, the rubber isolators, and I told him that it didn't work for other people. I will let you know if that helps.

Another updates here. I had my TRD strut assemblies installed at the dealer today. It took them all day yesterday (7am-9pm) but it wasn't done. They provided me a rental car until noon today and they finally got it done. The ride is totally changed. It feels stiff compared to the stock setup and compared to just the spring upgrade. I was kinda dizzy driving back from the dealer back to the house. I never drove a real sports car before so I don't really know how stiff of the ride suppose to be. The car doesn't bounce much at all. I feel like in one of those low rider trucks shaking it up and down over bumps. I'll try to adjust the firmness setting to a bit softer. If you really like the current stock setup, I probably suggest you not to change the suspension. Maybe it's just me. The car can corner really well now but I hardly do that kind of stunt anyway. Maybe that's just how it supposes to be and I just have to get use to it. I'll definitely miss the old setting . . .

I got my TRD muffler installed this past weekend. It was supposed to be an easy 20-minutes job but it turned out to be a pain-in-the-butt 3-hours. I accidentally stripped one of the nuts and I had to saw the bolt and the nut off with the Dremel. Anyway, the performance of the TRD muffler combined with the drop-in K&N filtercharger increased big time for me. I didn't believe it at first but I timed it several times and it was true. Even though the muffler only gives about 5-8hp and the filter gives about 3-5hp, the 0-60 time drops about 0.5sec for me. I timed it at 7.0, 7.1, 6.9, 7.0sec. That's a big improvement!! It will definitely be beneficial for the SE owners with the stickshift, talking about sub-7 range with just these two minor modifications. The muffler creates a deep exhaust tone when accelerating, very loud and noticeable around 2300-2500rpm. I still can not get use to the sound since Solara is so quiet with the stock muffler. But since the car moves a bit faster now I just have to deal with the new sound of my Solara.

I will try to get the TRD strut assemblies installed by someone sometimes this week or next week, I will keep you guys posted.

It's about time I got this web page updated. I have been so busy with work and girlfriend. Anyway, few things are going to add in to my car. I finally got the TRD sports catalog a month ago and I looked through it. TRD has the sport muffler and quickshifter available for the Solara. The supercharger is scheduled to release sometimes in the September. (Hopefully for sure this time)

I went back to the dealer and ordered the Strut assemblies. I found out that the Eibach springs I have is not the same as the one in the Solara. The one Tirerack sold me Eibach part number 8249-140 is for Camry V6 97+ and the one for the Solara is 8258-140. This is Tirerack's fault. They told me that Eibach told them the springs for the Solara and the Camry are the same so I believed them. After a few months of rough ride and noises coming from the suspensions when hit the bumps, I decided to change the whole struts out. Remember that TRD catalog prices are retail prices. So DO NOT order it directly from TRD unless you have tons of money. I went to the dealer they gave me $1300 (still expansive) for a set of 4 strut assemblies. I also got the muffler just for the hell of it. The sport muffler retail price is $391.40 and I got it for $324 (still expansive!). But I got some discount rather than paying for full price so I'm kinda happy. About the labor, they agree to charge me $715 to install the struts and $78 for the muffler. Muffler I can install it myself so I can save some money. It's cheaper compared to the other dealer ($828). So now I'm just waiting on the parts to come in anytime and get it installed. I will post an update for ride quality compare to previous setup. I should also have some old parts for sale later on.

The sales person at the dealer told me that the supercharger should come out sometimes in September. It will cost $2995 retail, but I'm sure I can get it 10-20% cheaper because they are car dealers. (Everything is negotiable) The labor to install the supercharger is $350. I can't wait to get that installed to my car.

Finally got a chance to drop by the dealer to ask for some info on the TRD Solara package. And YES, they are available to order now. I asked for the price of the strut kit and they quoted me $1107 for a set of 4. The MSRP is $1230. I guess that's pretty good price from the dealer. Then I found out how much they were going to charge me for the installation I almost bitched them out!! They wanted to charge me $69 per hour labor, 3 hours for each strut. That's $207 just for one strut installed!!!!! $828 for the whole installation!!! That's bull! Argh. I had my springs installed by the people at a racing shop and they only charge me $180. It's almost the same procedure anyway but the dealer's price was way too much. Oh well, maybe I'll just order the struts and let someone else do it.

I called TRD today trying to order the springs and struts for my Solara because I'm having minor problem with my Eibach springs (for 1997 Camry V6 and up). TRD guy informed me that the Camry springs are not exactly the same as the Solara's springs. After a few discussions and telephone confirmations by Ron (a great guy I know from Camryman's forum), the TRD springs are the same as the Eibach springs. So now I think it's the struts that's not working very well with the springs. I have to get the TRD struts then.

Even though the parts for the Solara are listed in the catalog but they are not available to order yet. It will be available very soon according to the guy. I will keep you informed!

Urgh, after so much misleading information around, TRD Website is finally up to clear the confusion. The $4000+ package does not include the supercharger. It will be available later on for $3000 more. Individual part available for Solara is clearly marked in the TRD catalog page. Their phone number is 800-688-5912.

- According to one source (Jhureau881 from Edmund's Townhall with TRD ad.), the TRD package now comes with Bilstein sports shocks, body kit, Eibach springs, a larger free flow muffler, 17x7 TRD wheels with 225/45/ZR17 Toyo Proxes T1 Plus tires, (and where's the supercharger man???)

- The TRD supercharger won't be released by the previous schedule (end of March). It should be available by end of May (from one source.)

- TRD (Toyota Racing Development) is developing a supercharger kit for the V6 version of Solara. The cost is around $3000-$4000. $3000 is the cost of the supercharger alone, $4000 includes the supercharger, bodykit, new suspensions and 17 or 18" tires and rims. The supercharger boosts 50-75hp to the stock engine of 200hp. The release date is not yet set, according to the Toyota internal manager is by the end of March, June 99 according to Camryman's site.