87Camry5Speed's "Build" Thread

[87Camry5Speed]

Sharing my stock, one-of-a-million-like-it Camry with y'all.

Bought in Jan. 2011 with 15xxx miles. As of today, inching up on 28,500.
Build date 12/14/07
Averaging 27-28 mpg
Rare 5-speed. '08 was the last year for the manual in an LE as far as I know

Mods-

H11 lows converted to H9's
Royal Purple 75W-90 gear oil
Had a K&N Typhoon; may reinstall
3A Racing stainless exhaust tip. Looks very similar to stock V6 tip.
Debadged trunk, CAMRY logo relocated to dashboard
that's about it. Not too much planned at this time...

Pics-

Taken at my alma mater, Mount Saint Mary College (I live nearby); buffed with Obsessive Detail Hyper Shine Sealant; Meguiar's "Hot Shine" applied to tires

[alihirsch]

do you see a huge difference between h11 and h9 ? Doesn't h9 have almost double lumen ?

[87Camry5Speed]

Not sure of the bulb specs, H11 v H9, but yes the output is brighter. The light is whiter, clearer, goes further, and doesn't "wash out" in the rain like the H11's did. Definitely worth the upgrade especially if you don't want to go the HID route.

[tengiday]

H11: ~1,200 lm
H9: ~2,100 lm
Yes, H9 is brighter. Your high beam bulbs are the same to mine before. They turn brown because of the use of DRL. Are you going to change new bulbs or using them till they're burned out?

A clean stock Camry! Not much mods, but I like it!

[arabianobsession]

Not to rain on your parade but you can still get a manual in the LE as of today

[87Camry5Speed]

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

Not to rain on your parade but you can still get a manual in the LE as of today

Ironically enough, it's raining outside as I read this. Woe be the other unfortunate souls who make the mistake of getting a manual...

[arabianobsession]

Why, though? It's a rare bird

[tengiday]

It's just personal preference. I prefer an automatic trans to manual trans.

[87Camry5Speed]

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

Why, though? It's a rare bird

Rare for a reason... the clutch picks a different catch point every time you shift. That, and the shifter has the dead-on accuracy of a musket from the American Revolution. If you drove dump trucks in the '60s you'll love the mile-long throws. Wonder if the TRD short shifter can be made to work.

[arabianobsession]

Don't worry, mine's the same way, but the shifter is pretty accurate. I tried looking into the TRD shifter for the 6 speed, it doesn't fit, because it's made for the tC.

I think it's more rare 'cause people are too lazy to drive stick

[87Camry5Speed]

I've always preferred stick... it's just that the manual feels like an afterthought in a Camry. Makes sense though, how many Camrys are made as stick? 8-10%- if that? Good 5-speeds in FWD can be done...

[arabianobsession]

Not even that many. I heard from Kycamrymaker that they only built maybe 6 per week at the factory. That's an average of just over 300 per year.

[87Camry5Speed]

If we were to say 300,000 Camrys a year (for arguments sake) that's 1% of Camrys per year. Guess I have a rare car, indeed. Would love to get my hands on a Gen4 CE V6 5-speed; it was the last time a V6 could be had with a 5-speed.

[arabianobsession]

^I know the feeling. Those are hard to come by as well. There's a few running around here.

[tengiday]

Owning a "stick" here is called rare. My Vietnamese friends told me that almost all cars in Vietnam are "stick", and owning an automatic cars is rare (not really rare, but not a lot like here). I still prefer automatic cars not because I'm lazy. I want everything to be simple.