New Camry owner, got some questions...

[jonboy200413]

Hey guys. I have a Toyota Camry that's about as plain as they come. The car is a 1995 LE that's completely stock (I think). It was my dads but sinse I'll be driving here in a couple months, I'm looking to mod it a little bit. =D. I'm 15 now, I'll be driving (alone) very soon, and I love the way the car runs. It's very quick/agile when you want it to be. Anywho, I'm looking to do a couple basic things to it. First thing, I'd like to make it look not so boring. There are a few options here as I've found, like new rims, tinted windows, lowering the car, maybe a spoiler? Second, I'd like just a bit more power out of it. Again there are some options here (notice I said a "little" more power, it's because of money, I wish I had enough to supercharge it =D). I'm thinking cold air intake, maybe open up the exaust, and maybe some cans of NOS (just joking, joking!). So, what do you guys think about these suggestions, what would you do? In your opinion, with not very much cash, what is the way to go to get the things done I mentioned.

Also, on the camry, there is a button near the shifter that says "ECT". I looked in the manual, and it says it's used for situations where faster acceleration is needed. I was out on a stretch after driving to Billings Montana, and slowed down and then gunned it with the button on, and it cranked up the RPMs to like 5 and 1/2 x1000, with the red zone being like 6 and 1/2 x1000. Can anyone tell me more about this feature of the car? Is it bad for the car to use it a lot?

Thanks guys.

EDIT: Here are some pictures of the car to help you guys decide what you would do for physical appearance.

[Brujo]

Cold air intake will run you about $150, short ram about $40, headers $450+, exhaust plus work $100+.

I have a 93 LE with a home made CAI and headers. Car sounds and runs nice but it honestly does not offer much in performance. I have joined the rest of the crowd by saving a few pennies here and there to afford a turbo/supercharger. Building up a 5sfe will require a lot of money and patience. Burien makes a turbo kit for the Camry but as I've read on this site it isn't the best kit available and it needs a few essential pieces as well.

As far as appearance goes tinted windows, rims, and lowering the car completely changes the looks.

Have fun with your Cam.

[jonboy200413]

All together, how much will a turbo cost?

[Brujo]

The Burien kit goes for $2500. People have turbo setups for under $600. It all depends how much you're willing to put into your car. On the top of the Camry forums there's a sticky for turboing the 5sfe engines. Read it a few times then search the forums for as much information on turbos as you can.

[whip_cracker]

Mate,

Go for mags! Gotta love em! I'm goin to be gettin a set of 17's x 7. Can't be bothered thinking about offsets until I'm exactly sure what rims I'm gettin. You can either buy them new, as a "rim and tyre" kit, or check the local paper (that's what I can do here). Depends on how much ya wanna drop it, but you'd have MacPherson struts? Dunno if ya really wanna change the struts and springs and all, but yeah. Should be able to drop the car by 2 inches easily, with the right offset, check the sticky at the top of the forums, has heaps of stuff about them.

For a wee bit more performance, just get the damn thing serviced! lol, change the fuel filter, and should notice some difference, I did. Probably wouldn't hurt to get extractors too...

I have a 94 Camry CSi (has same engine as yours)

[Forced Induxion]

ah i remember my old '95 LE. I beat hard on that thing trying to run it to the ground so I could get a new car. Too bad it wouldnt' die on me. If I were you I would just keep it stock and as normal looking as possible. Save your money for some mods on the future car that you really want. Prepare yourself... CAMRY = default driver for all your friends.

[DoubleEdgedWomb]

I'm assuming this is a 4-cylinder Camry. As such, you're not going to get much performance out of it no matter what you try. Sure it'll be quick if you put your foot into it (seems like it already is), but it's no 'vette. I'd go for other areas of the car, suspension would probably be the big one. Lower it a little (not too much) with black rims and a little spoiler on the back and it'd probably look pretty good.

I'm not a big fan of the ECT button myself, all it does is delay gear changes in the automatic so you stay in a lower gear longer and rev higher. Good for short bursts of power, but it kills the gas mileage.

[pudbrother]

what would you guys suggest for suspension, i dont necessarily want to lower it right now, but i want the benefits of the upgrade commponents

[95WhiteCamry]

oh man... nostalgic moment. it's like a carbon copy of my previous camry minus the tinted windows.

take it from someone who's had a 95 4 cylinder camry. just enjoy it as is unless you want to dish out thousands of dollars that really won't come back to you. most exhaust systems will make it sound raspy since it's a 4 cylinder engine. intake work really won't help much either.

concentrate on making it look nicer.

[gaak]

my personal opinion, from having done it this way myself, is that the struts are where you gain the most performance in handling, followed by the springs, maybe its equal, but I'm saying that i noticed a bigger difference with the struts alone, then i noticed when i added the eibach prokit(which, incidentally, does Not lower the car that much at all) the Tokico HP blues can be had on ebay for around 350 and the eibach prokit can be had for around 180. other little things you can do are add a whiteline rear sway bar and an ebay special front strut bar.


.....one thing about doing the suspension work yourself..... Look out for the little unexpected costs that will bite you and leave you undriveable until you get the parts. Things like the rear sway bar links may need replacing and have a tendancy to not want to come off of the old parts, the strut boots may need to be replaced, as well as the strut tops themselves may be bad.

and if you want cosmetic differences, there's a bunch of body kits available on ebay, and hoods and stuff too, but i warn you, stay away from a company called Carbon Inovation. they never have what they post, but they'll take your money anyway. best of luck to you, and welcome to the camry family.

[pudbrother]

well, my rear struts are new, although i let my g/f drive it and she blew one...last time i let her do that , but lets say i have 400 bucks to spend, what is the best set up, and the rear sway bar will prolly wait

[jonboy200413]

Originally Posted by pudbrother

what would you guys suggest for suspension, i dont necessarily want to lower it right now, but i want the benefits of the upgrade commponents

Lol are you like jacking my thread or something?

On subject, how much would it cost to lower the car just a little bit? Tinted windows? Rims? What are the average price for these things?

[jonboy200413]

Anyone?

[Muddassir]

I would not recommend you to do any mod yet. As you are quite young. You might loose the control while speeding. Drive it for like 1 year th way it is. Camry already has a lot of power. But I am telling you from my own personnal experience, try to drive sober for first year, no matter what. Then you can go for any mos.. You would know how to handle worst scenarios like accidents or cops.

[jonboy200413]

Originally Posted by Muddassir

I would not recommend you to do any mod yet. As you are quite young. You might loose the control while speeding. Drive it for like 1 year th way it is. Camry already has a lot of power. But I am telling you from my own personnal experience, try to drive sober for first year, no matter what. Then you can go for any mos.. You would know how to handle worst scenarios like accidents or cops.

You know I'm only talking about physical appearance, right? Tinted windows and like a spoiler... that's it. Maybe some wheels...