should i upgrade my solara?

[ct1222]

i have a 05 solara(2.42AZ-FE auto)
and i'm thinking of saving up for an upgrade
so
q1) should i?? (i mean, is it worth it? or should i just get another car)
q2) what should i do to it?? turbo or supercharge(if it's still possible)
q3) where can i find these parts(turbo/supercharge + suspension...etc)??
q4) where can i find a garage that would do the upgrade near SOCAL??
q5) what will be the app horsepower after turbo?? supercharge??
q6) cost???

sorry, i know it's a lot of question
but i really dont know much about cars
so when anwering, please keep in mind that you are explaning
all these stuff to a nerdy asian HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR that learn everything he knows about car from games= =

[mani4kal]

first... i'd have to ask... what is ur overall goal? u want a performance based car? or something with decent power that looks good and is comfortable?

if ur looking for performance, get anther car. preferably something with larger aftermarket support. it will be easier to make power gains and u will have a larger variety to choose from. if u like the way the solara looks and want decent power... try ugrading to the sle v6 or the se v6.

if ur gonna stick to the solara and ur looking for parts such as a supercharger or springs or coil overs... TRD will have a few items. tein makes nice springs and coilovers. as far as shops go... dude.. u live in freggin socal!! there are as many tuner shops as there are mcdonalds. lol. that shouldnt be a problem. just ask around... sometimes the best hunting for shops happens by referral. and the shop should be able to find whatever part ur looking for to upgrade.

also, keep in mind that suspension mods vary. u can either get basic springs that will only lower the car and provide minimal performance, which doesnt cost much... or u can get a complete dampering kit for a couple thousand.

now onto costs. depending on what u do... ur either gonna spend a decent amount of money all the way up to a shit load of money. i dont know how deep ur pockets are but for springs, rims, rear sway bar... expect to spend at least $1500 on new everything. springs u can get for like $200-$300. brand new rims with tires u can get anywhere from $700-$3000 depending on what kind of rims and tires u get. and the rear sway i would imagine is couple hundred as well. if u wanna boost ur car (forced induction via supersharger or turbo charger) expect to spend around $3000 for the complete kit. and then labor for installation.

keep in mind that my solara, now, is nearly stock other than a full audio/video system. but i am currently in the market for parts. so the info above is based off of what i have found for the solara so far, plus my past experience with turbos and suspension.

hope that helped. good luck with ur tuning!

[ct1222]

well, i think i'll stick with the 2.4 for now
what i have in mind is probably save up for a decent suspension kit first
than the turbo/supercharger and lastly body kit

the problem is, most of the kits, including suspension and turbo/supercharger, i found online does not support solara, i mean, they can be install on tC and camery, but not solara
but don't they have the same engine??

[makoltd]

I was looking at a turbo at TRD as well. I also looked at 3 other Toyota performance sites. The basis as I understand it is the 2.4L not the car. From what I get, the TRD turbo will support the Solara. I have an 07', TRD Pro Springs, $500 installed with TRD camber extensions. GY Egl Tires (Kevlar, stiffend side wall-$800 45x235x18) and Rims (18x10 - $1500) and had the calipers painted. I went to Buds Tire in Corona. The guy knows everybody in the aftermarket arena on a peer level. $3500 when done.
I put a Billit grill and PIAA fogs on today. I am pleased with the 2.4L, it holds it own and now feels like it's on rails. I happen to personally think the car just was done right by Toyota. It's stance and side appearance is sweet.
I bought it for the wife. I drive a 00/Z71 w/Vortec. I have 200k on it and it still walks on water. The Toyota like my truck will never be sold. 3k oil, yearly engine, tranny, radiator ($299@Buds) flushs will assure me of a long life Solara. You might want to look at the 350clk if your going to drop hard cash. $43k gets you a very sweet ride. About what a Solarta V6 Sle runs.
Good Luck
Greek

[mani4kal]

First of all, I have to disagree firmly with makoltd. The 2008 Solara SLE convertable (top of the line/most expensive model) starts at 30k. There is no way that u can compare the price of that to a CLK350. the CLK350 has an MSRP of like 48k, not 43K.

ct1222, If you are looking to drive his car hard, and you want a good suspension kit. Coilovers would be best suited for you. Springs are a good alternative, along with front and rear sway bars to go along with the springs to stiffed the body up. Coilovers will run u a decent amount of money, but worth EVERY penny! I know Tein sells coilovers for the solara for about $1500. those are fully adjustable as well.

As for the supercharger/turbo charger... i would suggest going with th TRD supercharger simply because you can get a warranty with it and from the sounds of things, im assuming that you wouldnt want to work on ur car tuning it to specs with the turbo. dont get me wrong, you will still have to tune with the supercharger, BUT, if anything goes wrong, u can take it back to toyota for them to worry about it. just make sure u have some sort of warranty with them. if not, go to an aftermarket tuning shop for everything.

i personally dont like to go to toyota for ANYTHING other than free, scheduled maintainance, warranty work, or recall work. This is because they charge a A$$ load of money that either I, or another shop can do for half the price or potentially, FREE! I dont like the buy their performance parts for the same reason. the price. i can get a better part elsewhere for less money.

bottom line, the mods you have in mind are great! just remember, you can mod the suspention alone, BUT, if you decide to get the supercharger, u will have to upgrade the suspension and brakes at the least to provide a safe and capable ride.

[makoltd]

While I waiting to get the widows tinted after getting my car back, the guy in front of me had a new 2010 CLK350. It received a needed design upgrade and the front clip shows just one of many. In the course of the 45 mins we talked, he asked me why I bought the Solara. It was a Valentines present for my wife. With gas going up, the 03 ss/Z28 she drives laps fuel up like a mastiff. The 2.4L in the Solara w/ac on gets between 32/34mpg in cruise @75mph. That was reason enough.
That's when he mentioned to me that the CLK350 he bought new cost him 43k+tx/lic. I was looking at them back in 06 and mentioned he got hell of a deal. He reminded me that we are in a recession and dealers are giving cars away to people on Welfare (fact). It's a buyer’s market and one can't go by the listed msrp up on the net. People often fail to understand the hidden incentives (commission, delivery fees, ect') that can be negotiated. Add that in to the fact near end of every quarter, MB offers incentives available to walk in's only, no advertizing. My neighbor just bought a S500 w/V12 and has made a point of repeating he saved over $13k.
It's like my 99C5. I didn't buy it here in CA for the msrp $41k listed. Instead I called Les Stanford Chevy in Lansing Mich. The msrp for the same car was $36k. The fact he is known as the Corvette King with 500-700 Vetts at his disposal means he can beat the comp. Courtesy delivery, free, and all I had to cover when it arrived was tx/lic.
It's a buyer’s market, so buy new.
Second, I somewhat agree with the Super over the Turbo. Lag is a bitch but so is boost set by a spool. It's been my experience that V8s get the best results, overall with a Super. I have Vortecs' on both my 00/Z71 & my 99/C5 with the only drawback being the spool up whine. TRD boasts 35% HP increase which is perf. What you need to do to the motor to take that 35% increase and use it in a way it won't tear apart your drive train is another story. With a Turbo, boost is adjustable. I don't recall what the TRD boost psi was but I think it was 3-5lbs. That's with the Eaton Roots Super & TRDs[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] Stage 3 package for a modest $10k. That gets you 0-60 in 6 secs and a 14.7 quarter. For those on a budget, TRD has the Kazuma Superchargers as well as Votec Superchargers. You would start with either the stage 1 or stage 2 packages which does not include supercharger. It's sold separately for about $3k+ on top of the selected package. [/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] As for the warranty, all manufactures offer from 1 to 3 year warranties (extra $ coverage) but NONE, not even Toyota will CYA should abuse bring about detonation. $10k for a 14.7 Quarter Mile just seems a bit out there. Thus we come full circle to the CLK350. Hell, the last CTS I rented for a Vegas trip walked all over a Charger RT - V6 vs. V8. There is speed out there to be bought, already packaged and with a warranty. Turbo or Super? I just personally would accept a bit of lag and save $6k. But that's me.[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif'] When one buys the 2.4L one knows what they are getting. The HP increase, in my case from a Turbo would be simply to add a bit of grunt. I don't plan on Drifting it nor showing up on Pinks. Turbos are gentle on motors with the speed increase delegated by your foot. What I mean is, it's just not ON, waiting for that moment in traffic when your pissed off and you hammer it to jump lanes, offering a weak ujoint, TC or R&Pg the chance to snap. I know firsthand. I blew out my rear end, a 4:10 on my Z71 Silverado. I upgraded to "Strange Axles," on both my truck and C5, the latter before I tore up the very expensive transaxle. I also added ProComp ladder bars. See that's when the realazation hit me that my SuperChargers 1 year warranty didn't mean squat. [/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Good Hunting[/FONT]
[FONT='Times New Roman','serif']Greek[/FONT]

[ct1222]

ok slow down guys, i'm kinda overwhelmed by all these infos
basically, i'm looking at about 5K to get the suspension kit and brakes done(with labor??)
right?
oh and some stupid question, do tune shops generally offer something like a 6-12 month payment?? or it's all cash??(for the parts)
and second
i understand that cool air intake does exactly what its name imply,
but is it usually part of the super or turbo kit? or it can help the performance by itself??

[makoltd]

If you go to Toyota to get the springs on it's $1k, period (3 yr warranty on spring work only). I understood you to be in SoCal. The place I mentioned and similar places you can research wil put the springs on for about $600 (Springs were $300+/-). Struts for the SE Sprort from Toyota are friggin expensive. KYB and even Monroe make a long lasting excellent struts @ much lower prices. As for brakes, packages range from $1600+. A good dual piston system should be fine. You should think about cut&drilled rotors and a few packages come with everything inc pads and steel lines for $1600+, just search long and hard. Performanceproducts.com offers many sets tailored to your budget without loosing stopping power. Did you know just adding steel brake lines will firm up your brakes by 40%.
There are some cheap mods that will give you a few hp her and there. One being the TB bypass. I haven't jumped into the bay yet but I would guess that hot water/antiFreeze is running through the Throttle Bodies shell (emmisions regulated). By taking a bit of 1/4" copper and a few small clamps, you can disconnect the hoses going into and out of the TB and use the copper to connect the tubs you've removed from the TB to keep a closed loop. That will drop the air temp going into the TB by 90*. Cooler air = hp. I have done to all my cars and takes about 15 mins. You might see 4hp just from that. It's all about cool air.
The cold air intake that so many people speak of still allows the hot air from the engine bay to find it's way in. Your stock intake is ram air from outside and just needs a K&N. You can always cut the snorkle that comes up from your air box @ the point before it starts turning up. Flip that over, get a simple PVC coupler or pipe clamp and now your ramming it in from inside the lower grill. I am going to do this myself using a PVC tube from K&N, cutting a larger hole in the box but leaving it on. You can buy just the tubes direct from K&N. You just need to pick the model that offers the longest tube. You may just want to go with the typical long tube to Maf system designed for your car. No matter, getting air that is not from the hot engine bay is the key.
Greek

[mani4kal]

look. if you want a simply modded ride, stick with your solara. if you want more power, like something that will dominate on the highway.. get another car. preferably one that that a stronger aftermarket support.

if you can sell your solara and get a car that is faster from the factory... i would do that. if you want a turboed car, WRX and EVO is an EXCELLENT way to go. i had a WRX before and i loved it. stock was around 220hp at the flywheel and when i was done with it i was pushing 350hp to the wheels with SRI, turboback exhaust, lightweight flywheel, lighter pulleys, grounding kit, BOV (doesnt increase HP), and tune from one of AZ's finest.

so if you wanna keep your car... dont expect alot from the motor as far as power. drop it, get nice rims, and make it look and ride clean. if you want power.. get a different platform.