[RningOnFumes]

2) Camry coupe? It is officially called the Camry Solara.

True... but you see they should have just kept it simple. The first generation was hot. The latest generation, in the effort o make it look like a "cheaper" lexus SC, the thing comes out as bloated and a bit boring (no offence to current Solara owners).

They need to keep the styling closer to the sedan and maybe even drop the Solara name.

Either take it to the next level and make it more sportier, or drop the name and make it just a Camry coupe. There is no reason to give it a different name if it's the same old shit with two less doors.

 

[Kevs Toy]

Highly doubt they'll bring the Highlander to TMMK, considering the Sienna used to be made there and from what I understood, they moved it to TMMI since it was designed for larger vehicles. TMMK is more suited to passenger car sized vehicles.

 

[Tideland Prius]

I see a lot of folks here on TN actually liking the new Camry SE. Wasn't there a photoshop of a sedan SE into a coupe SE? I thought it looked sharp.

 

[darksparkz]

Gone the mighty Supra, gone the sporty Celica, gone the rorty MR-2......killed because their numbers didn't meet some necessary (arbitrary?) break even point.

Quoted from a comment on the article. Very true, I hate how they always drop the sporty looking cars, after the Supra, people settled for the much slower Celica, then the MR2 goes. Now the closest thing to sporty is the Camry SE.

I guess there is some kind of reasoning to this, mainly because they want to seperate their brands into demographics. Scion for younger/sportier people, Lexus for the upper class/luxury ones, and Toyota for all in between, ranging from trucks to mid class Camry and Corolla buyers.

 

[LunarMist]

I actually like the Solara's and don't see how they look any bigger than the Accord Coupe.

 

[Mistabullet]

I see a lot of folks here on TN actually liking the new Camry SE...

Going offtopic a bit but, I think the V6 Camry SE is pretty sporty.

I don't know how this is possible but my camry was keeping up with an '06 GTO the other day.

---GTO: 400HP & 400(ft/lb)Torque W/ 3725lbs
vs
CAMRY: 268HP & 248(ft/lb)Torque W/ 3483lbs

I don't know if there was another factor at play here but my 3.5L V6 Camry SE was going neck and neck with an 06' 6.0L V8 GTO.

Makes me wonder what this car can do with some performance mods.

 

[repinS]

Going offtopic a bit but, I think the V6 Camry SE is pretty sporty.

I don't know how this is possible but my camry was keeping up with an '06 GTO the other day.

---GTO: 400HP & 400(ft/lb)Torque W/ 3725lbs
vs
CAMRY: 268HP & 248(ft/lb)Torque W/ 3483lbs

I don't know if there was another factor at play here but my 3.5L V6 Camry SE was going neck and neck with an 06' 6.0L V8 GTO.

Makes me wonder what this car can do with some performance mods.

GTO wasn't racing, bro :lol:

 

[Mistabullet]

GTO wasn't racing, bro :lol:

That's what I'm thinking.

But that means he was really good at keeping his distance from someone behind and to the left because I was flooring it the whole time and he stayed a constant 1 car length ahead of me the entire time.

The second time we did our comparison he was directly behind me. I floored it, he pulled into the lane to my right, and once again stayed a constant distance behind me the entire time.

Neither one of us was pulling away from the other in both instances, which is the only reason why i'm thinking he was racing.

But if he wasn't racing then kudos to him for making me think my Camry can keep up with a GTO Either way it made the ride home pretty fun. :burnout:

 

[drjames]

I think that they need the extra capacity in KY to increase Camry sales, especially if the TCH takes off and most of the production is transferred here. They are already committed to farming out 100,000 more Camry units to the Subie Indiana plant so it looks like they are planning for 550,000 to 600,000 units of Camrys in the future.

They could build it at the Cambridge, Ontario plant easily.

 

[pjsammy]

the GTO driver is probably laughing at some GTO forum right now. "I was using 10% throttle and this camry driver was flooring it. I let him think he won"

(not ragging on you, just saying he was probably toying with your brain for shits and giggles)

 

[tacomasrock]

I see a buch of cars in this segment. The G6, Solara, Accord coupe, Mustangs, etc.

The Solara seems to sell very well. I don't know if I'd have given up this segment.

 

[tacomasrock]

GTO wasn't racing, bro :lol:

IDK....GTOs are fast, but those new 268hp Camrys are definately not slow.
I think I'd put a V6 camry up against a Mustang GT, Accord V6, Altima, Charger, etc.
A GTO might have an edge, but not as much as you'd think. They run low 13s. I have seen one in the 12s.

If the new Camrys are as fast as the V6 accords, and I think they are a little faster, they they can break into the low 14s. Maybe even a little better.

 

[Kevs Toy]

Not sure what the Solara sales numbers are, but I sure as hell don't seem em as often as I do Camries on the line. Most Solaras I notice are convertibles too. Hell, I think I see more Hybrids on the line now than the Solara

 

[ECHOKnight2000]

^^^Yeah I rarely see second gen Solara's on the road, I see more of the first gen, not like tons of them but certainly more than the second. Which is too bad IMO because I think the second has/had potential but oh well! You win some you lose some!:thumbup:

 

[camrycoupe95]

The first rule in branding...K.I.S.S. -- Keep It Simple Stupid.

We all know the Solara is the Camry Coupe of the day. But how many average people know that? You know how unaware the average person is. They don't pay attention to the little details like us car folks.

It's possible the average person didn't know it's a Camry. It's possible because the 2nd gen Solara looks nothing like the Camry sedan. It's possible because, correct me if I'm wrong, but the word "CAMRY" appears nowhere on the Solara.

Toyota spends all this time and money branding the name "Camry" and then they call the coupe a totally different name??!! :ugh3:

Think about it this way: the Camry sedan is the best selling car in the US. I find it impossible that Solara couldn't get more sales just on that fact alone.

Look at Accord, I probably see 4 Accord coupes for every 1 Solara. Maybe because Honda didn't come up with some cute name to call their coupe. :disappoin

 

[JustAnotherAsian]

hm. name alone could've killed the solara then?^

or at least it helped kill it off.

interesting point. i wonder if i myself would look at the solara differently if it never accuired the "solara" nameplate in the first place- if it just kept the "camry" designation...

interesting.

 

[RningOnFumes]

This is what Wiki has to say about the name:

Prior to the production of the Camry Solara, the 2-door version of the Toyota Camry was simply known as the "Camry Coupé" that was added to the third generation Camry lineup in 1994 to compete with the Honda Accord and other cars in its class. However, due to it never being nearly as popular as the 4-door sedan of the Camry, the Camry Coupé was dropped in 1997. In 1999, retaining the goal to compete with other similar coupés, Toyota launched the Camry Solara. Instead of mirroring the now-fourth generation Camry's design, the Solara had its own unique design with a swooped roofline, heavily creased sides and unique front and rear fascia. The name "Camry Solara" can be divided into 2 parts: The Camry portion to reflect on its roots, the Toyota Camry, and the "Solara" portion of the name portrays the radiance of the sun. However, all models of the Camry Solara only features the "Solara" portion of the name on exterior emblems (internal references, e.g. the owner's manual has it), and the "Camry" portion of the name is rarely used by anybody when referring to the car in general.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Camry_Solara

 

[Camread]

Look at Accord, I probably see 4 Accord coupes for every 1 Solara. Maybe because Honda didn't come up with some cute name to call their coupe. :disappoin

honda has to call it the accord coupe because it looks almost identical to the sedan, toyota can use a different name because their camry coupe doesn't actually look like a sedan with 2 missing doors.

 

[camrycoupe95]

^^^And that's why Accord coupe sells well and Solara doesn't.

It's simple marketing 101: Toyota spends billions of dollars building brand loyalty with the Camry name, they should stick with it. Solara....what's that? It means nothing to a Camry buyer, it doesn't have the rock solid reputation.

Not to mention the Solara looks too aggressive for the average Camry buyer and shares no styling cues that would tie it to the best selling sedan. It's no wonder it failed.

 

[repinS]

IDK....GTOs are fast, but those new 268hp Camrys are definately not slow.
I think I'd put a V6 camry up against a Mustang GT, Accord V6, Altima, Charger, etc.
A GTO might have an edge, but not as much as you'd think. They run low 13s. I have seen one in the 12s.

If the new Camrys are as fast as the V6 accords, and I think they are a little faster, they they can break into the low 14s. Maybe even a little better.

I doubt they'll do better than low 14's in stock form. Mid 14's sounds about right and is definately no slouch.

And 2 seconds is an eternity in the 1/4 mile