Super newbie here, looking for advice

[izzy300]

Hello everybody! First post here, here's the short story. For 8 years I drove a Lexus IS300, loved loved loved the car. Then I got married and we had a baby. Traded in the IS for a Acura MDX to be my "mommy" car. Well... I do like the MDX... but my drive to work is on the back roads on 2 lane highways that are all curvy and fun and I just can't get over the loss I feel in the pit of my stomach when I attempt to accelerate through the curves (bad to do in a SUV I know and no baby isn't in the car when I do this lol.)

My hubby has a 2000 Solara that is currently sitting in the driveway doing nothing since he drives a car provided by his job. For gas milage purposes and to hopefully get some of my fun factor back I want to put a little work into it for my commuter car. The problem is neither of us are really car people.

I am willing to get my hands a little dirty. I'm looking for a few suggestions of some basic mods to attempt, and the more detailed you can be about brands/prices I'd appreciate it since the lingo is pretty foreign to me on first glance of this forum hehe.

Also anybody have recommendations for a good mechanic around the Owings Mills, MD area...

[1gSE]

4 cyl or 6 cyl? Auto or manual? Pretty much all cars can benefit from the same basic bolt-ons....I/H/E...intake, header(s), exhaust.

welcome to SG

[izzy300]

sorry I should have given specifics. Its a V6 SLE.

intake, header, exhaust. Ok.

How about ways to improve its handling?

[unbalancedwood]

K&N resuable air filter $30
tune up (spark plugs, flush coolant yourself, if you have a leak around your valve cover replace it, change transmission fluid, etc) $100
if you have 16" stock wheels I would keep them
lower it with Tein springs and Tokico blue/hp shocks $500
tint the windows $100-130

done. really depends on how long you intend to keep it.

miss mine

[ThatVietGuy]

http://www.solaraguy.com/viewtopic.php?t=37723

[Midias]

How about ways to improve its handling?

TRD rear sway bar will make a world of difference. Cost about $150

[Chinky420]

How about ways to improve its handling?

first, welcome to sg, glad to hear you're down to get your hands a little dirty

as far as curves and twisties are concerned, you're gonna want to start with a Rear Sway Bar (RSB), and if you're still not satisfied, then upgrade the struts/springs.

for it being a single modification, the RSB will definitely change the driving characteristics of your car.

[ASG14]

There is not too too much to do in the way of more power unless you want to spend about $2500 on a used TRD SC.

As for suspension, there are many things.
1: TRD or Whiteline Rear Sway Bar (I'd suggest the TRD one myself)
2: Lowering Springs/Struts
3: Front lower 4 point strut brace and rear control arm subframe braces both made by Ultra Racing.
4: Whiteline Front Sway Bar

If your not goignt o go with a TRD Supercharger, try to get a used CPe intake. Thats the only intake from what I read that truely makes a performance difference.

As for exhaust, your best bet would be the OBX Headers and Y-pipe. and you could also go with the OBX CatBack. I;m not sure how it sounds though. Also not sure if you like loud or quiet. If you wanted to make it quiet (like I am planning), you can use the stock catback and pop on a TRD muffler. That will keep a little more backpressure in the exhaust so you'll keep the low end power, but will sacrifice some high end. But thats the way I want it. I like my low end power, lol.

Too bad you did not post up a few days ago. We had a small car meet just south of Baltimore on Saturday. There is also an MD meet every few weeks now that summer is here, so keep a lookout in the meet/events section on this forum. Even if the car is 100% stock, your always welcome to come. We don't discriminate.

~Adam

[mazen222]

Welcome man,

TRD Rear Sway Bar!
I dont have that mod yet, but each time someone installs it on here, they come back with very good feeback. And since you're gonna be on curves all the time, the handelling is going to be much better for you.

For sure, this one should be your first mod, you can install it by yourself very easily, just make sure to ask for tips on the greasing of the bushing before you install it.

Of course, changing the airfilter to clean one wouldn't hurt... gas filter too depending on the milage... both very cheap (under 50$ together)

Goodluck

[Midias]

^^ OBX catback is best for Supercharged applications for NA go for one of the megan catbacks.

[stereopaul511]

Welcome to SG!

[lilm]

Since you asked about a suspension mod......TRD rear sway bar is going to probably make the biggest difference. It was my first mod on my first solara and i remember it was night and day.

[izzy300]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'm definitely interested in keeping the noise factor down, thanks for the input on intakes/exhaust.

Gonna search around and try to order the RSB tonight so I can get it next week to play with.

I also tried to order the K&N air filter but everytime I try to click buy now I get an error page grrr.

BTW I get a weird feedback response braking, it's almost like the brake pedal "stutters" when I brake the car. We had the brake pads replaced about 2 years ago so I can't imagine they're the culprit but I dunno. What do you guys think?

Adam- do you happen to know any good mechanics or a car repair shop here in the Baltimore area?

Thanks all!

[ASG14]

^ BTW, the shutter, or pulsation, is the Rotors, not the pads. So you'll likely need new rotors, or to have the current ones resurfaced. As for mechanics, I'll have to ask a couple friends. I;m down this way all the time (In Richmond right now), but live in CT.

[bigbirdSCed]

i live in MD and if your willing to pay dealership prices, then you should take the car to Russel toyota on 40 to see if you can get Cory(charmcityes) to work on it. dont expect a discount but hes the most thurough mechanic that i know of and a good guy. wont suggest repairs or work that you dont need.

other then that im more fimilliar with places around college park...since i live there.

glad to see another MDer