SolaraGuy.com

Hi guys, new to the SolaraGuy forums, although I've had my car for about 3 or 4 years. I bought the car on Ebay around 2007 I think for $5,000. It's Pearl White, 5-speed, 4-cylinder. I bought the car originally as a commuter for good gas mileage. Soon thereafter I got bored with it and started upgrading. Here is what I've done so far, and what had been done prior to my buying it.

Cheap ram air intake - (previous owner - must go at some point)
Custom Borla dual exhaust w/ tips (previous owner - sounds great, will keep)
Lots of lights and crap (previous owner - ripped out)
Vogtland lowering springs (my upgrade)
KYB GR-2 shocks/struts (came with the springs)
Akita 17" wheels (my upgrade)
Fuzion HRi tires (my upgrade)
Deck, subs, etc. (my upgrade)

The next part of the story is when I realized I wasn't going to get what I wanted out of the 5S-FE motor. I really want to achieve 300 hp. So... I found a wrecked '99 SE 5-speed with the 1MZ-FE and bought it for $1,000. Has the transmission, motor, computer, ABS, everything basically (other than a smashed front end). So I'm working on the motor swap. The next question is - how am I going to get to 300 horses (or more).

I assume I need the following things:

Headers (are the OBX on Ebay worth it?)
Cat upgrade (V6 is missing converter, have had lots of CEL's with the 2.2L motor) (haven't researched this)
Engine management upgrade (looked into these long ago, recommend something please)
TRD supercharger (this is going to be the hardest thing to find)
Bigger injectors (from what?)
Better intake (recommendations please)
Brakes (have to make the swap from disc+drum on the current body to the 4-wheel disc on the "donor")

What am I missing?

I want to have a really unique car (paint, body, etc.) with surprising performance. *No one* (that I've spotted) has a non-factory Solara where I live (Eugene, OR). The car drives decently right now, and has moments of feeling like it wants to be fun, but I want to really tear it up. This will be a commuter (with occasional country drives) so I want to run on 87-octane and balance reliability and ease of use with dramatic increase in power. I realize I'm asking for 110 HP over stock, but I feel like the 100 HP/L of displacement is achievable with this car. I have a Tacoma I drive daily at the moment (when I'm not biking) - so tearing this car to the ground is no issue.

Budget: I'd like to do it with the *best value* to achieve my goals. I want to embarrass the Honda/Acura junkies around here, not to mention the idiots in 4 ton F-350's. Money is always an object, but I will pour some thousands into this over time. I intend to run the car a long time and hand it down to a/my youngster at some point. Pre-2000 Toyotas are the best cars in the world.

talk to gabe (trd4life) he can get you an mp90 supercharger which is bigger than the trd one, and you could get over 300hp with it pretty easy.

edit: also, stock supra injectors are what alot of people do, and some people have the injen intake and stuff but the best one is for sure the CP-e intake but those are really hard to come by, and cost alot.

If only there was a section on this forum...or even better a topic in that section that had a bunch of people post their set ups and hp numbers....

I agree, I would love to see other setups and HP measurements.

sarcasm.......its stickied in the F/I section

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=27868

lol fail!!

good luck with your quest in creating the most outstanding solara in oregon.

1gSE's link should give you a little boost (ha!) in the right direction

Awesome. I'm glad there is a sense of humor on here (even at my expense). It sounds like you're telling me I should look at the forum before I start posting stuff - am I on the right track?

right We're more than willing to help people out if they do a bit of research. Most of the questions you'll come up with have probably been answered a couple of times before

srkovarik6 wrote:I want to have a really unique car (paint, body, etc.) with surprising performance.

LOL, maybe the other people in this thread missed this tidbit while skimming your original post. If you wanted to be like everybody else, you'll follow advice of everybody else and read that other forum.

Dr J

Well, the adventures of others are helpful. It looks like everyone is basically running the TRD supercharger with 4 - 5.5 psi boost. I think seeking 240 - 300 whp from this car is reasonable. I would settle for the lower end of the power spectrum (240) and more reliability/less investment than going for 300 right off the bat. I already know what kind of paint, body work, etc. I want to do. Having a 190 hp ride that looks really cool won't do it for me. I want to make the Honda tuners and 7 liter diesel guys think twice. It would be nice to hang with the V8 muscle guys in a car the most folks can't even identify.

So far it looks like basically I need:

OBX Headers
TRD supercharger @ 5.5 pounds
Supra Injectors
Walbro Fuel pump
Some sort of fuel management
Jim's fuel mod
Fuel filter upgrade
Upgraded clutch
Light-weight flywheel
Injen intake
Iridium spark plugs
Magnecor wires

Is it just me or is exhaust and headers the common denominator between the 200-220 whp cars and the 250+ cars?