thought just to say hi

[silversolara]

hi,

i just got a new solara sle v6 couple of days ago. so far, enjoy it very much. can't move my a$$ out of it. like the exterior look very very much, but i don't like the wood trim inside. guess that is probably because the car was targeted to mid age men???

very glad to find this group to exchange some thought on the car. and here it goes:

1) off-the-line accelaration is weak
2) brakes are mushy though they do stop the car
3) tires do not grab the road tightly when cornering

is this just me or the car? i had an 89 mr2 before, so everything here was compared to that.

a question about the forum:
why is it called solara guy? i'm a Ms. myself and bet there are some other ladies out there driving the same car.


thx!

[Yanks0114]

The founder, Ultramookie, created this site as a personal site for his solara at first. He is the true Solaraguy. There are a few ladies including the official solaraguy ambassador Missay.

All your complaints/observations are something i have also noticed. Get a SC, upgrade the brakes and get some aftermarket rims. Problem fixed

[Yanks0114]

Welcome to the boards btw.

[Flipside909]

Hi Welcome and to address some of your issues:

1) off-the-line accelaration is weak

You drive an automatic, plus the car is very heavy.

2) brakes are mushy though they do stop the car

Brakes need adjustment.

3) tires do not grab the road tightly when cornering

Your OEM tires either Bridgestone or Michelin (especially Michelin Energy MXV4) are comfort tires with low rolling resistance. They weren't meant to be flogged around corners hard. If you want better cornering, look into lower profile tires and an upgraded suspension (spring/strut combo).

i had an 89 mr2 before, so everything here was compared to that.

You're comparing a heavy front wheel drive Solara to a lightweight mid rear engine car. That's like comparing a cruise ship to a go kart.

[silversolara]

2) brakes are mushy though they do stop the car

Brakes need adjustment.

Thanks for the reply! do u mean i need to bring the car back to the dealer and ask them to adjust the brakes? will this be covered by the warranty? thx!

[DavPak]

brake adjustment is under warranty for 1yr/20K. but don't go in there and tell them to adjsut the brakes, they will charge you. tell them what you told us, "brakes are mushy though they do stop the car"
if they question in, then ask, "but i thought a brake adjsutment is 1yr 20K??"

workin the system yeah baby!!

[silversolara]

well, i talked to toyota customer service today about the mushy brakes, and the guy told me that it is becasue of the ABS. according to him, when i push the brake pedal, ABS will not lock the wheels immediately, instead, the wheels can move a little bit more, so that he said, when in an emergent stop, i can still swurve the car to avoid hitting something when braking, while brakes without ABS will lock the wheels immediately and not allow me to do the swurving. since my previous car does not have ABS, i really don't know whether this is the case. does this make sense???? thx!

[Flipside909]

well, i talked to toyota customer service today about the mushy brakes, and the guy told me that it is becasue of the ABS. according to him, when i push the brake pedal, ABS will not lock the wheels immediately, instead, the wheels can move a little bit more, so that he said, when in an emergent stop, i can still swurve the car to avoid hitting something when braking, while brakes without ABS will lock the wheels immediately and not allow me to do the swurving. since my previous car does not have ABS, i really don't know whether this is the case. does this make sense???? thx!

Mushy brakes usually means, brake pedal out of adjustment, or there is air in the brake lines.

[NASTY]

yeah, that guy giving you a lesson on ABS was just avoiding the issue

[cdssolara]

Yes, I agree; it's not an issue of what ABS is intented to do. Even though ABS is designed to prevent your brakes from locking up when you step hard on them, they should still feel firm. Your pedal shouldn't feel spongy. I've got about 26,000 miles on my car, and the brakes feel quite firm.

Also, your car is never going to feel like your old MR2, so forget that comparison. There are some things you can do to improve handling and steering response, but the Solara is always going to feel heavy.

[DavPak]

yeah, that guy giving you a lesson on ABS was just avoiding the issue

please understand that a service write spends much of the day educating ignorant people about their car (yanks can be my witness to that!). i once spent 20 mins with someone explaining that the reason the headlights on her '03 corolla don't go off unless the car is off is due to her daytime running lights!

[Yanks0114]

Yea Seriously Dave. Some people are just insane.

As the brakes all the toyotas/lexus's we have ever owned has had mushy brakes compared to other manufactueres. My mom Maxima stops with much less effort then my stock brakes did.

I am EXTREMELY happy with the brake upgrades. The pedal now feels much firmer