optimal shifting

[adam8080]

I hate the tranny in my Solara!!!! It looks like it wants me to shift it. I want to shift it all the time since my other car is stick. If I shift it manually, It makes me want to wreck the car and get another one. Must I go on? Let the car do it for you.

[SolarBoy]

I guess my reference to your post wasn't quite understood. I was wondering if your modification created quicker shifts, so that anticipation of the maximum shift points wasn't as necessary. In other words, when you nudge the shift lever, the car responds quicker with your modification, than without any modification.

[Gadgetjq]

I guess my reference to your post wasn't quite understood. I was wondering if your modification created quicker shifts, so that anticipation of the maximum shift points wasn't as necessary.

There's no connection at all between the intake mod and transmission. As you've probably seen in several posts, a lot of owners would get in line to buy if TRD came up with a shift kit for this tranny.

Ah, for the days when you could just swap out a relief valve to change slow soft shifts into fast snappy ones.

BTW that intake mod isn't 'mine'. It's a trick someone else came up with and is referenced in the SolaraGuy Gen2 mods section.

Cheers

[anwagbo3000]

thanks for the help guys, yeah, our tranny is a piece of junk, you would think that all the money they spent trying to make this car look good they could have made a better tranny for more wheel power

[Gadgetjq]

This thread piqued my interest and I've sent e-mail to TRD asking if they have currently or in development any kind of shift kit for this transmission. If not I asked if there was anything an experienced transmission technician could do to tighten up the 'self shift' mode.

Edit to add TRD's reply:
"Thank you for your interest in TRD. But TRD does not offer a shift kit for the 2004 Toyota Solara with the 5 speed automatic. Sorry."

Oh well, Meanwhile I suspect ours is as good a transmission as any available for a car of this type. We know we didn't buy a sports car even though many of us would like to turn it into one

Cheers

[PXLpainter]

It still pisses me off. I've seen a lot of larger luxury cars and even trucks that have more responsive shifting trannys than this POS.

[anwagbo3000]

i have been out for a couple of days trying to find optimal shift points, and i have found some.

what i found is that if you shift anywhere above 5000 rpm and below 5600 rpm, you generally end up at 3800 to 4000 rpm to start each gear there after, but i need some more power though, i am going to put a k&n air filter on and see if i get better shirting and then change my oil there after and spark plugs and spark plug wires to see what changes as far as shifting goes

you know, if the solara was equipped with a better tranny, it would probably be a beast of a car

[Gadgetjq]

i am going to put a k&n air filter on and see if i get better shirting and then change my oil there after and spark plugs and spark plug wires to see what changes as far as shifting goes

An air filter won't make a diddly bit of difference in shifting (I think this has been discussed during the thread) but the K&N 'will' be the last air filter you'll ever have to buy.

Your spark plugs are Iridiums, not scheduled for replacement until 90,000 miles. If you're close to that mark then go ahead and swap em' out but if you're at much lower mileage you won't see any difference. Plug wires, just do a resistance check on them to see if there are any problems.

You just need to get yourself into "Solara Mode" and understand you didn't buy a race car, it's really set up to be a comfortable (soft shifting and all) tourer.

Now that you've found some optimum shift points you've probably also figured out the best use for the manual shift. Just leave it in 3rd all the time in town.

Cheers

[anwagbo3000]

your right, but i cant just drive a car for the sake of driving it, i need some more bang and i am set out to get it, eventually, i will be trying to obtain the next skyline that comes out in america but until then, my quest is to be the best, as far as my solara goes, 400 hp here i come, well at least i dream about it

[PXLpainter]

LOL! Keep dreamin' bro!

Unless you got the tie and $ for an engine swap or a bore/internal rework and put a twin turbo on that ride you'll not have success in reaching that goal!

Once I get SOME $$ (donations??) to get the dyno-tune on the prototype JPP Headers.Y-pipe, then we'll see how close to 300 we'll be.

Your best bet to start is skip the K&N and go right for the CPe SRI.