New Solara

[Chinky420]

You couldn't be more right, everything you said I have started to realize in a couple days. Some of the exterior mods I was looking at I was really impressed with, im not much for exterior, Maybe a nice set of rims and some tint, possibly a lip kit if it looks ok, but I like to keep it stock outside and put the money where it counts, into the motor. I have a best friend that worked for Lexus and Toyota up until less then a year ago. One of my childhood friends/neighbors father owns a toyota dealership. They all speak really highly of these cars so I'm really excited to say the least.

I just cant get over how there is next to no rice on this site, its great, its classy. I guess that goes back to not having ricer kids and having people with taste. I'm not bashing the ricers, i mean if a massive wing and all that crap is what you want... its your money, your choice. That being said, that is not my taste and this site fits my taste much much better then almost any honda site I have EVER found.

I was not expecting much from the DIY section.. then I realized its MASSIVE and its all very very very useful stuff, no random crap mods. I enjoyed some of the fabrication DIY's especially the one on custom fiberglass enclosures, im going to try to make a nice one this summer for this car, I have it pretty well all worked out, I just don't understand how to come up with the volume of the box needed for the sub, but il figure that out as I go along. Im sure its on here somewhere.

Plus the site is organized well enough and there's not a lot of duplicate info so searching becomes a breeze. Thank goodness Google led me to this site.

1- i think because the solara costs a little bit more (used) than a civic, most ricers are already discouraged from buying one. also, the lack of aftermarket support is another negative factor. but because the solara costs a little bit more, the age range of drivers probably averages a bit higher than your typical ricer (also, toyota was marketing for the niche market of 'empty nesters'...which are an older demagraph anyway). THAT being said, i agree with you totally about there being little to no rice on SG (that's why i like it here). the solara doesn't need much flash when it's all class.

2- the v6 1mz-fe engine is a beast. like others have mentioned, if maintained it's good up to 200k+ miles. plus, there are members here who know about building up (specifically) the 1mz.....one of our members, gabe, is currently working on building some 1mz/3mz hybrid engines http://www.solaraguy.com/viewtopic.php?t=44283. and, if you really want to be blown away by the potential of solaras in general, search for some previous members cars: Paladin06Greg's "Silverlicious", trd4life's (former) "Red Knight", shidosha01's "tabasco", s15lara, i20_solara_20i, etc. ....or even something a bit more 'mild' like camry_on_bronze's old solara (RIP) or woah_its_jeff's retired solara (BTW, i mentioned these two guys because they've both since retired their rides, there are many good looking 'mild' solaras on here, but these two have lots of pictures showing how tough a 'mild' solara can get)

3- regarding the fiberglass volume problem:
try using packing peanuts (as filler) to guesstimate how much volume is being used. i.e. get something of known volume (a cardboard box, for example), take the measurements and find the volume of said cardboard box, then fill box with packing peanuts until you reach desired volume.

once you have this desired volume of packing peanuts, you can now pour it into various different shaped recepticles, so as to get the size and shape enclosure you desire. if you mess up, just save the peanuts, and put them into another recepticle to work on... it'll have a margin of error, but it's at least a place to start. you may have to tweak how much/little peanuts you need, depending on how much dead space is between them.

4- i think you're the first new member to compliment our search function as being easy to use. this just made me laugh since most newbs can't use our search to save their lives. good on you.

and now it's 5pm, and i'm leaving work.

[jstarone]

I am actually currently selling a civic haha. I mean they can be modified in a tasteful way... but there still a civic... and there will already be a bunch of people that have close to the same looking car because there so common, even modified.

I'm checking out the aforementioned members cars right now to get a idea of whats out there, and its looking promising. No rice! I love it. ( I really like like camryonbronze's solara, I like the look of the mild front lip and the bronze wheels look good with the white and I like the grill. That is about as much as I am going to do outside, may not even get the lip.

Thanks for the help with the volume problem, totally wasn't expecting to find my answer so quick so thank you very much!

I have been on my fair share of forums and Its annoying to keep seeing the same question over and over and if you search for it chances are its already been answered plus you don't have to wait for a reply. Although replys seem to be really quick here which is awesome.


Update: GOING TONIGHT TO CHECK IT OUT!!! (caps are intentional.. I'm really happy to have a nice car finally)

[jstarone]

Went to check it out, and its in really good shape, couple surface rust spots that are about the size of a dime or a quarter. One is on the drivers side rear fender and the other is on the passenger side in the back under the fender. Everything on it works great no noises or rattles, motor is quiet and oil is super clean, after 2-3 weeks of daily driving since he changed the oil it still looks like its fresh out of the jug, so no sludge. Only thing I can think of is, where is the check engine light on this car? when i first turn on the key it does not light up... isn't it supposed to? So basically the only thing it needs is a paint job in the future, which i was going to get done anyway, and I can get that done for free.

So I'll get it once mine sells, I don't want to have 2 cars at once. Mine is currently pending sale. I hate to see the civic go, it has a lot of new parts on it. But I want something different and I think the Solara fits the bill.

[Chinky420]

the CEL should be next to/near the "BRAKE" light, and also next to/near the "Trac" Light

if you can't illuminate either of these....then i believe that the CEL is located below the tachometer

[yaddadaimsayin]

oh shnaps i want a free paint job.

[jstarone]

the CEL should be next to/near the "BRAKE" light, and also next to/near the "Trac" Light

if you can't illuminate either of these....then i believe that the CEL is located below the tachometer

But is it a light that should light up when the key is turned to the first position? Im just trying to figure out if there is a problem and maybe the lights burnt out or something.

[jstarone]

oh shnaps i want a free paint job.

Yeah, I have a friend that is going to do it in the fall. If I want really crazy paint il probably have to pay for that and it will take him about 3 weeks to a month to get it finished but thats fine. I don't want to drive it in the winter anyway. Im thinking respraying it a deeper blood red and maybe adding some more flake to it.