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Solara's bright future
Toyota has high hopes for its sleek, sporty coupe
By Richard Russell
Thursday, September 18, 2003
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. - The intermediate segment accounts for about one-third of all passenger car sales. The two main players in the category are Toyota and Honda. Both offer a coupe version of their exceptionally popular sedans for empty nesters and young professionals, the most frequent buyers of an intermediate coupe.
Toyota has marketed the Solara, a Camry coupe, for several years. It's not a big market. Last year it sold only 1,100 Solaras in Canada compared to 39,000 Camrys. But despite this rather limited reach, Toyota has developed an all-new Solara for 2004 and expects to double its sales by increasing the emphasis on sportiness both visually and literally - and with aggressive pricing.
Because the Solara is unique to North America, Toyota took pains to ensure it fit the market. All of the engineering management, safety testing, styling and production development were completed here in North America. Shigeki Terashi, the executive chief engineer of the project, moved with his family to Detroit to head up the project.
Quality, durability and reliability are watchwords at Toyota, as is a desire to be competitive. To that end the new Solara benefited from a variety of developments that wrung costs from the project, allowing prices to be set as much as $1,375 less than the equivalent 2003 model. Yet the new Solara has more standard equipment, performance and interior room.
This was made possible in part by new digital technology, which enabled the team to design, fabricate and assemble every piece of the new car on a screen before producing a single part. Changes could be made quickly, at a fraction of the cost, and the number of incredibly expensive pre-production prototypes slashed, along with time. A team of engineers with an average age of 29 developed the new Solara in just 19 months - the shortest ever for a Toyota sold in North America.
In addition to the obvious cost benefits, consumers also get an even higher quality product, which for Toyota is saying something. For example, interior panel gaps have been narrowed from 1.5 mm to only 0.5 mm, providing a look and feel of quality and refinement while ensuring the car will retain its structural integrity over the long term.
The 2004 Solara is a stylish 2-door take on the new Camry, with nary a body panel shared between the two. Longer, wider and taller, it sits on a considerably lengthened wheelbase. Benefits include more head and legroom and a back seat that will comfortably host real people of size and girth thanks to big gains in hip and shoulder room. The interior has a distinctly upscale aura and is visually different from the Camry in every respect while showcasing incredible fit and finish.
The new Solara model range has been expanded to ensure a fit for every taste. The SE is available in 4- and 6-cylinder guise and the SLE as a six only. A sport package available for both the 4- and 6-cylinder SE models adds unique seat material, a body-coloured full skirt package and various trim pieces.
While the base 2.4-litre, all-aluminum, 157 horsepower four is carried over from the current Solara, the six is the new 3MZ-FE aluminum unit that first appeared a few months ago in the Sienna minivan and Lexus RX 330 SUV. Boasting a long list of technical advances, this is yet another Toyota engine impressive for its silken and quiet operation while hiding a 225 horsepower fist beneath a velvet glove.
Nail the throttle, keep your foot planted and the '04 Solara rockets from rest with authority, the 5-speed shifting almost imperceptibly as the speedometer rapidly reaches the illegal zone. The new Solara 'six' is an impressive full second quicker to 100 km/h than the outgoing model. Both acceleration and fuel efficiency benefit from the 5-speed, which has a 32 per cent lower first gear for more dig off the line and a nine per cent higher top gear allowing the engine to loaf along at highway speeds.
Unlike the Accord coupe, the Solara will not be available with a manual transmission. Four-cylinder versions get a 4-speed automatic while all V6 models come with a new 5-speed automatic with sequential shifting capabilities. On the road this is one supremely quiet, comfortable and capable motor car, slipping through the air with a minimum amount of fuss. Extensive attention to airflow and sealing are clearly evident. While shared with Camry, the suspension has been tuned for this application. Every mounting and pivot point between body and suspension has been either repositioned or re-calibrated. A brace between the front struts and sway bars at both ends, combined with specially-tuned struts and springs, allows the Solara to behave as no Camry ever did. On a handling course set up for the introduction, the six also proved more at ease at speed in the corners with a bit more bite, slightly sharper steering and a touch more stiffness. But both were quite content being asked to corner at attitudes their sister sedan would disdain.
The lengthy standard equipment list is impressive, even for the $26,800 base model. Included are both front and side airbags, ABS, tilt and telescope steering wheel, air conditioning, power windows and locks, etc. The SE 4-cylinder with Sport Package comes in under $30,000 but our favourite, and the one we put the most mileage on, was an SE V6 with the Sport package at $32,700.
If a coupe is in your cards or you want something sporty with a back seat, this is a pretty neat way to go.
Immediate competition:
Chevrolet Monte Carlo,
Honda Accord, Pontiac Grand Am
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