Toyota Camry Solara

The Toyota Camry Solara is a mid-size coupe/convertible designed and engineered by Toyota to capture the practical sport enthusiast car market. Created to appeal to more sport minded drivers than those who prefer the Toyota Camry Sedan, The Camry Solara looks to bring together sport car performance and style with spacious practicality. In its second generation thus far, the Camry Solara has found a responsive niche in the car buyer market and continues to provide all that it was designed for. The Camry Solara is based on the current Toyota Camry and shares the Camry's 2.4 L I4 engine. It was originally built at Toyota’s production facilities in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada (where it is known simply as the Toyota Solara) and is exclusively available for the North American market. However, the second generation Camry Solara is currently built in Toyota's factory in Kentucky.

See Wikicars' comprehensive Toyota Camry Solara Review.

Recent Changes
For the 2007 model, the Toyota Camry Solara retains its 2.4-liter four cylinder and 3.3-liter V-6 engines from the previous year. However, Toyota has dropped the “SE” from its “SE Sport” model name, now calling it simply the “Sport” trim. A rear spoiler, alloy wheels, high intensity discharge headlamps and tailpipe diffuser will separate the Sport from the SE and SLE trims. Audio system changes include an updated JBL audio head unit that is MP3 compatible (with auxiliary mini jack), satellite-radio capable, and has a 6-disc changer. Finally, a navigation system and Bluetooth with voice activation have been added to the options list.

Styles and Major Options
The Toyota Camry Solara is available as a coupe or convertible. There are 3 trims available: SE, Sport, and SLE.

SE
The SE is your base model coming standard with:


 * Power automatic door locks and windows
 * Remote keyless entry system
 * Cruise control
 * Steering wheel audio controls
 * AM/FM 6-disc in-dash CD changer with satellite radio capability
 * 16-in. aluminum alloy wheels with P215/60R16 tires
 * Silver metallic-style interior trim
 * Multi-function trip computer

SPORT
The Sport offers sportier looks and performance including:


 * 17-in. aluminum alloy wheels with P215/55R17 tires
 * Front and rear underbody spoilers and side rocker panel moldings
 * Sport-tuned suspension
 * Rear sport spoiler
 * Stainless steel exhaust tip
 * Black graphite-style interior trim
 * Unique sport gauge cluster
 * Leather-wrapped steering wheel, shift knob and parking brake handle
 * Chrome-accented parking brake button and air vents
 * Aluminum sport pedal covers

SLE
The most expensive SLE offers a more luxurious interior with:


 * Wood-grain-style interior trim
 * Power-adjustable driver seat
 * Power tilt/slide moonroof with sliding sunshade
 * JBL premium AM/FM 6-disc in-dash CD changer with satellite radio capability
 * Heated outside mirrors with driver-side auto-dimming feature
 * Front-console illumination panel
 * Auto-dimming rearview mirror with compass
 * Hands-free phone-calling capability via Bluetooth
 * Anti-theft system

Pricing
Today's actual prices by city can be found at CarsDirect.

Gas Mileage
EPA Estimates for various trims of the Toyota Camry Solara are as follows:

Reliability
Based off of the Camry sedan platform, the Camry Solara shares the same long reputation of reliability. “The Solara offers high levels of quality, durability and reliability” says New Car Test Drive and Autosite.com has given the Solara a 93 out of 100 in both durability and mechanical quality.

Safety
All Toyota Camry Solara trims come standard with Driver and front passenger Advance Airbag Systems and front seat-mounted side airbags, rear-seat Child Restraint System (CRS) lower anchors and top tether brackets (LATCH), Direct Tire Pressure Monitor System, engine immobilizer and anti-lock breaking system (ABS). Excluding the convertible models, all trims are also equipped with front and rear side curtain airbags.

Exterior
The 2007 Toyota Camry Solara comes in the following exterior colors:
 * Blizzard Pearl
 * Titanium Metallic
 * Magnetic Gray
 * Black
 * Absolutely Red
 * Cosmic Blue Metallic
 * Oceanus Pearl

Interior
The 2007 Toyota Camry Solara comes in the following interior colors:
 * Ivory Fabric
 * Dark Stone Fabric
 * Ivory Leather
 * Dark Stone Leather
 * Dark Charcoal Fabric
 * Dark Charcoal Leather

Main Competitors

 * Honda Accord coupe: side-by-side comparison


 * Pontiac G6: side-by-side comparison


 * Ford Mustang: side-by-side comparison

Hybrid Models
Currently, Toyota has no plans to offer a hybrid version of the Camry Solara. They will continue to offer the Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota Prius, Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

Unique Attributes
The 2007 Toyota Camry Solara brings new refined unique details to the tested model. The Sport trim has unique HID headlamps, 17-inch alloy wheels, front and rear under bumper spoilers, side rocker molding, rear spoiler and a tailpipe diffuser. Inside the cabin, Toyota keeps up with changing audio technology by providing an audio auxiliary jack for connectivity to most portable music players, as standard equipment.

Resale Values
Due to its high reliability and well thought out design, a used Camry Solara is still a desirable and reliable car to the prospective buyer.

According to CarsDirect.com, the 2007 Toyota Camry Solara will have an excellent resale value.

Criticisms

 * Needs better body control / chassis rigidity (Car and Driver)
 * Lacking side support in seats (New Car Test Drive)
 * Seat design a bit bland (New Car Test Drive)
 * Soft top does not provide enough sound dampening (New Car Test Drive)

Second mid-generation (2007-present)
In June 2006 a restyled 2007 Solara went on sale. On the SE, rear LED tailights had been added, with the reverse lights moved into the bumpers. The SE Sport became available with its own unique spoiler. A noticeable change on the front end were smaller foglights and interior changes include Optitron gauges, blue backlighting, revised shifter, iPod connectivity, Bluetooth connectivity, and voice activated navigation on the SLE V6 models.

Although it gained a slightly updated appearance, it still retained the older 3.3 L engine. The 2.4 liter motor is rated at 155 horsepower and 158 pound feet of torque while the 3.3 Liter motor is rated at 210 horsepower and 220 pound feet of torque due to a new testing method that Toyota is currently using on their current vehicles.

Second generation (2004-2006)
The second generation of the Camry Solara was introduced to the public in 2004 and featured a more curvy body. The smaller available engine was the carryover 2.4L 16-valve 4-cylinder rated at 157 hp, and the larger available engine was the new 3.3 L 24-valve V6 rated at 225 hp. With the four-cylinder engine you could choose a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission, while the V6 was matched to only a five-speed automatic transmission equipped with E-shift. Both engines featured Toyota's VVT-i technology.

The Solara with the 3.3 L engine could go from 0 to 60 mph in under seven seconds and run the quarter mile in the low 15 seconds. The 4-cylinder version of the second generation Solara could go from 0 to 60 mph in the mid eight to nine seconds and run the quarter mile in the mid 16 seconds to high 16 seconds depending on the transmission type.

In 2006, the four-speed automatic was dropped on the Solara in favor of the five-speed E-shift automatic transmission.

First mid-generation (2002-2003)
The Solara was restyled in 2002, receiving minor changes to the front end and rear taillights. Mechanically, the 2.2 L four-cylinder engine was replaced with the 2.4 L four-cylinder engine offered on the redesigned 2002 Camry. The reasons behind this was that the new 2.4 L (2AZ-FE) engine offered similar gas mileage numbers as the 2.2 L engine (5S-FE), but with better engine power.

First generation (1999-2001)
The first generation Camry Solara went on sale in the fall of 1998, as a 1999 model to replace the Camry coupe. It was based on the mechanical platform of the previous generation Toyota Camry and was built in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. The convertible arrived shortly after in 2000 and was available only in SE and SLE trims.

The 4-cylinder version of the Camry Solara can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 10 seconds, while the 6-cylinder version can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in approximately 7 seconds.

Worldwide
The Toyota Camry Solara is targeted to the Northern American consumer and is only available in a few other foreign markets, such as China. In Canada it is known simply as the "Toyota Solara".

Design quirks and oddities
Refer to any pop-culture tidbits about the vehicle in this section.

Awards

 * The Toyota Camry Solara was Edmund's Editors' Most Wanted Vehicle for 2000 in the midsize coupe category. [link]