Thursday, May 06, 2010 - 10:11 am, by: Chris MacDonald(V8soarer)
Just a little about me... I Moved to Oz about a year ago from Canada to help support my girlfriend get through MED School. Its not that easy to get around Australia, so after a year of taking the bus,train and foot, it seemed to be a good idea to get a car. After shopping around I decided to get myself a 1991 Toyota Soarer V8. The car looked mint and had 150K on it and at $2500 this was right up my alley. The only thing that need to be fixed was the power steering pump lines to pass road worthy. So after $300 at Kmart I was on the road. So for a grand total of $2800 I purchased myself a 19 year old car lol
The only problem I have with the car is that someone put in a aftermarket head unit and I have no bass at all from the 8" woofer (not connected) is there anyway I can get the Factory Amplifier to work with this Kenwood head unit? or revert back to a Stock head unit? I am sick of hearing tinny music.. So if anyone can help me out that would be great!
I picked up a whole center unit stereo CD/Tape and climate control with bracket all in mint condition for $30 at a scrap yard. Climate control works perfect but cant seem to get power to the factory cd/tape stereo.
Thursday, May 06, 2010 - 02:30 pm, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Difficult to get the factory line level amp working unless you are very handy with electronics.
If your head unit has pre-amp outs on it, you would be better off getting a cheap after market amp to replace the factory unit. I picked up a brand new Sony X-Plod unit off a local auction website for $80 delivered. Only took a few hours to install and it works a treat.
Thursday, May 06, 2010 - 08:22 pm, by: James Buchan(Jrbuch)
Welcome dude. V8 soarers are underrated. People say they don't go hard, but if you do your research and speak to the right people - you can get them to boogie!
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 08:22 am, by: George Lu(Lux)
Mmm... welcome...
I agree with Matt's recommendation, getting a aftermarket amp would be a better option, it also provide alot more power to the Sub. The chance are, your 8inch sub would use alot more power then the toyota OEM sub (only 80w). So aftermarket amp would be the way to go.
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 09:36 am, by: Chris MacDonald(V8soarer)
Thanks guys, I did buy an amp so looks like I will be putting it in this weekend. I am also looking to get 2 more stock 8" woofers, so if anyone has any or knows where to get some let me know!
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 07:31 pm, by: James Buchan(Jrbuch)
Mike Beck wrote on Friday, May 07, 2010 - 05:24 am:
I just get the perception that alot of people still don't know much about the 1UZ, and go straight for the TT if they want to go quick cheaply. Guess not having huge aftermarket support will do that. A friends mate said last week he was surprised when he saw a v8 Soarer powersliding, as if he didn't think it was possible.
They're a bloody good car, well built - the engine is very smooth, and go hard if you do the right things do them! Got heaps of potential. I guess their only weakness is that they're expensive to fix when things go wrong. They just get overlooked a little I think. Of course these are just my observations!
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 08:44 pm, by: Mike Beck(Gold_40gt)
Yeah I would agree with that.
I suppose the biggest reason they are underated is how they are viewed as a Toyota a lot of the time, If they were licenced as a Jaguar or something, then I would love to see how the the story would have played out.
I've also noticed how ignorant some people are to their abilities, some American I know said he wouldn't trust an Aluminum V8 engine with a supercharger, he said it would break easily - clearly clueless about the 1UZ-FE.
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 09:45 pm, by: James Buchan(Jrbuch)
Mike Beck wrote on Friday, May 07, 2010 - 08:44 pm:
Ahh jeez. Well then by that logic he'd hate the LS1 GENIII v8 too as that's Aluminium. But because it's American it's probably alright for him.
And Mike, if the Soarer were licenced as a Jaguar, they'd probably have really bad electrics. The XJS V12 comes to mind
My housemate who has an XR8 FG falcon thinks the 1UZ is too small to as a v8. My brother who's got an R33 GTST with a dump pipe, FMIC and exhaust thinks it's nowhere near as fast as his because he's got a turbo. He told me to sell up the other day and buy something turbo. So I guess I just want to stick up for the humble v8 Soarer, and to prove to them that even in N/A form, it is still a capable car. Shift kit, and an E-Manage ultimate would help change their mind maybe.
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 10:04 pm, by: Andrew Duaso(Andrewd)
i love my V8 soarer, but no way are you going to change anyones mind with a shiftkit and an emanage.. even a aurion would make a modded V8 soarer look silly in a quick drag
throw on that turbo kit thats being worked on then HELLO youd be gone
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 10:25 pm, by: James Buchan(Jrbuch)
For an N/A 1UZ I don't think it would be that bad Andrew. (I don't expect it to keep up with todays big four door v8 & inline 6 turbos) However I do believe the MV automatics shift kit would help firm up the changes, and the E-manage would make the car slightly more responsive. After that, well the only route for more power would is forced induction.
I honestly don't think my car is THAT slow that an Aurion would put me on the spot.(TRD Aurion is another story)
(I've seen quicker 0 - 100 times in my Soarer, (6.7) before BFI with just a catback, plus the 1UZ has more torque stock, and the Aurion weighs a similar amount. It would be an interesting race.
Friday, May 07, 2010 - 11:30 pm, by: Andrew Duaso(Andrewd)
Not even close press go in a rental car aurion and you'll see 400m gone in 14.5seconds
they can do low 14's but you need to turn traction off (complicated) and not torch the tyres too bad
aurion is about 150kg lighter more power 2 more gears so you'll find that there will be more torque at the wheels only 20nm down on a 1uz
no contest.
The soarer as you say will go alright though. And I'm sure it will give any other car from the same year a hard time.
I'm sure there is a few tricks though that could be done to get a n/a soarer to be a bit quicker in a straight line, knowing that a mechanically almost stock 4l ford that's 200kg heavier and also only 4spd auto can crack a 13 1/4.
Saturday, May 08, 2010 - 10:02 am, by: Benny Gammelmark(Oldfield)
The shift kit DOES make a difference but it can also make the gears a bit "notchy" in some circumstances (medium throttle). On full throttle very good though.
On the Aurion question, I doubt the Aurion has the torque of a modded N/A Soarer. Also, the right V8 (1995 and forward) with headers, BFI and a chip conversion can get about 178 kw at the wheels.
From what I have seen on the web the Aurion only has 156 kw at the wheels. That is a 22 kw difference.
Saturday, May 08, 2010 - 11:10 am, by: Andrew Duaso(Andrewd)
thats stock, and with very restrictive intake and exhausts
a still basically stock aurion with only a k&n and catback has run a 14.1 with a 2.2 60ft get a better launch and its high 13's even some s/c'd soarers fail to beat that..
i actually prefer the aurion for daily driving over the soarer, but you can beat the sound of a nice 8 and the rwd for when you want to drive like a hon
Monday, May 10, 2010 - 08:52 pm, by: Rob Rojo(Rob_tt)
The 1UZ was never meant to be fast, it was built to be smooth, quiet and reliable and it does that well. Fitting a shift kit to a V8 soarer takes away from the comfort side of things which is what the UZZ30/31 was made for, just enjoy it for what it is make it look nice and sound nice. If it really bothers you just hook up a 50 shot of NOS (not legal in most states) as well as your exhaust, intake mods etc, then you have the best of both worlds and still maintain the comfort and be as quick as most of the new big power V8's and its a lot cheaper than an turbo or supercharger kit. There was a V8 Soarer running NOS running low 13's at WSID a few months ago and there wasn't much else done to it apart from race slicks and exhaust.
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Well then by that logic he'd hate the LS1 GENIII v8 too as that's Aluminium. But because it's American it's probably alright for him. 
