From the Archive: 2001 Four-Seat Convertible Comparison Test

Chevy Camaro vs. Chrysler Sebring vs. Ford Mustang vs. Mitsubishi Eclipse vs. Toyota Camry Solara. View PhotosDavid Dewhurst|Car and DriverFrom the May 2001 issue of Car and Driver. What we really have here, friends of fresh air, is a collision of eras. Now vs. then. Contemporary vs. Cretaceous. Primordial vs. polished. Power vs. sophistication. Two tests, really, in one. In one corner, we have a trio of contemporary convertibles—all with V-6 power and front-wheel drive, and all quiet and mannerly. In the other, we have the 739th recorded renewal of a rivalry that's been going on for more than three decades: Mustang vs. Camaro. A dichotomy wasn't the idea when we started out. With spring almost in the air (defined in Michigan as temperatures soaring above 32 degrees Fahrenheit), the idea was to round up the various four-seat convertibles available at the $30,000 edge of the luxury-price threshold and see what one gets for that kind of dough. With this end in mind, we decided to specify the best possible engine available within our pricing parameters. We did order automatic transmissions across the board, but even so, the engine choice had major consequences. That's because it's possible to have V-8 power with a Chevy Camaro or Ford Mustang and still keep the price under 30 large. In fact, 30 large bolts you into a Z28 version of the Camaro convertible, which also nets you better tires, more starch in the suspension, and a limited-slip rear differential. On the other hand, the $30,000 ceiling eliminated a Pontiac Firebird convertible from this group. That amount at the Pontiac store won't buy a Trans Am V-8, only a nicely equipped Firebird V-6. Suspecting that the difference between 200 horsepower (the output of the base Camaro/Firebird V-6) and 310 horsepower (from the Z28's 5.7-liter LS1 V-8) might put the Firebird at a performance disadvantage (hey, ya think?), the folks at Pontiac decided not to play. See all results for used 2001 Toyota Camry Solara for sale near 75610-000 Looking past the issue of the two design approaches vying here, we see that these ragtops do have a fair degree of commonality in the kinds of goodies baked into their prices. For example, all the tops were power-operated, and all had glass rear windows. All had air conditioning; all provided at least some measure of power adjustability to their seats; all had CD players of some sort in the standard audio gear; and all had power windows, mirrors, and locks, with remote-entry key fobs. Most of the cars had at least some leather adorning their seats, with adjustable lumbar support; the Camaro was the exception on both counts. We put our topless quintet through a Southern California test regimen that was varied in both geography and climate, ranging from flat freeways to challenging mountain two-lanes in weather that included top-down sunshine, rain, snow, and sleet. The route ran from Los Angeles to our test venue at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, down through Palm Springs, past the Salton Sea to Borrego Springs, then back to L.A.—just over 700 miles total. See all results for used 2001 Toyota Camry Solara for sale near 75610-000 In the end, we found that our collective litmus test for four-seat convertibles tended to favor one particular set of characteristics over paltry considerations such as comfort. This came as no particular surprise. What was surprising, though, was how well some of the cars in this test have managed to blend comfort with driver-gratifying reflexes. So well, in fact, that the issue was in doubt right up to the final tally. Toyota earns its steadily growing chunk of the U.S. new-vehicle market by delivering consistently high quality, exceptional reliability, generally quiet operation, high resale values, and all-around user-friendliness. With a couple of notable exceptions, the Camry Solara conforms to those Toyota norms and is therefore a good choice for a sunny afternoon of leisurely cruising. The Solara is capable of comfortably accommodating four all-grown-up passengers for drives of almost any duration. Our test car was enhanced by seats clad in soft leather with a wide range of power adjustability, plus front side airbags and the broadest array of features in our convertible corral. With all those features, it was also the most expensive. It makes for a car that does a pretty respectable job of keeping its occupants happy—provided the pace is sedate, and the road is straight. When those easy driving tasks ceased to exist—about the time we began the climb out of the Anza-Borrego Desert into the tight mountain roads west of the basin—the Solara's popularity sank in direct proportion. As the grades steepened and the curves tightened, the Toyota's responses went from unobtrusive and benign to slow and mulish, provoking a correspondingly disparaging tonality in the logbook commentary. "Not a lot of punch uphill, lots of rock-'n'-roll in transitions," said one tester, who added some gr

From the Archive: 2001 Four-Seat Convertible Comparison Test

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