I know, I know.. the first question you are going to ask is: What?
Eric and an Avalon?? Yeah, after the unfortunate crash of my beloved 97
Maxima, I am driving a 97 Toyota Avalon now. After driving it for awhile,
it is actually kind of nice. The car is very spacious (classified as a
large car!), especially in the back. The 24-valves 3.0-liter DOHC V-6
engine (code name 1MZ-FE, part of the new MZ series)
is pretty smooth. It makes an impressive 200-hps. It would be even better
if it has VVT-i. It is mated with a 4-speed ECT-i automatic transmission.
Too bad that a 5-speed manual transmission is not available. Oh, well.. :)
(Even better yet, how about a 6-speed sequential transmission?? I can
dream, can't I?? :)
Although it is made in U.S. (Joint efford by TMMK and TTC!), you
can get the car in Japan too! Click here
to check it out. (You will need a browser that supports Japanese.) Maybe
I can get some aftermarket performance products for it in Japan. Hmm..
maybe I should plan a trip to Japan sometimes.. :)
Anyway, since it is not exactly a performance sedan, I decided that it
is kind of pointless to modify it in the performance area. Besides, there
is almost no aftermarket performance product for it. (Come on,
TRD! Ah.. anyone
going to Japan?? :) I think H&R and Intrax have lowering springs for it,
but a lowered Avalon??! I guess it would look kind of nice with a set of
17" wheel and low profile tires (235/45/17 would work..), but they are not
cheap. Maybe later, but not now!
Being a critical listener, I decided to upgrade the stereo system. So
far, I used about what I make in a month this summer (1997) in this
new stereo
system, which includes:
It sounds pretty good. I think I will be pretty happy with it for a
long time. If I have tons of extra money (say, I win the lottery?! :) I
will want to get a SONY
MDX-700EQ.
It is a MD deck with 7-band graphic EQ. (However, it is available in
Japan only.. DOH!) I would also get a strong mono or 2 channel amp to
drive the 2 subwoofers. (Now I am bridging 2 of the 4 channels from the
Alpine amp to drive the subs.) To finish it off, a set of high
performance speakers for the back. None of these will happen anytime
soon. I think I spent too much money already! :)
I also installed a Clifford
IntelliGuard
700-IQ
alarm to protect the investment since I did not get a factory alarm from
Toyota.
cfjan@mit.edu
cfjan@sloan.mit.edu
cfjan@ugcs.caltech.edu
Avalon