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The Curse of Compromise
2004 Toyota Camry Solara SE

The relationship was doomed. The timing was wrong. I was breaking up with the Audi RS 6 Quattro sedan when the 2004 Toyota Camry Solara SE Sport coupe arrived. That was unfortunate.

I loved the RS 6. It was hot, packed with a twin-turbo, 450-horsepower V-8 engine. We had a good time together, although we both knew it wouldn’t last. Still, I was depressed when the Audi left.

The Solara rolled into the breach. It was attractive in a second-chance sort of way. We went for a drive. That went poorly. I tried hard, but felt nothing.

The Solara’s exterior metal was shaped reasonably well — long and low in the front with cat-eyed headlamps and a wide-mouthed grille. The rear was tapered, but still sassy.

But the interior was lifeless. The cloth-bound driver’s seat was uncomfortable and hard to manipulate. There was tension, unrelieved by the Solara’s spiritless performance on the road.

“Why are we doing this?”

The Solara didn’t answer.

I dislike reviewing cars that turn my job into a job. The Solara SE Sport was hard work, mostly because it was boring.

The Solara’s 225-horsepower V-6 engine was disinterested. It responded to accelerator pressure with resignation. “C’mon. Get this over with . . .”

I pretended I was in the rear-wheel-drive RS 6. But the lie helped nothing. The front-wheel-drive Solara remained a celebrity in search of talent. It had no juice.

I know. I’m being unfair. It’s wrong to evaluate a car such as the Solara SE Sport after parting with a sizzling hot runner like the RS 6.

The cars aren’t in the same league. The RS 6 is an $84,000 luxury performance automobile. The Solara is a $20,000-plus compromise between passion and practicality, masquerading as a commitment to fun.

But that’s life. You fall hard for a crazy, wild lover who suddenly disappears. Then you fill the void with someone who is cute, dependable, but not the least bit exciting — someone like the Solara.

It happens. You deal with it and try to work things out. But I couldn’t. I nitpicked.

I noticed every annoying thing in the tested Solara SE Sport: There was a tire-pressure monitoring light glowing yellow-orange in the lower left corner of the instrument panel. It wouldn’t go off. The steering felt imprecise — a profound disappointment when compared with the laser-sharp steering of the RS 6. The Solara’s handling was marginal.

But perception is affected by experience.

It is difficult to enjoy a 225-horsepower Solara, with only so-so handling, a day after leaving a 450-horsepower road rocket. I should have sought more time to readjust to the acceptance of ordinary things, because the Solara SE Sport is ordinary — a Toyota Camry with two doors and some relatively modest styling and performance upgrades.

Most Camry buyers won’t care. They want a safe, steadfast automobile, one that will get the job done and come home every night. They buy Camrys because their neighbors, friends and workmates buy them. Theirs is safety in numbers; and the Camry’s sales numbers have been good enough to keep it among the best-selling cars in America for years.

The new Solara models — the base SE, the midline SE Sport, and the top-of-the-line SLE — doubtless will add to that success.

But I can’t get with the program. My relationship with the Solara was a bad rebound romance. We just weren’t compatible.

Nuts & Bolts

Upside: If you are more interested in automotive value than you are in automotive performance, the 2004 Solara is for you. It’s priced right. It has a well-built body — one that offers more passenger space than its 2003 predecessor. It simply needs a soul.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Generally unremarkable in all three categories. p>Head-turning quotient: Okay. No radical, breakthrough styling cues here.

Engines/transmission: The 2004 Solara offers a base 2.4-liter, 157-horsepower four-cylinder engine; and the 3.3-liter, 225-horsepower V-6 installed in the tested Solara SE Sport. A five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmission are available with the four-cylinder engine. Only a five-speed automatic comes with the V-6 Solara SE Sport.

Capacities: The Solara holds four people comfortably. Cargo volume is 13.8 cubic feet. Fuel capacity is 18.5 gallons. Premium unleaded fuel is required for the Solara SE Sport.

Safety: Optional side air bags for driver and front passenger.

Price: Base price on the tested Solara SE Sport is $22,945. Dealer invoice price is $20,649. Price as tested is $24,460, including an estimated $1,000 in options and a $515 destination charge.

Purse-strings notes: Consumers on Edmunds.com rate the Solara a 9.6 out of 10 points. Obviously, my views are in the minority. I just don’t like the car.