I recently obtained my grandmother's 1999 Camry LE. Although it isn't really my style, I consider it a blessing as I could have wound up with something far worse. Best of all, she didn't want much for it, and I didn't have much of a choice anyway as the transmission in myold cardecided to eat its reverse input clutch pack or something like that.

It has a comfortable ride, fit and finish are Toyota grade, which is to say excellent. The car has only one rattle, the sunroof is huge and doesn't leak, and the heating and cooling work great. Gas mileage is awesome, but the tradeoff is that I can get out and walk faster than this car goes uphill. It does have an oil leak, but so did every car I've ever owned.

I just wish it handled better. I can handle the turtle-class acceleration as I don't drive fast, but there is so much body roll in the turns I feel like I should be looking for good fishing spots. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the age of the car, but I do question the use of 14" wheels on such a big vehicle. Not to mention the rear drum brakes. Those gripes aside, I'm pretty happy with it.

So, has anyone with a similar Camry upgraded their wheels to a larger size, and does it have a measurable impact on the ride and handling? I'm also curious about the change in stopping power for models (if any) equipped with rear discs.

Here is a picture of it:



This was taken while I was installing a betterstereo into it. The wet spot on the back tire is courtesy of my dog, and if you look in the background you can see my first vehicle:a Radio Flyer.

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Hi and welcome . nice ride
the stock suspension is way soft , id upgrade the shocks/springs , strut tower bar and then maybe some grippier tires . i have added all these and it made a night and day difference from regular camry , but dont expect rwd sport coupe handling abilities out of this car
what was your previous cars you are comparing it to?

 

you struts are pretty shot.
14inch alloys? i think they're 15 - proove me wrong.

Drums work OK as long as you have abs. Lower profile tires with larger rims will make a noticible handling difference, but the body roll will not go away without new struts.

If you're looking for a noticibly firmer ride go out and get some tokico blue struts. Avoid KYB GR-2 as those are just oem replacements and will still offer a pretty cushiny ride (i have them in my lowered camry and will vouch for that). Don't lower it though. Just get stiff *** struts.

 

Only one of my cars, my first, had rear drums. The rest were all discs all around. It didn't have ABS though, which is part of why the stopping ability was so bad.

I figured the struts were gone but then again the struts were trashed in mylast car. But the body roll wasn't as pronounced, probably due to a lower center of gravity.

I wish you were right about the wheels. Not that an extra inch would make a world of difference, but hey every little bit helps doesn't it? I do need to at least get some better tires though.

 

Well my previous cars were not really of the sporting variety either. I think I've just been spoiled by my friends rides, cool Japanese sports coupes and some tuned Euro trash. [:'(] My last car was a first year Outback, the year they didn't have the lift kit. I can't evenbegin to guess the numberof times I got asked why I "lowered"an Outback. It wasn't the most energetic performer, but it wasa blast to get it going sideways in the dirt.

Thanks though, I'll look into this stuff. I love this car, just not stock.

 

the camry will be a boat when the struts are blown, unlike other cars with different suspension setups.

Wow you have the narrow tires of a corolla, and the sidewall thickness of an SUV. Get some 17's and you'll feel the difference. The size you'll want to go with is 17x7" rim with a 215/50/17 tire.

 

Yeah 17s was what I was thinking of... Hoping to not spend a lot of money though, hell I'd take 17" steels. Ok maybe not, but as long as they're inexpensive and not too hideous looking I'll be happy. Any suggestions on brands, either to check out or avoid?

 

yeah , i wasnt aware camrys came with 14" rims , they do look like corolla wheels .
even still id get the suspension done first , then rims., i think handling will be more improved , than getting heavy rims and still using blown stock struts .

 

I have the same tires on my '98 Camry as mechanizeddeath. Have been looking into upgrading mine as well.

As with nodrogkam suggestion (17x7" rim with a 215/50/17 tire), will I need to worry about clearance in the wheel well? I've also been looking to get stiffer suspension. I feel the body roll as well. Not too bad. But my car hugs the corners pretty good.

Also, when it comes to rims, I've read that you can't just get any 5 bolt rim and slap it on. Something to do with balance, and rotation and speedometer ratio? Not entirely sure what all that means though. ie. 17x17" Possible for a crash course in rim sizes?

 

mmm if you go with 215/50/17 you wont really have to worry about spedo's going off. Basically if you just slap on the same rim and tires as on an IS300 you would be fine. The only real reason my spedo is off is because i opted for a 225 tire instead of 215.

what you need to worry about is the clearance between rim and strut. I don't know the offsets on my rims, but if you want to avoid getting spacers, you should really find out what the specs are for the IS300 rims. if you can match those specs, you should be just fine.

Like right now i have a little less than 1cm between the wall of my tire and the struts. you shouldnt worry about your wheel well though.

www.tirerack.com could answer a lot of your questions about rim specs and tire specs.
17 inch rims/tires give you good handling without putting too much strain on brakes and other components, while giving you a more confident and responsive feel. Not to mention the price gap between 17 and 18 inch tires is pretty great.