Comments on: Toyota TRD Aurion Spy Shots

By: Byza

Byza — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 07:23:41 +0000

Do you want me to let you all in on a little secret? The best engine for upto 350-400rwkw is definately the toyota twin turbo 1jz-gte (the single turbo vvti is even better). Anything over go the 2jz Supra Turbo Motor (or make a 1.5jz which is a 1jz head on a 2jz bottom end so it has 3L like the 2j not 2.5L).

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:14:45 +0000

Im not sure if its unfair based on that though ‘Overseas’, both the Typhoon and TRD Aurion have many things in common, such as both are boosted 6’s. But there are also differences, the market the TRD Aurion is aimed at doesnt want brute muscle as is seen in the Typhoon, if that were the case Im sure they could have got ALOT more power out of the Aurion (Direct Injection version is 230kw… supercharge that and you have at least 270kw) and made it AWD for handling reasons. Rather its about acheiving a balance between comfort, handling and power. I think they will achieve this, we know Toyotas are usually reasonably comfortable and it wont be hard to beat the competition in this regard, we know they have upgraded its handling on top of the reasonable handling of the stock Aurion which rides on smaller 215 tyres and we know they can get power out of the most powerful family 6 in its class with the supercharger. On top of all this it will have something the opposition certainly doesnt have; refinement, quality and reliability… all features that are evident on most Toyotas.

By: Overseas comment

Overseas comment — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:01:03 +0000

refering to some of the above statements, Japanese cars imported from japan dont have more then 280hp is because the japanese government put a hp cap for factory produced cars. This cap has been removed only a couple a years ago.

Chopstar, i dont think its fair to compare the TRD Aurion agains aussie’s best performance car as u put it. Maybe search for japans best performance car and test it against the FPV Typhoon. Do an all round test like how the people at ‘TopGear’ do the test for cars.

Cheers

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:33:29 +0000

I wouldnt even bother explaining things to ‘Stephen’, more than likely drove his Hilux like a performance car (Seen a fair few tossers with them around after that commercial a while back) and wanders why he understeers or has brake fade.

The TRD Aurion is actually designed to be more of a performance car… not a utility designed for lugging tools around.

By: tom

tom — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 07:43:27 +0000

hey shephen lipshus,

trd dont just tune engines. the upgrade will include suspension and braking.
cheers!

By: Stephen Lipshus

Stephen Lipshus — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 10:15:05 +0000

Hi,
Early this year I had the dubious honour of owning a 4 ltr 4×4 Hilux Dual Cab.(Thankfully Sold)
So i am laughing my head off upon hearing that Toyota is actually adding a blower.
This is because the Hilux is an absolute handful in the wet due to 20th century suspension set up and totally inadquate in the braking department.(Drum On Back, Front not much better)
Thanks for the laugh !
Cheers

By: Robby

Robby — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 03:09:41 +0000

Even if it says 400Kw, it will always be 100km/h cap for me. So, except of being able to accelerate quicker, it’s useless…

Well, I’ve been using Toyota for ages and it proof that:
1. It doesn’t have the nicest interior, sometimes it’s pretty bad actually
2. Not the best engine available in term of power etc

but it’s last long and one of mine is 15 years old Toyota which hasn’t give me any trouble as my 4 years old peugeot and 5 years old Honda.

By: Andrew.

Andrew. — Tue, 29 May 2007 10:02:37 +0000

here is to paul.
dont you know that the typhoon actually has 550nm of torque from 4.0. actually .6l displacement less than tho toyota you talk about

By: alborz

alborz — Fri, 18 May 2007 04:37:09 +0000

Chopstar, you will find the Aurion will most likely then not just understeer into a ditch :)

By: Chopstar87

Chopstar87 — Fri, 18 May 2007 04:35:20 +0000

well… why don’t we line up the 240Kw aurion next to australia’s best Preformance Car… the FPV Typhoon, One of the quickest and best handling cars in this Land called australia… the only car in the Aurions market in australia is the Typhoon, they are both 6’s both are Special Vehicles, one is FWD and the Other is RWD that the only differance Expect the Typhoon is a 270kw beast and the TRD aurion is only 240Kw.. i love V8s but these days you dont need a V8 to be fast eg. Rex and Evo and now the typhoon….. and even then standard XR6-turbo has more Power and it will be cheaper!!! so what the?? toyota?? if you going to bring out a preformace car or special vehicle car it better be faster than a normal vehicle like the XR6-Turbo…. but lets line em up – Typhoon vs TRD Aurion

By: az

az — Wed, 09 May 2007 06:32:03 +0000

Hey just came across this and read most of your posts.

You guys seem to forget that Lexus is toyota and they’re not all front runners. Its all about marketing, cost etc.

Theres nothing wrong with front runners as long as you know how to drive them. same as rwd. look at the integra type R. Not too many crap reviews about that, especially when it comes to torque steer. And type R’s are known with their “measely” 1.8 and 147kw to be quite capable around the track.

Toyota i’ve found to be the bloody miracle car… just goes and goes and goes. If some of you guys doubt Toyota are any good at looks and performance you must have been under some pretty big rocks when the MR2, Supra and GT4 was around. Plus don’t overlook the 4AGEZ engines either. Give a lot of Fords and Holdens (sixes and eights) a real run for their money.

Power is irrelevant really. I’ve seen stock swift gti’s not only beat vs’ & vt’ through the hills but also off at the lights. I’ve always liked FWDs (look at pretty much all of Honda’s arsenal bar the NSX and S2000) but also love RWD’s. For me, i’m a lot safer in a FWD than a RWD. Easier to lift off the gas and NOT touch the brakes and steer through a corner than it is to oversteer and start playin the correcting game. For me anyway.
I’m glad companies are pushing to new boundaries over here, makes it more competitive and keeps them pushing technology to new limits, and isn’t that what we really want. Faster more RELIABLE and economical cars.
VVT in all its forms (VTEC, MIVEC etc) is amazing (though getting old) technology and it shouldn’t be overlooked. Imagine ya V6 and V8 with 15-20% more power and even better economy.
Each to their own, thats what makes it so great. Be absolute crap if we all had the same cars.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 03 May 2007 02:18:27 +0000

I believe the Aurion is a great vehicle. Added competition in the large car segment will only generate more refinement across all makes & models.

What I still cannot understand is that people who have never driven or ever intended to own a Toyota are so quick to pass judgement on a vehicle that has entered the market to offer the consumer an alternative to Ford or Holden.

The Aurion’s pre-launch advertising (My Opinion) caused GM to bring forward the launch of the VE (Nice Car) & Ford to speed up introduction of the new “Orion”… The name so, so close.

One thing everyone can agree on is that Toyota must be doing something right to continue to be Australia’s No.1 Car Company for the last 6 years.

I believe the thing that sets Toyota apart from other car makers is its track record for reliability & durability. While GM & Ford are posting out recall notices for faults with new models Toyota continues to spend its money on research & development.

Only time will tell!!!

By: Damo

Damo — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 14:20:34 +0000

The Aurion is a great smooth yet powerful, as well as comfortable drive. The fuel economy and hadling is great. My only real skepticism is the trip computer has no memory so unless you go on a flat out drive from one state to another (ie. Adelaide to Melbourne) on a full tank right from the start as well as having no brakedowns (which is highly unlikely in a Toyota) and do not pullover (and turn off the engine) you will never know how well the fuel economy averages out. If there are any Aurion owners (on this site) who have been on a moderately long trip I would like to hear how well the fuel economy went.

By: Trufflepig

Trufflepig — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:32:27 +0000

I am soon to order a ZR6, and after driving SX6 for a day last week I cant wait to get my backside into it. Currently drive a VX Acclaim, which will hopefully be my last Commodore. The Aurion was great to drive, comfortable, powerful, quiet, fuel efficient, refined – in all a great package.
A few comments…it fitted 5 people with gear for 4 nights no problems, the boot it bigger than the VX. It does have a slight problem though if you load it to the gun’ls the cargo can foul the boot lid springs which makes it difficult to close. Also the rear speakers protrude into the boot space and run the risk of being damaged – something to be mindful of.
It REALLY needs digital speed readout. The dash instruments are clearly visible – the 3D effect slightly odd to me, but not a problem really, other than the needle is 3 to 4 km/h hour thick under the speedo scale, which is easily the difference between receiving the ominous letter in the box a few weeks later, and not. There are no calibration marks between 10km/h marks between numerically marked points which count up in 20 km/h increments – thats a bit odd to me. (wonder what the police versions will have?) Toyota really should do a firmware upgrade and include digital speed read-out in the display options.
As for drivetrain, it is happy to rev all the way to the redline, something Im just not used to in the VX. Its audible, but not threatening to disintergrate at 6000 rpm. The tranny, when left in auto, is smooth enough for me not to be aware of which gear I was in. Admittedly its the first time I have driven a 6 speed, so I wasnt ready for the “normal” shift pattern. 5 and 6 are direct overdrive, but im not sure at which speed they are selected by the auto. Launching the thing is tricky (ok, I didnt thrash the thing but the dealer told me defintely to wring its neck). A bit longer in the car and the driver would get used to the threshold of engine management and, if you can sneak in just below it all, progress off the line is surprisingly quick (for a vx driver, of course)
FYI, the RAV4 is soon to get the Aurion engine (as is the Kluger) 200Kw in a RAV?? Are they thinking of proving the part time 4 wheel drive system for the TRD?? Would make sense to me.

By: Damo

Damo — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:27:21 +0000

Sweet, I remember this post, it’s open again! That “man” person who I am guessing is a woman IMO. Totally agree Paul- 4wd’s are not performance cars unless Mitsu bring out the evolander (outlander) concept or a turbo mivec petrol ralliart pajero. At the end of the day, the TRD aurion and TMR 380 are both great cars. So what if they are still FWD. TMR and TRD are both starting out and they just want to make sure that they won’t fail in their attempts to enter the proper aussie performance car industry. If it is a success we can expect AWD turbo/supercharged variants in their range in the replacement models. Who knows? In 5 or so years there may very well be performance TMR/TRD model in the entire Mitsu/Toyota range. Don’t write this off anybody, Rob Mcinery is in charge at MMAL, you know the man who start HSV and went on to fix up the rest of GM, he left about 8 years ago so all of GM’s losses make sense. And Toyota? They have a great management team like the new one at Mitsu and are the biggest automotive company in the world so they definetly have a big enough budget. They are making great profits too at toyota, marketing the camry and aurion as two seperate cars which they are equals better sale figures.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:09:37 +0000

QUOTe = Ford already has more torque and power than the D4 motor, about 100nm of torque more.

And weights more. Eitherway, the TRD Aurion will have roughly the same 0-100km/h speeds! And its a better package, the XR6T is just a faster XR6… the TRD Aurion is completely differentiated from any other Aurion, both interior and exterior… and underneath the skin (brakes, chasis work etc).

QUOTE = if Toyota are so great at making engines how do they only manage to get 185kw out of the v8’s they use in the lexus and land cruiser 4wd’s?

Ummm 4WDs aernt performance cars mate… and they are all about torque, not power. Anyway look at the 07 Lexus LS’s… 4.6L V8 – 280kw and 500Nm of torque (also has a 8 speed tranmsssion!). That puts shame to our Aussie V8s which need a a litre and a half more dissplacement to get only alittle bit more power and torque.

QUOTE = BTW, the same Aurion as here is called AVALON in the USA and it has been rated one of the lowest on the US customer satisfaction list due to regular warranty issues as well as numerous quality problems. Not for nothing

Give the whole story my friend. For starters on a basic level it has a different body to our Aurion. More detailed, its warranty issues have prity much soley been related to its transmission which they have had problems with… which is DIFFERENT to the Aurions, its only a 5 speed compared to the Aurions 6 speed unit. So nice try to discredit the Aurions reliability but the Avalons problems in the U.S do not relate in anyway to the Aurion.

By: man

man — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 06:24:00 +0000

Ford already has more torque and power than the D4 motor, about 100nm of torque more. Anyway, if Toyota are so great at making engines how do they only manage to get 185kw out of the v8’s they use in the lexus and land cruiser 4wd’s?
Fact of the matter is, you will always have torque steer in fwd cars regardless of driver aids, and if you ever break traction in a fwd you will have reduced steering aqbility as well. I know this because all traction controls still allow a little bit of slip just the same as ABS (the same sensors used for traction control) allows a small amount of skidding.
As for grey imports, aren’t they still virtually impossible to insure for their full value? And isn’t that what caused the resale of lexus’ to freefall due to all of the SC400’s being imported and sold for about 15K?
Toyota do have a nice car in the Aurion, but to think it blindly conquers all shows how ignorant and stupid people can be. I for one have test driven the Aurion and found many excellent features as well as some faults; just the same as I have found with Holden, Mitsubishi and Ford. BTW, the same Aurion as here is called AVALON in the USA and it has been rated one of the lowest on the US customer satisfaction list due to regular warranty issues as well as numerous quality problems. Not for nothing, but it does prove that no manufacturer is immune to quality and design issues.

By: alborz

alborz — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:59:43 +0000

Chase Her, I think its important to realize that one of Toyota’s mistakes in Australia is exactly what you pointed out.. the lack of care for the products they bring here, Toyota has an array of great cars that could lift the brands image in Australia, but as we are not a big enough market (although Toyota sell more cars than anyone else in Australia already) we never get these cars, and hence why all the comments.

By: chase her

chase her — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:06:54 +0000

Ok, slightly off track but for anyone who thinks, believes or says that Toyota cars are bland, simple and nothign exciting..

Have you ever been overseas? Asian countries mostly I mean to ask ? I assume not.. had you been there you will realize why Toyota Australia does not really give a huge amount of significance to a market full of consumers who for the most are literally european wannabes who like to have euro plates stuck on to get that feel of prestige and believe that Toyota is just some ordinary car.

Have you heard of the MarkX ? Mark2 Grande? Verosso ? Premio? have you heard of any one of these particular cars? I’m sure you haven’t .. as quoted from online

“The 3GR-FSE used in the 2006 Toyota Mark X adds gasoline direct injection (its name is “D-4″) engine. The 3GR-FSE engine rated at 256 hp (188 kW) at 6,200 RPM and 314 Nm at 3600 rpm.”

and thats in RWD, tell me any one Holden or Ford that can go up against that torque figure and still be in one piece by the end of the run.

I’m just in the process of importing a 97 JZX100 Chaser with a 1JZ-GTE engine, that delivers a thrusting 380nm torque @ 2400rpm.. deliberately I’ll badge it Avalon or Camry and go have runs with you stuffed in the head “Commofalcodore I’m rear wheel driven so I must be fast” kind. Grow Up, drive it, do a fair comparison (apart from the one RWD bs) and then voice your opinion.

end rant/

By: alborz

alborz — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:05:18 +0000

I agree Tom

I think the TRD will be a really good package and one which will surprise a lot of people.

However, I still think Toyota need to consider AWD or RWD for their performance cars to be taken seriously by the majority of performance car enthusiasts.