Infact, out of all the countries the Camry is sold in, no AWD system for the humble Camry has been developed any where therefore TRD Australia would have had to develope it from scratch to only satisfy a small market hence why it did not come to fruition.

The whole TRD package appeals – tight, medium sized hunkered down exterior with lots of room inside – it looks the biz to me….but again I would not buy one if they do not get the steering, handling right, not worried about power that should be OK – and no, I don’t mean how it goes on a racetrack – I have an MX5 for that.

At the end of the day TRD will produce a decent car in the Aurion, I dont think its going to be ground breaking… but it will get reasonable sales. On a side note, Ive heard reports of people seeing the TRD Aurion on the streets unclothed, they say it looks very nice. Im interested to see some more shots, given that its less then a month now till its released Toyota/TRD aernt doing a great job at hyping it up… only visible sign I have seen is their new TRD advert showing how they compete in various motorsport competitions (I think this is related to the TRD Aurions release).

Toyota then changed their line and now saying they’re up for the “luxury performance”, and going against Liberty, Audi, Alfa.. etc. And no longer aiming to take on Holden’s SS or Ford’s XR/XR6T. What a gimmick..

Toyota aint stupid! There ARE performance advantages in RWD over FWD — Else why are all the luxury Toyota (Lexus) sedans RWD’s? the IS, GS? and just the every-man’s Toyota Camry/Corolla are FWD.

I dont drive a Holden/Ford, in fact, I currently drive a Toyota. My next car wont be a Ford/Holden/Toyota :-)

Besides, i am sure the Aurion will grow in popularity as the market becomes more familiar with it (remembering the Commodores has been around since ‘78 while the Falcon even longer) and i’m sure the experianced gained from developing the TRD Aurion will improve Toyota’s FWD vehicles in the generations to follow especially considering vehicles are getting more powerful by the model.

Holdens HSV Astra has been bagged something awful because of it’s cronic torque steer whereas Toyota’s engineering has been able to achieve respectable results.

The TRD Aurion is sure to be a great car within it’s own rights and no-doubt will establish itself a niche market while giving greater recognition not only to the everyday family Aurions but the Toyota brand itself… not that it needs any more recognition considering it market domination. The TRD Aurion is sure to satisfy the lower end of the performance market while Lexus with it’s upcoming IS-F and LF-A will satisfy the higher end. Good business to me… !!

2. i doubt ford or holden would want to design a FWD car for starters. i think toyota are just wanting to stick with FWD for the hell of it. i mean there are no great advantages in it. i still dont think that a FWD would ever handle as well as what you can get a RWD to. for starters you need a lot of strut braces etc just to get half decent handling out of. and the other thing that worries me is the tyre wear you get on FWD cars or the lack of it on the rear. tyre wear (in most cases) a direct representation of the grip you are getting. the rears on FWD cars barely wear.
and one major thing is towing capacity. well say no more there.

3. yes the falcon may weigh more but it puts out more torque to combat that aswell.

4. and yes power figures on the falcon may be only rumours at the moment but so is the TRD. i mean it doesnt exist yet either.

5.the falcon doesnt have just a bit more torque… it has a hell of a lot more torque and even bigger than that is the fact that it is all delivered by 2000RPM. most people call that short shifting (2000rpm).

6. and if the XR6T goes up to 270kw then you would expect the higher models(F6 etc) to go up in the same proportion. power increase doesnt mean price goes up either. it means the manufacturer has refined/tuned it a bit more. nothing extra is added to justify a price increase.

and for the record the 6 sp ford offers would have to be the best out there at the moment

As for power, well I think the TRD Aurion would get the current XR6T slightly… rumours at the Aurion will have 240kw and 400Nm, now the XR6T has similar figures abit more torque, but at the same time RWDs lose more power through the drivetrain. Also the lower Aurion does 100 in 7.4seconds so Id think with the extra power, torque and it all being produced down lower its going to cut the 100 down a fair bit.

As for the new XR6T, they are rumours at this stage, personally Ive heard it will be 270kw but tbh I cant see that happening, there will be an increase but it would seem illogical to put it that high unless there is also a price increased associated with it! Or else they are blurring the gap between FPV and the XR6T… why would you bother with a Typhoon if it has say 290kw or alittle more for $15k or so more! Also consider that although power will be up, the current XR6T is about 100k heavier then the Aurion, a fair amount, but thats without ESC and more importantly side or curtain airbags (prity sure). Thats going to add weight and weight has a massive effect on acceleration.

Damo,
the diff set up you are talking about is what i would associate more with an allwheel drive car. a typical LSD provides the same power to both wheels and continues to do so until the vehicle is turning at a rate which becomes impracticle for both wheels to turn at the same rate as the turning circumference changes. an LSD hangs on to the drive in both wheels for longer. therefore i figure if both wheels turn at the same rate once you start to turn it would cause handling problems.
and howabout a reply to the other points in that post you were replying too as well and not just the ones you would like to pick at

What you have failed to highlight however is that most of the fore-running teams are all long term teams that have been involved with Formula1 for generations upon generations while Ferrari has been involved since the very first day. Ranault dominated Formula one for a couple of years until recently and that was after nearly twenty years of experinace.

When Toyota launched Lexus most of the automotive industry sneezed at them but after years of persisting Lexus has evolved to become one of the greatest auotomotive companies of all. I believe Toyota’s involvement with Formula 1 will eventually evolve to be the same because one thing i like about Toyota is that they are extremely resiliant. Don’t forget Toyota’s involvement in the WRC – when they decided to withdraw infavour of F1, Toyota was the World’s dominate Rally Force and ruled the roost for years.

Admittedly Toyota done away with sports and perfromance cars for some unknown and silly reason but had a very rich and relatively successful history when they did. Remember the Celica GT4, Turbo MR2’s and Supra’s… ??? I now believe they have relized thier mistake and are making a charge to re-enter the scene and i reserve little doubt that they will be very successful in the years to follow. MARK MY WORDS !!

All I care about is the TRD Aurion has nearly arrived, its set to be a quality package… awaiting more info on it – nearly only a month or so till its release now!

Toyota have more money to spend than any other car company in the world – they are number one – where have you been mate!!

Toyota will eventually outgun the Germans at what they do best – they have all the time in the world to get it right – oh and the money. There are just as many speed freaks working at Toyota who want to build fast cars but selling cars is the number one priority for any car company – or do you have a different view?

If it’s like the rest of their products it’ll be too conservative to be truly enjoyable unless you find brown cardigans exciting!

1. You say it cant be compared to an XR6T, I say it can… there is the same price difference between a TRD and a FPV (FPV being higher) that there is between an XR6T and a TRD. So Im quite sure when being are looking for a boosted 6 cylinder they will consider all their options and make a value based decision… and the TRD Aurion will no doubt be very tempting

2. It does look about like the HSV Grange or whatever its called from that pic… but its mainly the pic. When you see a proper front on of it its prity disinctive and decent looking

3. LSD would be a good on the TRD… I am also suprised you havent heard of LSDs on FWD cars, hell in the U.S they even have supercharged V6 Camrys going around with them!!!