2007 TRD Aurion SL3500 Road Test
October 16, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Having stopped at the beginning of my usual test track at Mt Glorious, I got out to take a breather and also have a good look at the car.
A middle-aged man walked over, having noticed the TRD badging, and began drilling me as to why I had stuck TRD badges on a standard Aurion. I had a hard time explaining to him that this was actually a real TRD and not another Corolla with TRD badges, I finally gave up and opened the bonnet.
If the bodykit, 19” wheels, awesome looking exhaust pipes, TRD badging, and the sound of that supercharger doesn’t convince your friends, the engine will.
Staring at the engine, the red supercharger is more noticeable than Kevin Rudd at a strip club! It almost has its own gravitational pull, you can’t help but to continuously stare at it.
What Toyota have done is supercharge the 3.5-litre Aurion engine, pushing power to 241kW with 400Nm of torque. Not exactly a breathtaking increase, but definitely the maximum the Aurion chassis can take via the front wheels. 0-100km/h is achieved in a very respectable 6.0 seconds.
The Supercharger is a four-lobe Eaton™ TVS which works extremely well with the Aurion engine, delivering power throughout the entire rev range. Power delivery is remarkably lag-free thanks to the supercharger being air pump driven (it spins independently of throttle position), meaning it’s always ready to deliver instantaneous boost.
Comparing it to a turbocharged car, you’d need an anti-lag system fitted to keep the turbo spooling at all times (illegal – in QLD at least).
So how does it drive? It’s a hard question to answer. As a day to day car, the TRD Aurion is more than adequate, it holds the road well thanks to the 245/35ZR19 wheels wrapped in Dunlop tyres, and it has incredible straight line acceleration.
Despite the FPV Typhoon and HSV R8’s ridiculously low official 0-100km/h times, in real life, the TRD Aurion will eat a Liberty GT, and easily keep up with the two big boys.
This is partially thanks to the six-speed automatic transmission which works in perfect harmony with the supercharged engine. The gearbox is electronically controlled with a lock-up torque converter and artificial intelligence shift control.
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Paul, have you apologised yet?
mate you accuse NM of attacking anything that is remotely wrong with toyotas yet you must forget that you attacked things that werent even wrong with fords and holdens. for eg you called the mondeo too overpriced yet it offered far more than a camry??
mate ive never heard ford of being accused of poor handling where do you get that. ford has lead the handling department until holden (with the VE) learnt how to also make a car handle. before VE came out ford was cleaning up in the handling department. and then you dip into their euro range and the focus has cleaned up there for a while too. and now the mondeo looks to be another leader from the euro stable.
I once or twice get that from other half – I once called it domestic deafness. Better get used to it Andrew M, as seems like you are similar. Must be amnesia or Toyota withdrawal symptons due to reality check as he realises “YES ALL CARS OFFER SOMETHING, NOT JUST ONE SINGLE GOD DAM CAR MANUFACTURER”
Andrew.M Im not going to link the handling document for the 1000th time, it was at drive, the comparo between SV6, SX6 and XR6. It was stated that over uneven surfaces, the Falcon got nervous, that isnt good handling.
As for this other BS you Ford fairies are creating, no there is a difference between mistaking a price tag and trying to say a brand, which gets survey after survey, study and study, of good reliability results, is not reliable.
That is one reveiwers opinion. I’ve read other comparos that make no mention of this, in fact, they were amazed how close the aging BFII is to the new Aurion and VE, in handling. I’m interested to see how Orion compares.
241kw through the front wheels… this TuRD sounds like a coffin on wheels to me.
Yes,another half arse offering from the worlds largest auto manufacturer as they know that people will buy anything with their badge on it. Through a concerted and well contrived campaign over the last twenty years they have enlisted the paid support of luminaries in various markets i.e Lawsie in Oz to spread the word about Toyota reliability and quality to the extent now where this mainly perceived reputation has reached mythic proportions.
So now they don’t have to try too hard as the blandness and mediocrity they offer is bought by willing consumers for top dollar without question. I remember reading that Mitsubishi some time ago poached a leading Toyota marketing executive hence the better built better backed campaign.
What really grates is how arrogant Toyota owners are towards other makes. Toyota started out using copies of early british and euro engine designs in the early days and in the late sixes copied most of Mercedes mechanicals for the Toyota Crown. Even today you can see that each new model of Lexus keeps with the latest Mercedes styling to the extent that they are often hard to tell apart. I’ve owned and driven both Japanese and local makes and haven’t experienced a huge difference in reliability. The longer you hold onto a vehicle the more likely ancillary bits will start to fail and need replacing. In my experience Toyota is no exception in this regard. The main advantage with Ford or Holden or even Mitsubishi(local) is that the replacement parts are a quarter or less of the price of the equivalent part for many Japanese models local and import such as Mazda, Subaru or Toyota.
Toyota Paul I will think you will find that motoring writers like most of us have far higher expectations of rough or dirt road handling when it comes to the locals like Falcon, Commodore and 380 even and are subconsciously more forgiving of the Japs in this regard as the locals are usually so good in this regard. If you drove a Commodore or Falcon over dirt road corrugations I am sure you would find the ride, handling and body integrity evident far superior to anything with a Jap badge if a direct comparison were to be made.
Hiya Toyo_Paulie.i see youve made a lot of close friends with your nonstop big T marketing. thought i should pop in for a look how things are going.
Top notch point there “Realcars”.i can’t remember who said it, but someone on here said the following:
“idiots buying toyotas thinking theyre flash as a rat with a gold tooth, think they got a better car than a Merc, haha. just listen to out-of-date Lawsie, know what I mean?”
worn out any more keyboards/mice yet Toyo_paulie? looking up your rubbish so-called figures. big T may be on the slide now, hope they like the sudden stop at the end. rofl.
Another dull toyota…..
can anyone send me ute please with a gurt big 6ltr motor
six litre is not really anything.
you can have a brillian figure ‘6′ as engine displacement but the torque and power can be pretty bad.
a 3.5 litre can be brilliant when it gets tuned and charged properly just like the TRD Aurion
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Then you dont have a pulse… and ute with V8… great combination lots of power and no weight over the drive wheels…
Toyota-Hater…Ford and Holden… EQUAL LAST in reliability… the stats do my talking
what are these stats you are talking about? you say there industry stats yet i am in the industry and cant find them…..
What type of car do you drive toyota paul?
Paul you are such a sad case haha
The bloke says “another dull toyota” and you tell him he doesn’t have a pulse hahahaha. Maybe he finds the idea of a 3.5L naturally aspirated engine dull?
People like other products outside of toyota paul!! you cant tell the man he has no pulse because he finds your choice of car boring!!!
Learn to accept other peoples views and opinions! You cannot control what other people like and dislike!
Geez! How old are you now?? I can guarantee you do NOT have a girlfriend!!!
Whoops – that should read “supercharged” not “naturally aspirated”.
I can’t make my mind up which colour I would prefer one in.
Perhaps Varicose Blue or Salt n Pepper Silver or even Octarian Orange for a hoot!!!