Aurion performance "difference"

[PsychoRez]

Sorry if the Thread title Isn't understandable, I could have put a bigger one but i didn't.

Why is it that at times my Aurion performs really well, And at times it doesn't?. Well, Its not as much as performance, Ill give an example.

Yesterday night, I tried accelerating from 0, And my RPM started very slow, As if the Traction Control just tightened up even more. Could this be because of the humidity? "Semi wet roads". I know the Aurion's traction control is a b!tch, And it will mess up your acceleration even if your tires are standing on a few drops of sand..

The power doesn't come "instantly" as i thrash the gas pedal.

I just want to know this, Is it a weather and condition thing?. Is it the way you drive it that particular night? "Was driving slow before it cus i was with friends".

I'm sort of getting paranoid about this, Like it could be my engine o.O. Or it could be just because the way i drive it when with friends.

Of course this doesn't happen every time, But it happens. And i just have to know why :))

Thanks in advance!.

[CME-LFT]

I usually notice the car goes slower depending on weight in it including amount of fuel in the tank, also did u have your air-con on and not realise? And colder nights it obviously goes harder. Depends on the freshness of the air, or at least thats what ive noticed.

[PsychoRez]

Nope, Didn't leave the AC on. I'm not that stupid ;)

Aaaand i tested it again yesterday after i left my friends house.

I think it has something to do with the way you drive it. If you drive it slow for an hour or so and then suddenly thrash it, It won't go as hard as you want it to. But i'm not sure, All i know is that its annoying!.

Just drove it, its 2PM here. And it went pretty good. I just don't know for sure why sometimes it doesn't.

[volt]

Nope, Didn't leave the AC on. I'm not that stupid ;)

Aaaand i tested it again yesterday after i left my friends house.

I think it has something to do with the way you drive it. If you drive it slow for an hour or so and then suddenly thrash it, It won't go as hard as you want it to. But i'm not sure, All i know is that its annoying!.

Just drove it, its 2PM here. And it went pretty good. I just don't know for sure why sometimes it doesn't.

Sounds like heat soak.

The heat builds up under the bonnet and soaks into the materials of the intake manifold, intake pipe etc. This in turn raises your intake air temperature which will cause a drop off in power.

I have heard stories of guys at the drags having bags of ice sitting on the intake manifolds on their commodores while they wait for their run down the 1/4.

Could also be that your auto learns your driving style, then when you change it (your driving style) abruptly, it doesn't learn as fast as you want it too.

[PsychoRez]

"The heat builds up under the bonnet and soaks into the materials of the intake manifold, intake pipe etc. This in turn raises your intake air temperature which will cause a drop off in power."

Wouldn't the temp gauge be sort of high then, Though?. My temp is usually low.

"Could also be that your auto learns your driving style, then when you change it (your driving style) abruptly, it doesn't learn as fast as you want it too."

I actually thought about that a lot, And have noticed too. But is it true?. Does that system even exist in the Aurion?.

Edited December 13, 2008 by PsychoRez

[e240]

"The heat builds up under the bonnet and soaks into the materials of the intake manifold, intake pipe etc. This in turn raises your intake air temperature which will cause a drop off in power."

Wouldn't the temp gauge be sort of high then, Though?. My temp is usually low.

"Could also be that your auto learns your driving style, then when you change it (your driving style) abruptly, it doesn't learn as fast as you want it too."

I actually thought about that a lot, And have noticed too. But is it true?. Does that system even exist in the Aurion?.

Temp gauge - This measures your water (coolant) temp, nothing to do with Heat Soak

Computer learning - I think this is so, but cannot substantiate. I can feel a difference after my wife's been driving for a day.

Night Driving/Cooler air - Cooler air is denser, hence the engine can feel better when its cool. engine performance is usually better on a cool night (Thats why we all like night runs in the mountains...don't we?

[SecaBoy]

i know with my trd, there is a HUGE difference in acceleration when it gets hot...

ie, if i've been driving on the freeway for a while and then boot it from a standstill, it takes off really hard... but if i'm in peak hour traffic and go to boot it... it feels like my old corolla...

[PsychoRez]

We don't get lots of traffic here so i don't think thats it for me.

Sometimes the RPM starts off really slow, It sort of feels as if the Traction Control gets even harder than it is.

I guess it must be the Auto Driver Style learning system thingy.

It sucks, Because the other day me and one of my buddies decided to do a race from 40, Just for laughs. He had a Civic!. I did win but not as hard as i hoped. He went out front at the start!, Response time with the Aurion was slow, But i blasted right pass him anyway. But maybe 4 cylinder cars are faster at lower gears?. I know he probably threw it in Manual "I didn't" and he started off with the RPM high. But even with that i was thinking i'd smoke him from the start. Next time! >.<.

[Supercharged TRD]

I have also noticed this. Heat soak and driving style seem to be the main causes, and heat soak is particularly apparent with the TRDs which do not have an intercooler. Compressing already hot air makes it even hotter, and ramming that air into the engine probably doesn't give optimum performance.

The Aurion was built as a family sedan and one of its design points is fuel mileage. Therefore, if you drive it sedately, it will attempt to match your driving style and conserve fuel. However, if you drive hard it will attempt to keep up. It does take a while for it to "learn" what you are trying to do though. If you need the performance suddenly, I have found the best results when using the sequential shift mode.

I have found that my car performs its best when travelling at high speeds at night, and when the car has been driven passionately for a while. The engine feels a lot more "loose" and willing to rev higher than usual after a few minutes of hard driving.

Edited December 13, 2008 by TRD Aurion Owner

[mrdau]

I agree with TRD Aurion Owner, in my experience I have found that driving style has a lot to do with it. A freind of mine that is a Toyota mechanic said the Transmission ECU relearns your driving patterns in 15min intervals and adjusts the transmission to give the best performance for that style.If I decided to give it the boot after driving sensible i normally find the car is very slow to respond and the gear changes are very sloppy. I found the only way to rectify the issue is to drive in manual mode and do changes yourself for for a few minute and by this time i find the ECU figures out that I want to have fun

Edited December 14, 2008 by mrdau

[cranky]

someone mentioned here before if you drive around easy it learns to select gears for economy, it did that to me when i was going about 20kph and needed to take off quickly but it just stayed in 2nd gear.

[e240]

. I found the only way to rectify the issue is to drive in manual mode and do changes yourself for for a few minute and by this time i find the ECU figures out that I want to have fun

There's one more way to do it more effectively,

Park Brake Off, Start Engine, Park brake on, brake, brake, Park Brake off, Hold down brak, Park brake on and off twice, Park brake on, brake, brake.

Wallah...LOL

[apg39]

Should I combat the heatsoak with a fully sick WRX scoop?*

* - Above post should not be taken literally and does not express the views of the author. It should be taken as sarcasm only.

[ELEGNT]

someone mentioned here before if you drive around easy it learns to select gears for economy, it did that to me when i was going about 20kph and needed to take off quickly but it just stayed in 2nd gear.

how annoying is it hey but when it drops back to 1st prepare to be bounced and jared all over the place with a big burnout...also not good

[e240]

Should I combat the heatsoak with a fully sick WRX scoop?*

No, you want to vent the engine bay. Giving that the bonnet is front opening, I'd suggest some washers under the brackets to raise the back of the bonnet a bit. This should allow hot air to vent over the windscreen.

[lateralus]

Should I combat the heatsoak with a fully sick WRX scoop?*

No, you want to vent the engine bay. Giving that the bonnet is front opening, I'd suggest some washers under the brackets to raise the back of the bonnet a bit. This should allow hot air to vent over the windscreen.

a bonnet scoop would also help, although it would look stupid on a large car. the bonnet scoop on n/a engines is more so to flow cool air over the intake/exhaust manifolds to blow away hot air developing in the engine bay, thus preventing heat soak. the celica bonnet scoop is a perfect example of this

however i think the concept of bonnet scoops for n/a engines would work better for fwd, and the engine is mounted east-west and the manifolds would be in the direct parth of the cool air flow. bit harder for this to happen with rwd, as the engines mounted north-south.

[mrdau]

. I found the only way to rectify the issue is to drive in manual mode and do changes yourself for for a few minute and by this time i find the ECU figures out that I want to have fun

There's one more way to do it more effectively,

Park Brake Off, Start Engine, Park brake on, brake, brake, Park Brake off, Hold down brak, Park brake on and off twice, Park brake on, brake, brake.

Wallah...LOL

True, But thats only when you want to have heaps of fun

[PsychoRez]

Goddamn it. Is it me or does Traction Control really slow you the f*ck down?. I never really noticed it much, And probably wouldn't have if i didn't try driving with it off.

Its like: *Screech!* *Pause..* *Vroom*.

And, Is it okay if i floor it every now and then?. Or will the engine not last long that way?. And how about my tires, Will it handle the regular short screeches and stuff when flooring it with TC on?.

[DJKOR]

Goddamn it. Is it me or does Traction Control really slow you the f*ck down?. I never really noticed it much, And probably wouldn't have if i didn't try driving with it off.

Depends on how good you can drive. Ideally, you would be accelerating at just the right level so that you are giving it nearly as much power as you can, but not too much that it would cause wheel slip. In that scenario, it wouldn't make a difference whether TC was on or not. If you push it too far with TC off, you can recover by reducing the throttle by an 'appropriate' amount, and then simply recover. On the other hand, if you do push it too far with it on, the TC does tend to cut the power sharply and with the lag of the Aurion and what not, it can end up slowing you down worse than the other scenario. But realistically, if you are wanting to launch as fast as possible, work on you technique so you don't enter any wheel spin.

And, Is it okay if i floor it every now and then?. Or will the engine not last long that way?. And how about my tires, Will it handle the regular short screeches and stuff when flooring it with TC on?.

It's completely fine if you floor it now and again. The one thing is that any form of motor would probably last the longest if it ran at the same speed non-stop. This isn't practical in a car engine, and there is always moments when the engine would be revving then released suddenly. So say you are putting your foot down, the RPM increases then say the TC kicks in and cuts the power, this could be compared to driving down the road with your foot on the accelerator then suddenly lifting your foot off it completely. Engines are built to handle all these sudden changes and I'm pretty sure that in reference to what you are saying, its affect on its life would be immeasurable.

As for your tyres, sure they can handle some wheel spin here and there; it's just going to add to its wear though.

[Hiro]

And, Is it okay if i floor it every now and then?. Or will the engine not last long that way?. And how about my tires, Will it handle the regular short screeches and stuff when flooring it with TC on?.

It's completely fine if you floor it now and again. The one thing is that any form of motor would probably last the longest if it ran at the same speed non-stop. This isn't practical in a car engine, and there is always moments when the engine would be revving then released suddenly. So say you are putting your foot down, the RPM increases then say the TC kicks in and cuts the power, this could be compared to driving down the road with your foot on the accelerator then suddenly lifting your foot off it completely. Engines are built to handle all these sudden changes and I'm pretty sure that in reference to what you are saying, its affect on its life would be immeasurable.

Which is the whole point of a CVT transmission, or diesel-electric generators in ships/trains etc. Run the engine at a constant rpm and infinitely vary the gearing to match speed.

[PsychoRez]

Thanks DJKOR!. You're one useful bloke ;).

There have been a few instances where I'd be forced to let my foot go off the pedal right after i floor it. And thats probably the worst thing i feel i do when I'm driving, The RPM gets high and all of a sudden it stops and slowly reduces. But i guess there's nothing to worry about eh?. Thanks again!.

[Supercharged TRD]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one.

Unfortunately, the mechanic I saw who specialises in differentials just emailed me back.

"I'm sorry to say that I have exhausted all avenues to obtain a product for your needs.

We are unable to help with finding a solution for you.

If you have any further ideas, I would be happy to chase them up."

I was really hoping he could find a way to get an auto/manual diff lock for the Aurion to assist in traction and cornering. A Quaife Automatic Torque Biasing LSD like the one in the Ford Focus RS would be fantastic.

[apg39]

Complete guess & shot in the dark but since the Kluger, Venza & a few others have the same engine/gearbox combination - would there be something there we could use or modify. Obviously FWD v. 4WD would be a problem.

[MartysAurion]

On a dry Adelaide road mine launches like a rocket get wheel spin in 1st and 2nd sometimes :P