TRD aurion owners

[zr nate]

HI there,

just wondering if the TRD aurion onwers have had similar issues to the rest of us aurion owners. Dash rattle and the original pull to the left spring to mind as issues nearly all aurion owners have had. Is there and build complaints etc in regards to the TRD? I would like to know if theres anything i should look for...

thanks, Nate

[Pumped]

HI there,

just wondering if the TRD aurion onwers have had similar issues to the rest of us aurion owners. Dash rattle and the original pull to the left spring to mind as issues nearly all aurion owners have had. Is there and build complaints etc in regards to the TRD? I would like to know if theres anything i should look for...

thanks, Nate

Dash rattle yes but thats all ive had

the only pull to the left ive had would be due to torque :P

[DJKOR]

Because the TRD was based off the Sportivo (3500S based on the SX6, and 3500SL based on the ZR6), they are likely to inherit any issues that the corresponding Sportivo's had. Like most of the Aurions, it's mainly a hit and miss as to which issue that you get.

the only pull to the left ive had would be due to torque :P

You mean pull to the right :P. Unless of course you like to feel the power in reverse as well

[zr nate]

i thought the TRD's were hand built? did i get that wrong? why does torque pull to the right and why does the amount of pull differ from car to car. While I'm asking questions, why does Daryl know everything and can you imagine his children taking over the world? thanks Daryl and pumped!!

[Kia Kaha]

My TRD doesn't rattle (yet), I am yet to see if I have a fast and furious problem at high speed (hopefully my car wont fall apart).

I have had a slight pull to the left, but I also need a wheel balance and alignment. So, until they are done I can tell if the pull is due to build or alignment.

The only thing I've noticed is the front suspension is a bit creeky in the mornings when it's cold, but once she's warm I get no noise.

[SecaBoy]

i thought i had the notorious dash rattle, but then it went away, so i just assumed it was something else rattling around... lol

i had the pull to the left when i got the car... but as soon as i replaced my rims, it went away completely... the car goes so straight that its freaky!!!

[DJKOR]

i thought the TRD's were hand built? did i get that wrong?

You're not completely wrong, just thinking of the wrong components. Actually, when you consider how a car is built, there is a fair bit of assembly done by hand so I guess you can say they are kinda hand built

Back on topic though, the TRD's were modified by hand, but it goes something like this. They started their life in the Toyota Plant based on either an SX6 or ZR6 platform, and came out with the interior and exterior trim of a TRD Aurion minus the TRD engine modifications. They were then sent to Prodrive who where responsible for modifying the engine to make it the full TRD Aurion.

why does torque pull to the right and why does the amount of pull differ from car to car.

I'm not good with detailed physics but in general, torque steer has to do with the unequal length of the drive shaft. With a FWD (depending on the configuration), power is put down to the drive shaft at an offset. This means that from this point, the length of shaft to each side is different. Because of this, one side of the shaft experiences more torque than the other, and this difference creates torque steer. It varies from car to car depending on the engine torque, the length of varying drive shaft, and other drive train geometry.

This picture will help you visualise it on the Aurion. Just to get the perspective right, this is looking at it from the front, so RH is the drivers side:

Because the shaft towards the right wheel is longer, it has the ability to twist more than the shorter shaft on the passenger side. Because the shaft on the passenger side does not twist as much, it will initially start to turn the left wheel slightly faster than the right (because some energy is wasted in the process of twisting the shaft to the right). Because of this, the extra forward movement in the left wheel will steer the car towards the right.

While I'm asking questions, why does Daryl know everything and can you imagine his children taking over the world?

LOL. I wish I knew a lot. I don't think I know that much. Just knowledge that is readily available to others, just depends on how you can visualise it. Some things make sense to others, some things don't. Plus a lot of the things I know were just learnt from others. I'm good at remembering stuff that won't really be of use to me, but I'll forget all the important stuff.

[hillbilly1uz]

Have just taken mine in for its 30k service, had the dash rattle fixed which only started a couple of weeks ago. Had a vacum line or simmilar from the super charger split wich caused a few error lights to come on, so had to wait for the part to come from Sydney. Also getting serpentine belt replaced as it has started to make a noise, toyota know of this and replace it with a modified one, cost about $400 for the belt alone. Have not had any problems with the steering as yet.

Also had a couple of air-con lines replaced but that was caused by shoddy work from toyota when the car was built.

It might seem like a lot of problems but I dont think its been that bad for an Aussie built car.

Mike

[SecaBoy]

Also getting serpentine belt replaced as it has started to make a noise, toyota know of this and replace it with a modified one, cost about $400 for the belt alone.

would you believe that my belt has been replaced 3 times already and i STILL have a squeaking noise on startup...

my 30k service is coming up in a few thousand kms, so i just figure i'll save it and give them a long list of things to fix... :(

[Moto]

Interesting reading this, my car has a slight pull to the right under medium acceleration too. I initially thought of tracking as I haven't experienced this in any other FWD cars. Sounds like I'll have to learn to live with it.