'Thrashing' your car

[master_scott69]

my opinion only , i respect what everyone else has said , my beliefs are that the general motorist or "car buyer" will read the manual and follow the guidelines set out by the manufacturer. Things like 15k service intervals are an excellent way to eventually see an engine or part of it fail and thus force the consumer to spend money to repair or "it's broken we must get a new one" type of action. My dad's got a 2000 econovan and the dealer told him 20k intervals were fine as it was a light commercial vehicle and that meant for some ungodly reason it could last forever on oil and filters. it's been looked after and serviced every 10k , kept extremely well yet it still has issues that it really should not have.

Now i have in a couple of motors and as per the guidelines in my owners manual i was to drive the car 1000km's at no more than 100km/h and rev the motor no harder than 4k. i did this accordingly , took it in and had the head bolts re tensioned and after 3k was able to drive it under any condition / circumstance etc. Now not owning a modern modern car i would have to assume times have changed and many things they used to do are no longer. I service my cars every 5k at maximum , oil , filter plugs every 10 depending on the type of course and other elements. I drove this motor resonably hard so i serviced it accordingly , usually the time frame of 3 months was out before 5ks were reached but usually 3ks was the interval i used and in that i never saw any issues and always had nice clean oil and a fantastic running motor etc.

As far as actually thrashing the car , i don;t like "thrashing" cars , i like driving with spirit which i think is totally different , you must still consider things like your clutch , box and where your revving the motor to , i hate people who sit cars on the rev limiter , thats obviously not doing the engine any favors, but in turn revving it high and knowing how to smoothly and efficiently change gears and get the most out of what you have is the best way to have it.

i have always followed very simple rules , cold start , drive like someones pushing you down the street in winter with your underpants on and it's cold , get to running temp and your right to at least not to damage to cold engine components etc.

hopefully this bible makes sense and i would like to say a little more but my missus is clenching her fists

I agree with eviltwin. Taking it easy when the car is cold is quite important. I quizzed the dealer about a noisy idle in my AT-X. He told me it's normal for the Aurion because the tolerances are so close in the engine parts. He said it takes a little while for the engine to loosen up and the oil to spread around inside the engine. It would stand to reason, then, that it wouldn't be a good idea to go revving the tts off your cold Aurion.

[PsychoRez]

GARR!.

I guess this is sort of related so here goes:

What Oil is recommended for the Aurion?. I asked Toyota to see if i could change the Oil myself and they told me yeah.

Because taking it so service is too damn expensive here and I'm busy with college and and stuff. So sometimes i can't take it to Toyota for a while. Last time i took it there after 4000Km's above the range i was supposed to take it in. I felt like sh!t. Felt like the engine was being damaged due to the lack of Oil but it was mostly psychological i bet.

I have to take it to service every 5000Km's.

So i figured if it's okay to change the Oil then ill do just that whenever is needed until i take it to Toyota afterward. So, Any recommendations?.

And what do you guys think about Synthetic Oil?. My friend told me that it sort hurts performance but it sure does sound convenient. So would appreciate input on that!.

[DJKOR]

My opinions on oil have been expressed in the FAQ. There are also links there to other threads discussing the issue. I would say that your climate would be similar, so the following applies to you as well:

Q) What grade engine oil should I use for my Aurion (Australian climate)? Fully-synthetic, semi-synthetic? Any particular brands? How do I change it myself?

A) When your Aurion leaves the factory, it comes filled with a semi-synthetic oil in the weight of 10W30. When it comes time to change your oil, you are best to stick with a 10W30 oil, however if you choose, you can use a 5W30 oil. The only difference between the two is that 5W30 is going to be better in colder climates, but with the climate experienced here in Australia, it won't be any more beneficial to use a 5W30 oil.

As for fully-synthetic vs. semi-synthetic oil, this is mainly a personal preference as both oils will do their job provided you change them at the appropriate interval. Fully-synthetics are known to be able to last longer between changes and are safe for use in the Aurion. They do however tend to cost more, so the choice really comes down to yourself. In my own opinion, if the cost does not bother you too much, I would recommend using a fully-synthetic oil.

When it comes to brands, it's all personal preference as well really. Some people like to spend more for certain brands and/or reassurance, others like to get the best value. Choosing a brand mainly comes down to either personal experiences or other people's experiences. You are best to do a bit of research on Google if you want to investigate that further as there are many different opinions out there.

I use Fuchs Titan Super GTO 10W30. It is a fully synthetic and I pick it up for about $39.95 per 5L at Super Cheap. In my opinion, for the cost of the Fuchs oil mentioned above, I am highly satisfied.

If you choose to change the oil yourself (eg. at 7,500km intervals), there is a procedure shown in the PDF below (last link) for the Toyota Avalon which also applies to the Toyota Aurion. You will need a 3/8 drive socket extension and a 65mm/67mm cap style oil filter wrench if you would like to perform this procedure.

Threads of interest:

what oil?

Oil Recommendations for Aurion 2008

Best engine oil?

Avalon Oil Change (PDF)

[e240]

i hate people who sit cars on the rev limiter ,

Why? Just curious...

I suppose you're not referring to the Aurion right? as the computer does most of the shifting - You're just referring to manuals in general?

I do bounce off the rev limiter on my manual car once in a while - sometimes you're just caught in between gears and it becomes a necessity..