Aurion @ Motorkhana over weekend

[WildfireATX]

I know we all know it already but geez the car took a hammering well.

Had maybe 20 or so runs over whole day with heavey braking constant direction changes and lots of 1st to 2nd, 2nd to first changes and it took it all in tis stride like a champ.

Instructors where VERY impressed just how well the car did against a field of A70 supra's Z20 soarers and AE86's and a skyline for good measure. He said mate your very competitive today half these cars cant touch you for braking and getting power down. Only complaint was you really notice the weight when hitting the apexes but a little throttle control brought that into line.

Towards end of the day brakes where smelling hot but the ABS worked good all day with no problems with the car at all.

Once again well done toyota an out of the box package that took it to some very modified competition.

Highly reccommend everyone take their Aurion to a Motorkhana day or Track day in the near future.

[chicaboo]

Yeah, they are great fun to throw around, and feel much smaller and more nimble than they look.

Gav.

[cranky]

any action photo's?

[DJKOR]

I wouldn't mind taking mine to a Motorkhana one day to see what it is really capable of.

[RoM2nV]

Mind you your sports sedan is a good 10-15 yrs ahead of these jap imports :P

[Mole]

It might not have looked exciting on the day but that generally means its going fairly quick.

Good off the line, I'm surprised you smoked the wheels at all with all its electronic nannies.

[DJKOR]

Good off the line, I'm surprised you smoked the wheels at all with all its electronic nannies.

You be surprised how much you can do with these cars before traction control or VSC even kick in. These days I'm starting to feel like it's not even there anymore.

[Speedz]

^ something the bogan-dore/cons fans will never understand or accept... lol :P

[WildfireATX]

Unfortunatley i was so busy driving i didnt think to get any photos but eye witness accounts will tell you it was a dream.

I didnt use traction control for the whole day. As i said the only time i had any concerns was when i was doing hairpins you need a LOT of steer and the weight really shows but throttle fixed that.

Actually Understeer was very manageable most of the time bit squirrely on quick direction chagnes at speed but thats cos of the mostly std setup and non sportive shocks i'm guessing.

Few things need sorting, better rubber, Ultra Racing Package etc Maybe exhaust not convinced its gonna do anything but sound better. But otherwise i'm keen to get it ready for more events

Edited October 19, 2009 by WildfireATX

[DKzr6]

^ something the bogan-dore/cons fans will never understand or accept... lol :P

Thats a pretty strong generalisation.

I have both a new Xr6 turbo and a ZR6 Aurion. Out of the factory the falcon is a better all round car - hands down no contest.

The Zr6 with coilovers can match it for cornering abilty, but doesn't even come close when comes to putting the power down.

I own both cars - and i think i qualify when i say that's a totally unbiased opinion.....

[Steven]

I think it would be better to compare the XR6T against the Aurion TRD rather than the standard ZR6.

Still I'll happily admit the newest XR6T falcons are a very well made car, they're actually making an effort to improve their overall quality per model rather than Holden - the car surrounding their drivetrain is rubbish quality

[WildfireATX]

Have to agree there cant really compare an NA Aurion to a turbo XR6 i would wager that an NA XR6 and an NA Aurion the Aurion would probably win hands down in a track fight. And again i think the TRD would give it to the XR6T or at least be a VERY close battle.

For a motorkhana i would tend to lean towards the RWD platforms for pure fun though but the Aurion was still a great car to blast around in.

The thing that impressed me the most was the factory brakes wow what a peel your face off stopping power its got.

[Speedz]

^ something the bogan-dore/cons fans will never understand or accept... lol :P

Thats a pretty strong generalisation.

I have both a new Xr6 turbo and a ZR6 Aurion. Out of the factory the falcon is a better all round car - hands down no contest.

I own both cars - and i think i qualify when i say that's a totally unbiased opinion.....

like others said... a turbo V6 against a NA V6? :P

Much rather you compare a TRD Aurion against a XR6 turbo when you will have a more closer comparison, and to further clarify my comment alot of Ford and Holden owners mostly associate Toyotas or any FWD platform to either boats that cant handle or slow like pushing a trolley compared to their rides...

at no point i ever mentioned that an Aurion in any variant outperforms a souped up Ford Falcon or Holden 'Dores but rather stressing the fact they hold their own very well... ;)

[WildfireATX]

I would have to agree on holding their own i had a mate there in his commodore and i EASILY outperformed him where the Aurion holds on and Goes the Aussie competition get all lary and hangs its rear end out which whilst it looks good and is fun is SLOW as far as time goes.

I would say the Aurion holds its own againt a lot of competition.

To put it in perspective the actual sprint trials they run over here last season is a 2.9km sprint circuit encompassing parts of a track and two skid pans with motorkhana courses setup as one run. Speeds get up to 160kph in some parts and include lots of heavy braking and direction changes.

The season was won by a NA MX5 which beat an EVO 8 and an STI WRX 4th was an AW11 MR2 in the up to 3.5litre class (they run a 1.7 multiplier for forced induction) so clearly it comes down to suitability of the platform and driver ability.

Most guys run relativley stock cars with suspension and exhaust mods and a good set of R-Comp tyres on the day.

Makes you wonder if its worth doing all the handling parts for the Aurion get some tyres and get into it?

No surprises in the next class up was won by a GT3 porsche (if i had the money i'd be thrashing the bugger too)