Benji's Aurion Touring SE

[u54mot]

Updates on the car are looking good! Time to get the rear sway bar now.

How are the Hankook Ventus V8 RS running, with regards to grip and noise? What size are they?

Thanks.

Edited March 2, 2011 by u54mot

[1stKill]

Nice one with the front strut bar...yeah i thought the same thing when i fitted mine but there really is a slight difference with just using the FSB and it's not placebo,now accompany that with a 23mm RSB and i'm pretty sure you will notice even more stability....hahaha i can see coilovers coming real soon,seems you've caught the handling bug

keep us posted mate

[benji4138]

That's good to hear, now to see if I can flog ya down the 1/4 mile on Friday, I think you'll have to jump in the same lane as me when we head down and just tell the officials that we want to race against each other... Aurion V Aurion, battle to the death

To the death? Uh oh.....maybe I don't want to take part in this death race......

Should be interesting to see who else we can demolish :D

Updates on the car are looking good! Time to get the rear sway bar now.

How are the Hankook Ventus V8 RS running, with regards to grip and noise? What size are they?

Thanks.

Cheers mate :)

I find them to be pretty grippy, it's actually hard to set the traction control off. And for the step up in size they are the quietest tyres I've heard on the road. I'm sure there's grippier tyres out there but these ones suited my budget at the time of quiet and decent handling. Size is 235/40ZR18

Nice one with the front strut bar...yeah i thought the same thing when i fitted mine but there really is a slight difference with just using the FSB and it's not placebo,now accompany that with a 23mm RSB and i'm pretty sure you will notice even more stability....hahaha i can see coilovers coming real soon,seems you've caught the handling bug

keep us posted mate

I reckon that's all its missing :) Going through the corners the rear just felt a bit missing, felt a bit "soft", was thinking with just some more oversteer effect the RSB will add this beast will be able to gobble up corners like a motorbike :D Yeh, they won't be far off, got a few expenses to take care of first. I'm loving how you've set your boot up as well as the adjuster's for the coilies :) May have to "borrow" your idea

[benji4138]

Well Dale (Zeinheiger) beat me to it, but nevertheless here be me four time slips after competing at my first ever drag meet :)

All my times are in red and I was given the number of 133. First run ever at the drags, took forever after staging for the countdown, and I mean it was an easy 40 seconds before the countdown, they had issues or something so that didn't help my nervous energy. Was versing some turbo car from memory. Had TC off and as soon as I saw the green I planted it. Had axle tramp to half track, got out of the throttle and picked it back up. Was very happy to be under the 15 seconds :)

Second run I was versing an SS commo, and this time as soon as I got into stage the countdown started, I wasn't ready for the takeoff so I sat at the line until I was ready. Just eased the throttle through and didn't have any worries with traction. Still had TC off but wasn't too happy with the small improvement.

3rd run (Dales time is in blue) Got to the start line, had TC turned on for this one, and as soon as I saw green I planted it again. Same mistake as the first race, didn't want Dale to win but the nervous energy won out again Was wheel spinning and axle tramping down to 1/4 track. Wasn't happy as I knew I couldn't come around in the top end, the problem from racing the same car.

Final run, versing Dale again (#131). Started to spit rain prior to us getting to the line. I wasn't happy with my times up to this point and was hoping for one more run to try and put down a solid time. Luckily the rain disappeared as quickly as it had come, which meant we were cleared for a final run :) Trying to keep the pressure off myself I decided to gamble on using the Sequential shift. Was hoping for anything better than a 14.9. Got into stage, waiting for the countdown, hit the accelerator trying to smoothly get Abby off the line, noticed that Dale had got a better reaction time and was hoping he'd have a bad start. Luckily I had got the best tractive start (although not the quickest start as you can see from the 60' time of all my runs) and was about a wheel length in front. Kept on it, remembering to shift so the engine changed gears just before the limiter. And came home with my best time of the night :D

So head to head, me vs Dale, it stands at 1 a piece. But congrats go to Dale as he was able to bring his beast into the 14.7xx's. Well done mate :D

Was rather surprised that we had so much attention with many people asking about the cars. Best one liner was when a kid said to Dale at scrutineering "Wow, that's a huge turbo!" *pointing to the air filter*

A great night out and did pretty well. After looking at the times if I can manage to get the start of my first run, without the loss of traction then a much quicker time is on the cards.

Oh and my RSB has had it's departure scan from Melbourne friday night, so should receive it Monday :D

p.s It's not really much but I went in with the spare tyre and sub still in. Next time they shall be removed

Edited March 5, 2011 by benji4138

[johnnieboi]

Nice work guys. Quite impressed that you guys made it into the 14s. With N/A cars.

[Zeinheiger]

It was a good fun day, I'd like to point out that my car may have been a bit lighter as I did remove the spare tyre and spoiler is still off, so that's a bit of weight loss, but then again I'm fatter than Benji and I was racing on 3/4 tank of fuel... Either way the runs were fairly consistent and in the end I only beat you by .1 seconds, it's not like I flogged you, I'd be certain with your spare wheel out you may have that .1 advantage and we'd be fairly equal, if not you probably may win, but you killed me in go-karts, so it's 1 for 1

This ain't over Benji

[benji4138]

It was a good fun day, I'd like to point out that my car may have been a bit lighter as I did remove the spare tyre and spoiler is still off, so that's a bit of weight loss, but then again I'm fatter than Benji and I was racing on 3/4 tank of fuel... Either way the runs were fairly consistent and in the end I only beat you by .1 seconds, it's not like I flogged you, I'd be certain with your spare wheel out you may have that .1 advantage and we'd be fairly equal, if not you probably may win, but you killed me in go-karts, so it's 1 for 1

This ain't over Benji

lol, your much better at the launch of a "real" car at this point in time. Takes a fair bit of effort to perfect the start in these beasts and your ahead of me in that respect. Anyway, it all comes with experience so I'm looking forward to the next one :)

[DJKOR]

Great stuff mate. If you are ever over here in Brisbane with your car on a Wednesday or Saturday evening, you should head out to Willowbank with me. I can give you some pointers on how to treat these cars on the 1/4 mile. As you said, it's all about getting the launch right.

On a side note, all my best times in my old Sportivo were done with Traction Control on and with the gear selector in "S6". No need to turn TC off or to manually shift gears.

[benji4138]

Great stuff mate. If you are ever over here in Brisbane with your car on a Wednesday or Saturday evening, you should head out to Willowbank with me. I can give you some pointers on how to treat these cars on the 1/4 mile. As you said, it's all about getting the launch right.

On a side note, all my best times in my old Sportivo were done with Traction Control on and with the gear selector in "S6". No need to turn TC off or to manually shift gears.

Cheers. I think I may be up in Queensland in about July so I'd definitely love to catch up with the QLD crew and get some pointers from yourself :D And would love to head out to Willowbank :)

Ah right, hmm, I guess I should worry more about getting traction at the start and less about the gear shifts and TC. I did find that it seemed easier to launch with TC on. Is there any real difference between leaving the gear in "D" or "S6"? I wouldn't think there would be any. I guess I just need to get the ECU to learn "spirited driving" just prior to the drags, and I'm thinking using 98 could also have an effect. But I think that practice will provide the most effective means of decreasing the time

[DJKOR]

Is there any real difference between leaving the gear in "D" or "S6"? I wouldn't think there would be any. I guess I just need to get the ECU to learn "spirited driving" just prior to the drags, and I'm thinking using 98 could also have an effect. But I think that practice will provide the most effective means of decreasing the time

There was some discussion that went on in the Aurion forum about all this. We concluded that when in 'S' mode, the ECU must over-ride it's transmission fuzzy logic and run on a set transmission control map that is specific to 'S' mode. We weren't really conclusive on our theories, but it seemed to make sense.

We also discussed why it shouldn't really make any difference to having TC off. Most of all the discussion was contained within the following threads if you are interested:

Went to the drags!! =D

Took my Aurion to The drags

0-400m Test **Video**

[Zeinheiger]

Benji, I'm keen for April 1st if you want

[benji4138]

Ah excellent, thanks Daryl. Was a good read and was able to get a few tips from those threads :)

(your memory must be amazing to be able to pull up those old threads!)

Hmm not sure about April 1st Dale. I was thinking about 19th of March. Even though it's during the day with warmer temps I can't really make Friday nights. I just got lucky with the last one.

And for everyone else here's another teaser

Hoping to get this installed tomorrow. Thinking I may need to get the car up on a hoist though. I'll do some reading, coz if I can just use a jack then I'll do it tonight. Forums, get ready to be read

[1stKill]

Awesome ...is it the 23mm or the 19mm?

and as for Dale just pipping you at the drags i'm thinking maybe your unique bonnet protector is to blame :P ....if it was fitted of course

anyway great work representing the Aurion clan at the drags,running mid 14's is purrrrty respectable for stockers,now to see if the new susp mods help.

[benji4138]

Awesome ...is it the 23mm or the 19mm?

and as for Dale just pipping you at the drags i'm thinking maybe your unique bonnet protector is to blame :P ....if it was fitted of course

anyway great work representing the Aurion clan at the drags,running mid 14's is purrrrty respectable for stockers,now to see if the new susp mods help.

23mm Say hello to my new friend.....oversteer!

Yeh it was fitted. I'd like to lay blame on things I didn't remove from the car but I think the blame lies in my inability to calm my nerves and get a good start. Still happy with the times and with more races under the belt the nerves will settle, allowing for a clear minded launch :D

Cheers mate, although I'm thinking the rear sway wouldn't help the quarter. Weighing it on bathroom scales it was ~6.3kg so that's a little bit of weight added to the car, after subtracting the original sway bar's weight.

Anyway I'm looking forward to the next drags and of course to Winton :D

[Steven]

obviously a car set up for the track is going to be done differently than one for the drags. I'd rather be quicker around corners than in the straight.

I'm interested to see how it bolts up. I did mine without a hoist (just a jack) and it was fine except for the swaybar links which only JUST had enough thread. I wonder if they took this into account when making the 23mm? something to consider and be interesting to see if there's enough bolt thread in the swaybar links when installed.

[benji4138]

obviously a car set up for the track is going to be done differently than one for the drags. I'd rather be quicker around corners than in the straight.

I'm interested to see how it bolts up. I did mine without a hoist (just a jack) and it was fine except for the swaybar links which only JUST had enough thread. I wonder if they took this into account when making the 23mm? something to consider and be interesting to see if there's enough bolt thread in the swaybar links when installed.

Well wasn't able to get those nuts off meself so I went to me mates mechanics who put the car on the hoist and we were able to easily change the bars over. After installation before I could even look he said "Hmm, the nut isn't entirely on, it should be right but we'll keep an eye on it at each service" being a mechanic for 30 odd years I trust his opinion and also checked how much nut wasn't on. There was only about 1-2mm to go so hoping that it's a strong enough hold and will also monitor myself.

Did a bit of a summary of feelings on the 23mm here (post #209, 9 posts down on the page)

Had the rest of my interior lights turn up today. Thanks again to Dale for advice on this :) Figured it out easily enough and looks tops :D

Here's a base shot of what it looks like with no lights on except for the dash and head unit.

Here's the genuine Toyota rear footwell lighting (finally got around to taking a pic of them)

Here's a pic of the front footwells (Genuine Toyota ones)

All the footwells

A pic from the outside with just the parkers on (more front lights on distorted the image, still learning this new camera)

A pic of the side with the doors open (door lights also changed :))

And an inside shot of the interior all lit up (no footwell lights on though, took too long for the photo but they don't add too much with the rest of the lights on)

I'm very happy with how it all turned out, looks great imo. Although the down side is if you want to inject (not that I do) then your stuck as you can't see veins

And those door lights put out a hell of a lot of light :D When in the car with the lights on it feels like I should be wearing sunnies it's that bright!

[Zeinheiger]

I hope you plan on doing your gear selector light as well

oh and Benji, I found a pic of your car at the drags

There ya go... Far right behind the Skyline :lol: :lol:

Shame we couldn't get a pic of me and you lined up next to each other at the lights, that would have been a great shot...

[benji4138]

Yeh I'll get around to it, lol

Ah sweet. Well from the small amount of car I can see, I'm really happy with how she looks with the black/ chrome

Oh yes, that would be epic. Hmm, I'll send a pm a bit later in the week to see if your in for a satdy drag

[dwee.]

Hahaha good work mate! You got less than two weeks?

Btw, I forgot to mention I got a close friend that is also called Abby and she's also ... :P (left blank intentionally)

[benji4138]

Hahaha good work mate! You got less than two weeks?

Btw, I forgot to mention I got a close friend that is also called Abby and she's also ... :P (left blank intentionally)

Cheers :) Hehe, it shall be good :D

Hmm...even with the same spelling, interesting....guess it's just a cool name

[benji4138]

Righto, it's about time I posted the results of my last drag day with Dale....

Was a brilliant day for most activities but a little warm for drags, nevertheless I was happy with my consistency throughout the day :)

First Run on the left, smashed my previous PB! I was stoked, would've been happy to call it quits now but wanted to know if I could do any better.

Second run on the right, pulled out a great reaction, similar 60' but just had it at the end :D

Third run, in blue is Dale, got him in the reaction but lost traction Fourth run, couldn't stall engine quick enough so decided to sit at the tree

due to driving through the burnout area :(

Fifth run, by this time it looked like the heat was effecting Abby Sixth run, after giving Abby a break and myself some drinks I pulled a decent time

[benji4138]

Continued........

Seventh Run, nailed the reaction time but not much up top Eighth run, would've called it quits if I didn't break back into the 14.4xx's

Ninth run, had an awesome RT, but not much top end Tenth and final run, great RT and set a new PB!

Dale may have won the day, and I tip my hat to him, but I was more than happy with my results. I was chasing a good RT which I achieved, as well as an improvement on last time.....tbh I was only after a 14.5xx so to come away with a 14.436 is just amazing :D....was a good day out and prior to racing I deflated the tyres to 25psi until the loss to Dale and then dropped them to 22.5psi. Never turned TC off and only spun when I couldn't drive around the burnout area. Had a mate turn up with his ute and a big thanks goes to Snaz, prior to scrutineering I emptied the boot including the subwoofer (man that's quite heavy), and felt that it did help a bit but not as much as letting the front tyres down.

[Zeinheiger]

Muffler delete Benji *taps nose*

A lot of weight in those things *taps nose again*

[benji4138]

Muffler delete Benji *taps nose*

A lot of weight in those things *taps nose again*

Ah, I see I see.....so that's where I lost 0.02x ;)

I'm thinking the police pedigree is showing through in Alexia ;)

[benji4138]

Ok so I ended up taking Abby to Winton today to see how her handling mods were going.

Had to swap out the chromies for the stocks as one of the chromies has a leak that I couldn't get fixed in time, and all 4 are buckled. Will now get around to sending them in to be re-rolled.

For the first session I was just going through a learning phase, learning the track, proper track etiquette and track positioning. Along with learning how to get close to the limits of the Aurion without pushing too hard. Ended up with a time of something like 2:03.xxx

After the first session I left the bonnet open and was surprised to feel that the engine was only about half as hot as it was after about 4 drag runs.

Second session flowed much better. Had clean track for the most part and started to get into the groove of things. Felt very consistent and was able to deliver with a 1:54.4xx

Third session Dale built up enough courage to ride shotgun as I tormented the course. Car was great in the straight's and could feel the RSB and front strut working perfectly. Ended up with the best time of the day with a 1:54.29x

After consulting with a few of the guys there and finally checking my tyres I figured they were way too high. Hot pressure was 46psi! Reduced to a hot pressure of 39psi and decided to go for one more run.

Got out early and had relatively clean track as I was following one of the quick rolla's. Was finally able to hold him in my sights and he wasn't able to escape. Still was about 200-300m of track between us but it was a good piece of motivation for me. After doing numerous laps of consistent times I noticed an orange warning light.....darn TC...after half a lap I checked the light on the straight....ooh crap, it's the fuel light....check the gauge....oooh crap, it's sitting on the line. Now I know that it has more fuel after the line, but I don't like to tempt fate. I decided I'd soldier on until I made a mistake and then pull in early. Strangely enough I made a mistake on the next corner so I just took it easy for the lap and pulled in rolling to my place. Went up to check my lap time, and although I felt like I had nailed the laps, it didn't feel any quicker than my last attempts. I was rather shocked to see what lay on the timing board.......

1:53.025 Wow, with this time I had beaten a fair few of the rolla's on a track that was rather twisty and seemed to be designed for a rolla's handling advantages. Had a great time with all the guys and know that next time I'll need to have better brakes....had a bit of fading in the end and driving home. A set of coilies for a lower centre of balance and stiffer suspension...and a set of slicks. With these I believe Abby can pull out a crazy time. Had a lot of comments about how a "family car" is setting new boundaries with people being surprised what it could do in stock trim. I don't think I'd have gotten as good a time with a 19mm RSB and felt the 23mm is easily justified for the track. Dale even felt the bars working as passenger :)

Didn't manage to get any pics but I know a few people did, so I'll have to wait for them to post them up :D