Introduction to a LPG converted Aurion 2007

[Mendez]

HI All,

REVIEW OF LPG CONVERTED AURION

This forum has helped me a lot with my buying decisions on toyota and finally got the time to contribute back to the community.

I recently bought a used 2007 Toyota Aurion ATX which is LPG converted in Melbourne.

The only other modification would be the 18" rims with 235mm Wide tyres with 40% profile - I wanted wider tyres for more grip and better conering

I am a major supporter of Australian industries and has bought local made Ford Falcons.

Things changed when my 06' Falcon ( BF SR Dedicated LPG - Venturi style ) lost control on a rainy day, since then Safety and Quality has become the most important criteria hence i bought the Aurion not knowing much about the car solely going by the good reviews on many Toyotas and the fact its Australian made !!

with a budget of $14,500 from the insurance company I started my search and found 1 Car out of 245 Aurions which were LPG converted ( April 2010 ).

My weekly milage adds up to about 500 - 600 KM so LPG is a must in my car. At the time of purchase there was 1 car at carsales.com.au which was LPG converted and Aurion ( 109,000 KM ).

Profession wise I am a computer Engineer with a fair knowledge of Car mechanics and workarounds

The test drive was a smooth affair, the car fast fast and responsive than ANY FALCON i have ever driven ( Driven XR6 mostly ). Interior and Panels were well built but the most amazing fact was this LEXUS sourced 2GR-FE engine was running on LPG.

Here are the Facts

Converter - LP GAS 1 - Thomastown

Date - 29/ 06 / 2009

Odometer at the time of conversion - 57942 KM

Odometer at the time of writing - 141,500 KM as of 07/01/2012

Conversion cost - $3,895 ( $354.09 GST )

Conversion System - Landirenzo sequential injection with a 79L ( 63 L Usable LPG ) Manchester tank at the back

Problems reported to me by the first owner - He claimed after the conversion the car would loose a lot of power and switch back to Petrol as the system was not tuned properly. Under warranty ( 2nd week after conversion ) and after a few visits to the installer they finally agreed that there was a ACTUAL problem and decided to take the car to LP GAS1 in Lilydale as they have a dyno where they can tune the car and remap the ECU .( I presume )

The previous owner was given a loan car and after 2 days he got the Aurion TUNED FOR LPG ..... and with it ended the drama of LPG problems.

As a part of my job I get to drive a lot of pool cars and I generally drive Falcons or Aurions, When driving a standard Petrol Aurions I have noted that they are not that fast and not nearly RESPONSIVE as my LPG Aurion, at first I thought it was in my mind till I asked my Falcon die-hard friend to drive a normal Aurion and the LPG version, End result was we ended up dragging both cars on a empty lane and my car effortlessly beat the stock Aurion ( Falcon fan who drove the LPG Aurion did confirm the torque of the LPG aurion was greater thus the better engine response time ).

The next step was to drag my mates 2009 FG XR6( Modified with a K & N Cold Air intake and a Performance exhaust ) vs LPG Aurion purely for finding out if the LPG Aurion could keep up, to my surprise the Aurion managed to beat the Falcon even with drivers swapped ( yes we did race 2 times trying to push both card as hard as possible ).

This proved to me that this was one of the best buying decisions that I have ever made and apart from the fact that the Drivetrain is one of BEST in the market at the price range and the LPG Converter and the KIT is the best marriage for this car.

The reason for this post is that I am so happy with the results of the conversion I want any one interested in converting a Aurion to LPG to go ahead without fear knowing that it could be the most important design you have ever made to your OPERATION COST..

The power is great on LPG but the OPERATING COST is the icing on the cake,

My pervious FALCON E-GAS was a LPG hog, for every 100KM regadless of driving stlye i need to pump aproximately $10 for every 100 Km ... On a long run to Mildura it would do a bit better if I stick to 100KMPG returning 150 KM for every $10. This milage was with a K & N high-performance air filter installed in the Falcon ( bought for $100 from Autobarn - Airport West ).

The Aurion on the other hand would sip fuel on normal driving conditions and here are the number

City driving ( 63 L LPG Tank )

450 KM minimum on city driving conditions ( Including CBD driving and A/C turned on in Summer )

Cost to fill tank @ 55.9cL would be $35

IF you do the maths thats 14L / 100 KM in CITY driving - Cost $ 7.8

Highway Driving

600 KM average ( 585 KM - 625 KM ) depending on overtaking and 110 KM zones

the milage would be 10.5L / 100 KM on 85% Highway Driving - Costing $ 5.8 for every 100 KM on the freeway !!

I have already done 2 trips to Sydney and back and the total cost for a SINGLE RETURN TRIP was a bit over $ 120 with 30 % of the tank still full.

TRY GETTING THIS ECONOMY ON A PRIUS OR A FORD FIESTA !

OTHER TECHNICAL AND MISELLANIOUS INFORMATION

The petrol in the tank is always kept on 30 % filled, the reason being the Petrol pump and plumbing should be kept lubricated if else

the risk of petrol pump failure is high. Specially if tank is empty and the petrol pump sucking air in the tank will ruin your pump !!! ( Know a few people who managed to blow their pumps )

I only fill up my car with BP Ultimate 98 or Shell V - Power

The car always starts on Petrol , it helps to lubricate the Valves on the upper parts of the engine and this reduced the risk of burnt vales specially in TOYOTA motors.

The additives in Premium petrol also helps to clean the engine clean, but the main purpose is to lubricate the engine and to prevent valve malfunction.

Many people on various forums have asked questions about the use of Flashlube, which is a external lubricant injected on to the air manifold to Lubricate the valves as LPG in gas form does not provide any lubrication, when i did some research with some local installers most of them advised me as long as the car starts on petrol the amount of lubrication would be sufficient to prevent valve malfunction.

The first start for the day I leave the car idle for at least 5 minutes for PETROL to do its job, and for every 1000 Km which is roughly two fill ups I drive a total of 80 Km on dedicated petrol. ( Every time i get my tax return the CAR gets a fulltank of premium petrol and drives around in Petrol till it reaches 30 %. )

For every 3 tank fulls of LPG I tend to pump $12 - $ 15 worth of BP Ultimate ( 10 - 15 L depending on price ).

On freeway if my journey is more than 300 Km I do a good run on the freeway with Petrol to keep the engine in working order.

The air filter is a K & N high performance air filter - since I bought the Air filter from day one I cannot comment on the deference between the stock and the K & N. Although when depressing heavily the air suction is clearly heard than other Aurions I have driven.

Handling is good for a Front Wheel Drive, as I do not use my Aurion for any street racing thus it HANDLES like any other GOOD car driven within the speed limit, no complains !

Schedule servicing is done per log book by TOYOTA - In summer( OR LEADING UP TO SUMMER ) I put CASTROL EDGE 0 -40W which is a FULL Synthetic and during Winter Magnatec 0-30 W engine oil.

Average Service for every 15,000 KM is $350 from toyota. I could easily save money by going to a local mechanic BUT TOYOTA does a good job and does a extensive check on the car !!

Due to high heat in LPG combustion, spark plugs have to be changes every 70,000 KM and this requires the removal of the AIR MANIFOLD in AURION. It costs me $ 350 including NGK IRIDIUM PLUGS (EACH $ 30) just to change the SIX PLUGS, this was done at a LPG converter as they constantly remove manifolds to perform LPG conversion and they do a proper job and it is cheap. TOYOTA quoted my $ 600 including plugs for the same job !!!

I drive on wider wheels. 235-40-18 wheels to get more traction and the tyre pressure is at 40PSI , Tyres has to be changes every 50,000 KM . My next set of tyres would be Bridgestone Potenza 235 - 45 - 18 tyres as they have a similar rolling diameter to the stock Aurion 215 - 60 - 16 tyres. At the moment my speedo is a bit whacky due to change is tyre circumference ...

Phillips 35W HID with ORIGINAL PHILLIPS CANBUS BALLAST

2 LED LIGHT strips function as DRL !! - Attached to the parking light, only turnes on in low light condition

After market Fog lamps with - White LED's installed - gives a premium look to the car

Chrome door handles installed on all for doors - looks great

Car gets WAXED every 3 months, CAR is washed by hand WITH LOVE AND CARE by me. Dried with a terry cloth and finished with a Polishing cloth for the shine

Sound System - Which I am really proud about

ALPINE CDA117E head unit

ALPINE KCE BT400 - Bluetooth unit with Bluetooth Handsfree and Audio Streaming - Serially connected to the Headunit

quick note about the bluetooth unit, I havent got to the bottom of it but my IPhone 4 does not like the bluetooth unit. The phone pairs up Automatically at car startup

and shows in coming calls on the screen with called id and the Phone button on the head unit works for answering calls.

BUT if I need to make a voice call using Voice dial or browse the phonebook from the headset it always replies " NO UNIT CONNECTED " on a rare occasion it would work and i can see all the contacts, past calls, missed calls on my iphone and even Voice Dial works flawlessly ONLY WHEN IT DECIDED TO WORK.

And also after I hang up from a call the Phone will automatically start streaming Music through Bluetooth streaming ( regardless which mode the head unit is on Ex. AUX, RADIO or USB ) and this drains the battery of my iPhone

I also have a work phone which is a Android - SAMSUNG - GOOGLE - NEXUS S which has no issues and works flawlessly.

Front and Rear 6 x 9 C 2 Speakers ( 60 W RMS ) are JL AUDIO which are AMAZING - bought from US of A

Alpine 4 Channel Amp with each channel having 40 W RMS

Kicker pack amp and sub from JB- HIFI for $350 !!

The head unit has a Audio timing calibration and after painstakingly calibrating for 15 hours I get perfect distortion free audio at the loudest level ( The level just before you get DEAF )

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Well thats it for now and I will be sure to post some photos ...

If there are ANY question fell free to post and I will reply as time permits

HAPPY MOTORING !!

[Mendez]

Here are the external photos of the Aurion, note the 18" alloys, HID, LED Fog lamps and the Chrome door handles

[VF-X]

That was a good read mate.. Good on ya. Great to hear it finally working on someone.

You should make a member page for your ride with this, + any mods you can list em and people can keep up with your ride.

Should post some pics too..

Edit: Ah you just posted them in.

[Mendez]

That was a good read mate.. Good on ya. Great to hear it finally working on someone.

You should make a member page for your ride with this, + any mods you can list em and people can keep up with your ride.

Should post some pics too..

Edit: Ah you just posted them in.

Wow, some one actually read this..

I was reading too many articles on the internet and most of them were mis-leading or written by misinformed mutts specially regarding to LPG conversions,

There is no way any one can compare a LPG Taxi to this Aurion for power and refinement .... other than a LPG Aurion Taxi.

So I decided to take the task to my hands to put this information on the internet and decided to go with this forum as I see fit it does a great job on providing a talking space.

This car is living proof of a good LPG conversion and the fact that it has done over 83,000 KM mostly on LPG without a SINGLE ISSUE WHAT SO EVER...

As I am new to forums ( Forums of any sort ) can you please guide me how to make a member page and I would transfer this content over to the relevant page.

Regards

Mendez

[VF-X]

Hey yea, welcome to the forum mate...

As you see at the front, this is introduction for new ones, so you're not entirely wrong.

Scroll a bit lower, and you'll see

Members Rides

Show off your ride here!

where you show off your rides as well as viewing other people's rides..

Enjoy. =)

[trentmeyer23]

Welcome, I would however like to see this dyno'd to prove that it indeed produces more power than a petrol Aurion.

[Andrew357]

Car gets WAXED every 3 months, CAR is washed by hand WITH LOVE AND CARE by me. Dried with a terry cloth and finished with a Polishing cloth for the shine

Only once every 3 months??? :P

Any interior shots at all?

Trent: Power runs are cheap as chips!

[trentmeyer23]

Trent: Power runs are cheap as chips!

I know :P

I might also add it is not a Lexus engine, it is a Toyota engine. It was first used in the 2005 Toyota Avalon. Lexus(Toyota owned) along with Lotus used the Toyota engine in their cars.

[SecaBoy]

im glad you love your car so much, but if you think that the drivetrain is one of the best, then you're seriously delusional.

the aurion gearbox is one of the worst I've ever used. :(

[Mendez]

Interior photos !!

[Mendez]

Aurion Audio Install

Full Head unit installation

Installation of Front side speakers - Door

installation of Rear Speakers - Above boot which required total dismantle of rear interior to get to the Speakers !!!

4 Channel Amp installation

Installation performed by a Installer names Vincent - JB HIFI Broadmedows Installation Bay -

The bloke was very professional and very friendly, gave me all the right advice before buying equipment. ( The store sales guys wont know much because they do no perform any installs )

Installation time was just under 3.5 Hours

Total Cost of Installation labour was $600 - 800

The Head unit has 3 Pre outputs - By budget at the time ( 07/2011 ) didn't allow me for a Subwoofer + Amp

Sub woofer and Amp was purchased from JB HIFI later on ( 09/2011 ) and installed with a little help from the same installer.