Past News I did not know about the Aurion

[campbeam]

Until reading the following URL, I did not know how much the Aurion was designed in Australia.

https://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/5257-breaking-news-avalon-replacement-named-toyota-aurion/

 

[Tony Prodigy]

The Aurion was definitely long overdue given the drab and predictable Avalon it replaced.

Not to diminish the Avalon, my father had a 2000 model and It was a nice car to drive but looked very plain. He has since upgraded to a 2015 model Aurion and loves it.

To those who were thinking that Toyota would also entertain RWD or even AWD on the "New aurion" were sadly mistaken.

 

[Hiro]

2 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

The Aurion was definitely long overdue given the drab and predictable Avalon it replaced.

Not to diminish the Avalon, my father had a 2000 model and It was a nice car to drive but looked very plain. He has since upgraded to a 2015 model Aurion and loves it.

To those who were thinking that Toyota would also entertain RWD or even AWD on the "New aurion" were sadly mistaken.

 

The Aurion wasn't so much overdue as the Avalon was horribly outdated.  Remember that what we got here as a 2000-2005 model was actually a 1994-1999 US model (based on the XV10 Camry chassis too), so it was out-of-date the minute it went on sale here alongside the XV20 and XV36.

[AurionX2]

It's still unclear to me what is exactly Australian in the Aurion. Apart from some more or less subtle body differences to the XV40 Camry and comparing it with the US Camry V6 version and the V6 versions sold in various parts of Asia, I don't know where to look further. Moved the steering wheel from left to right? That's not redesign. Or perhaps the ongoing audio entertainment coming from the centre console rattles due to the 3 layers of plastic, all of different textures, used? :)

Not trying to start a flame, just asking.

[campbeam]

This is what caught my attention in the initial quoted URL:

Aurion was designed by an Aussie - 31-year-old Nick Hogios of Toyota Style Australia - and has been developed locally for Australian roads and owners.

It took a big push to convince Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan that the Australian team had the people and skills to do the job, which including sending Hogios to work in Nagoya and regular visits by Paul Beranger, the veteran head of Toyota Style Australia, to oversee the project.

 

 

 

[AurionX2]

I read that, however I still don't understand exactly what parts of what's been named Aurion were designed in Australia. Whichever way I look at it, the Aurion is still a Camry which is why I'm asking. Did a bit of reading myself but couldn't find much information on it. There's the front grille, the headlights, taillights, here and there some touches, is that it?

[campbeam]

In my opinion, the Aurion is a V6 Camry that was designed to be built in Australia. The Avalon was not a success in the Australian market.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Avalon

[Tony Prodigy]

9 hours ago, AurionX2 said:

I read that, however I still don't understand exactly what parts of what's been named Aurion were designed in Australia. Whichever way I look at it, the Aurion is still a Camry which is why I'm asking. Did a bit of reading myself but couldn't find much information on it. There's the front grille, the headlights, taillights, here and there some touches, is that it?

I would hazard a guess that the design was pretty much to differentiate it from the Camry. Front and rear end styling not to mention the interior. I would say the Aurion was a High end Camry with a V6.

[Hiro]

On 8/10/2018 at 12:05 PM, AurionX2 said:

Apart from some more or less subtle body differences to the XV40 Camry and comparing it with ...the V6 versions sold in various parts of Asia, I don't know where to look further.

Comparing it to the Camry sold in SE Asia you won't find much difference, because that WAS the Aurion - the "prestige" Camry as it was known and the Aurion were developed at the same time by the same people here in Australia, just the SE-Asian market also got a 4-cylinder version.

Remember too that outward appearances only tell half the story.  The previous model Camry (the XV3x series) looked very similar to the US model but underneath almost everything had been changed/re-designed for local production.

[nzzr6]

On 8/11/2018 at 12:07 AM, AurionX2 said:

I read that, however I still don't understand exactly what parts of what's been named Aurion were designed in Australia. Whichever way I look at it, the Aurion is still a Camry which is why I'm asking. Did a bit of reading myself but couldn't find much information on it. There's the front grille, the headlights, taillights, here and there some touches, is that it?

The Aurion suspension is also uniquely tuned for Australian conditions I believe. 

[AurionX2]

6 hours ago, nzzr6 said:

The Aurion suspension is also uniquely tuned for Australian conditions I believe. 

So uniquely tuned many of them exhibit the "pull to the left" feature? :)

I understand there might have been a lot of work locally on/for the Aurion, just nobody seems to tell me exactly *what* and *where*. Everything I've read so far about it is terribly vague and doesn't seem to even scratch the surface.

[ZZT86]

On 8/10/2018 at 10:07 PM, AurionX2 said:

I read that, however I still don't understand exactly what parts of what's been named Aurion were designed in Australia. Whichever way I look at it, the Aurion is still a Camry which is why I'm asking. Did a bit of reading myself but couldn't find much information on it. There's the front grille, the headlights, taillights, here and there some touches, is that it?

Essentially what you stated above is pretty much it. The body work changed slightly to accomodate the head/tail lights, so cosmetic, suspension tuning given the bigger/heavier engine, interior is similar but overall it's a modded Camry, all done @ Port Melb.

[Speedz]

On 14/08/2018 at 10:51 AM, AurionX2 said:

So uniquely tuned many of them exhibit the "pull to the left" feature? :)

Haha that crack me up!

The Aurion is a great car!

It's still my wife's daily and DJKOR ZR6's donor springs lives on in my Aurion though over the years we had to take it back to the dealer such as;

• Dashboard replacement as long your car is less than a decade old
• Gear box solenoid forced the car into limp mode
• Recall on the sticky power window
• Intermediate steering shaft replacement 

And that was it.

Though I think it's time for the CV boot to be replace too at 170k km but but the engine still sings like it was just off the production line.