Tofuboi

Nah I didnt use a torque wrench, just took a very long time to get the nuts off haha.

So as most of you know I purchased all the Aurion Ultra Racing strut braces. That is the rear sway bar, and the upper and lower strut braces. DJKOR has only the rear sway and upper brace. Here's the fun part. INSTALLATION: Upper Strut Brace was easy. Once I had a torque wrench powerful enough to undo the "holy crap these are glued on tight" bolts from the strut towers on the front. I installed the brace and reapplied the nuts on the towers. This alone I noticed a small improvement on the front end stability. The car wasn't really leaning into the corner as such it was getting more flat. The next weekend I took the car to a mates and we had a crack at installing the rear sway bar and the front lower brace. The rear sway bar was a bit of a issue as the exhaust mountings kept getting in the way... I didnt do this part as well, I couldn't get under the car even knowing it was jacked up. Plus we didnt really take the wheels off which made more fun. :P But we got there in the end and gave it a test run with just that installed and the front upper brace, we had a knocking sound from the rear drivers side. Aha! We forgot to tighten one of the bolts! Once we did that it was all sweet and onto the next part... The Lower Front Brace..... *queue demonic evil music here* This brace was the biggest pain in the rear end ever! We got the entire car up on stands and shuffled underneath. We eventually got the two front nuts off where we needed so we could attach the front part of the brace, but the other two points were further back and were to attach to two of the longest bolts I have ever seen!!!! These bolts were nearly 50cm a peice! After finally getting them out and moving the brace into place, for some reason things just would not line up! We spent a total of four hours on this brace alone! Eventually we got it into place and the big bolts were back in where they should have been. TESTING: Well testing was sure fun, I have a semi-hilly road near my place where I took it for a blast! (no one really drives down it anymore, and I know why :P) The car was cornering pretty darn flat in comparison to when all of it was taken off, so there was definately an improvement! However something was amiss. I stopped the car and waited... Down went the right pedal and I took off. But wait, I'm hearing a odd scrape/vibration sound when im at full acceleration in 1st gear! Initially I thought it was the front brace scraping on the road, but I found that out when i went over a bump I could normally travel over rather quickly, yep. It bottomed out, whoops! Forgot that the car will feel lower now because the brace sticks out like a sore thumb if you look at it from the right angle. :P Anyhow that aside, I had my car taken in to my Toyota Dealer to fix a water leakage issue (turned out to be the window seal all along, its fixed now :D) and I asked them nicely to ensure all the bits were fasted properly, they popped the car up on the hoist and low and behold. There was some white paint on the exhaust! Oh no, you gotta be kidding me? I thought to myself... The lower brace is hitting the exhaust when the engine turns under full power, causing it to rub and vibrate against it! THE SOLUTION: Well DJKOR summed this up in one sentance. "Time to get a new exhaust! :P" Yep, looks like it! Time to get something fabricated, which means I'll probably start my exhaust experimentation again, horay for all Aurion owners! haha. THE CONCLUSION: Well overall I reckon this was a great buy, exhaust issue or not. Next on the list is my DBA rotors and probably some new tyres, since im still on the first set! Anyone thinking of getting the ultra racing gear, I would recommend it. :)

I had the exact same Hayman Reese 1600kg towbar and complete wireup with a seperate computer (which is required), and all up it cost about $550, including tow bar and computer thing. I thought that wasn't too bad considering I was quoted almost double that from Toyota themselves. :P

Daryl, I've been thinking the same thing though. I travel over 100km per day for work. Since I've had the car (September/October 2008), I've covered over 30,000km in it and it's not even a year. It's more a daily driver than anything. I can't risk ride quality etc for handling performance on track days etc. It wont see many of them. I'm sure the money on lowering the car could be used on something that may benefit the Aurion in another way, that doesnt impact on the 'daily driverness' of the car.

Unfortunately we didn't. I can only assume it might have decided to get some squeaking friction involved, it just seems to be coincidence that it happened straight after the seat was reinstalled after being pulled out to check for water leakage.

I am keeping my baby sheltered as much as possible as it seems the seal around the rear window is completely hosed, letting in water all over the joint, going through the parcel shelf and down into the spare tyre well and drivers side pocket. :( That's getting redone on Tuesday. Now that my dealer had to remove the rear seat and parcel shelf to follow the water line, I now have a squeaking sound from the rear end and I am unsure if the seats not in properly or the rear sway bars come loose again! :S But we'll see on Tuesday. Also my rotors should be here soon, so she'll have some new stopping power.

OMG that's awesome! Let me know as soon as you get that done with results! Because if they do as well as I hope. I am getting some haha. Speaking of awesome, saw a TRD Aurion 3500SL at my dealer today (was getting my rear window looked at and it needs a complete reseal). I got excited at it, only $42,000 too lol. oh well, dreams dreams! Keep up the upgrades Daryl!

I took the car to a mate who works at the same place we were testing Exhausts for the Aurion at, he propped the car up on the hoist and low and behold. The drivers side bolt that holds the rear sway bar up against the back rotor area had come loose and was pretty much on a few threads. Which I was lucky to take it in and get him to tighten it right up. Now the car is fine again! As for the boot I have no idea! I've rang Toyota today and it's being looked into on Thursday. I am going to print the photos I took with my phone out and show them for reference. On top of that. I was assured by Toyota that this 'should' not affect the Warranty unless its caused REALLY bad damage to something in the process. But other than that it should be fine.

Bugger... Sounds like my rear sway bar has come loose. I was afraid it would do something like that. Problem is I need to find a way to tighten it up again. I work late shifts all week this week! :o haha. Also on a completely unrelated note, I had realised my boot has become a lake... The spare tyre well and the right hand pocket where the jack sits has got stagnent water in it. I haven't had to use the spare or jack fo months and only just noticed it tonight when I went to check up on the banging sound. *sigh* Now I need to get THAT looked into. haha not going well for me that's for sure!

Well I found out something after I took the car back home. Our driveway is gravel (unfortunately), and from constantly driving in the same spot the centre of the gravel has risen up a little to create a little mound in the middle of the driveway. Driving through it, the front 4 point brace sits under everything so it makes the car seem lower at that point, and i heard some rocks go *ting* on it as i drove through there last night. So looks like a resurfacing on the driveay is in order hahaha. It was rather wet last night so I didn't push too hard, definately an improvement! It's dry again today though, so look out my mountain road. :D

I think my speedo's pretty accurate in comparison to other manufacturers. 60km/h on Speedo = 58km/h on GPS 100km/h on Speedo = 98km/h on GPS 200km/h on Speedo = 197km/h on GPS :) But yeah, as DJKOR said, good work on getting the cluster replaced. Was thinking how they would transfer the kms over but I guess it IS all computer done.

Yeah I was a smidge overexcited with the triple the performance comment haha. But definately an improvement! Well worth the money. The limits of the Aurion have definately been extended. Suggest these to any Aurion owner! Next on the list... DBA Slotted Rotors! :D

Well I'm over half way on the install of these parts and I must say... The Lower bar is the most frustrating piece of kit to install! hahaha. There's two REALLY LARGE bolts that look like they hold a really integral part of the car together, once those are out, they're a pain the get back in with the front brace also attached! But that said, We've got the rear sway bar on and we're working on the lower front brace now. I have forgotten to get pics but oh well. Will keep posted again! also zr_nate! I ordered them Monday from the website using Paypal. Emailed the guy right away, got a response next morning saying they would be leaving the warehouse on wednesday, and they actually arrived Thursday (sydney to melb). I was really suprised as he said they would arrive Friday if not Monday. haha.

Hey guys! After seeing DJKOR's setup of his Aurion SX6 and numerous praise about the Ultra Racing Strut Braces and Rear Sway Bar. I finally got mine delivered on Thursday morning! I decided I would install the upper strut brace myself and while the bolts took a bit of persuasion (and a big torque wrench), they came off and the install of the Strut Brace was easy. After some test runs and driving my favorite road between one town and my hometown, I must say. The Cornering capabilities of the Aurion have at least trippled just with the top brace! I am really itching to see how both the lower front brace and the new rear sway bar add to the already improved cornering! I remember DJKOR actually mentioning to me for the rear sway bar, be sure to use the existing Aurion mounts that are there. Well it looks like Ultra Racing have heard the stories of knocking and other noises appearing from using their mounts. They did not even include them! Haha. I do have new bushes though so I'll use those tomorrow when the cars up on the hoist. I'll put some pictures up tomorrow after it's all done, see how we go! :D Tell you what though, after seeing Daryl (DJKOR)'s car, there's WAY more I want to do to it now. Hey Daryl, next time you're down you wanna do some work on the Aurion for me? Money involved hahaha. ;) Keep you all posted!

I opted for the slotted only because I plan to push these pretty hard down the track and don't want to risk damaging them. I've heard the cross drilled ones are only for Street Use. Anyways, I managed to pick them up for a whopping $220 a piece. Definitely not a friendly price, but my old rotors were FUBAR and I can't really put a price to safety. okay that said looks like I'm going to get just the slotted haha. if those are $220, id hate to see the x drilled.

What did you pay for those Daryl? Because I found the X Drilled and Slotted 4000 series are actually special order only... I'd like to see the difference in price :P

I ordered mine at this morning. I only got the front ones (didn't even try enquiring about the rear) as those are the most crucial ones, and like I mentioned to you in Melbourne, my chunky stock rims hide most of it anyways. I can't wait to get them so I can fit it. I was going to ask you Daryl about new discs actually, because I completely hosed them when we started getting in those twisties in the cruise. :( cant notice the difference when just slightly braking but once you get right in there it shudders something fierce. :S two new front rotors for me i think next. After I pay off what I just bought :) *hugs receipt for a complete Ultra Racing gear stability fitout* So quickly run this by me... How much of a difference would I be looking at say if I was to replace the standard shocks with KYB stuff? At a guess?

Congrats to Andy, he definately deserves it. Especially after the performance with the TOCAU Annual Meet the other week, definately a hard worker! :)

Any chance of another group buy round of eyelids and/or the grills? (the matte black ones) I'm so gutted I missed out the first time but after seeing DJKOR's eyelids and grill in the plastic, i want one haha.

Removed to keep clutter down... Sorry all mighty Andy! :P

Bonus points goes to you for the shot of the white ZRE! :P :P Hahahah I thought you would like that one!! It did look very good rolling past and I had fun shadowing you through the curves, the Camry was snapping at your heels ;) Am looking forward to Zoran's photos/video footage, I know he took a shot my my car and the others behind when we were stopped at some lights on a slope, think it might have been in Lilydale. Plus I want to see that vid of him spinning it up through the grass & mud :D I got a special preview of Zoran's video footage and it was totally awesome! You guys are gonna love it! :D

+1 on more local get togethers,i think i've caught the cruise bug... :D +1 again for me - I would love to come down from Bendigo a bit more often to get together with any members of the local crew, as long as you guys don't mind one Camry amongst the rest hehehe There will be an Aurion in the group, there was only three Aurions on the cruise yesterday so one bigger cousin of the Camry is going to be there at least! ;) +1 on the additional meets too! :D Looks like we've got him hook, line and sinker. I hear Guni's selling a Rolla cheap, only a couple of dents, they'll buff out too. :P Nah glad to have you in the group Brendan, you made an excellent passenger for the day and I thank you for coming.

I went back to another mates place with Brendan (my passenger) and Zoran (Zed), he had his laptop there and we watched the majority of the footage he got on his in car cam. Quite alot of good footage, especially the round and round and round from the donuts he did hahaha! This was my first cruise and definately not my last! I absolutely enjoyed it as well as Brendan, he wants a Corolla Sportivo now haha! Pity Tash and I did not get side by side photo ops for the Aurora Gold Cousins :( next time! I'd like to thank those who were involved in the organisation and smooth running of the event (well by smooth I mean for those who did not fall to the wrath of that road, I feel for you guys!)... As for Guni, those balarina shoes are on the way! Well done mate. :P

Yeah I'm in Southbank at the moment and am really suprised at the weather outside, keep it up weather! :D

That'd be me! So neither of us can claim to be the only Aurora Gold Toyota heheheh I'm not expecting to win any prizes either (that's not what the meet is about anyway I don't think, it's just a bonus :)) but I've got no idea what kind of miracle Pete might work with my car! I think I can probably lay claim to a couple of "only's" - one being the only Gen 6 manual Sportivo, and the other might be the only Gold Camry *shrugs* But I'm really looking forward to tomorrow and the cruise so I can find out!! If you're coming on the cruise Tofuboi it'd definitely make some good shots of the Gold cousins ;) Of course! The Aurora Gold Cousins! :P I am going on Sunday, I will only be there brielfly today as I am at work at the moment and I've only had about 3 hours sleep. (preparing for sunday actually haha)