Steven

It's already higher than stock I reckon as she sits much higher than other 4x4 utes. Might have run into trouble with the diesel injectors acting up when she's cold. Fortunately I think I can claim them under the stat warranty as the guy I bought it from is a car dealer.

I can't remember whether it was PBR or another such supplier, but I did enquire re: TRD brakes and was informed that they don't sell to the public

There is actually some light rust around the body and tray in various places which will be getting address as soon as the Aurion sells. Some more progress today, a thorough clean of every piece as it went back in the car slowed things down a bit. Hit a snag with the Dash top that despite best efforts by both myself and Andrew (aka Gordon Ramsay) could not be restored, hence some application of vinyl dye became necessary which means I will have to leave it a day before reinstalling it. Several other bits of trim need painting as well, which due to the prep work required might keep the Hilux off the road for a least a few more days.

Well as previously announced I am selling my Aurion and have just bought a 2005 Toyota Hilux 4x4 Turbo Diesel. The change was pretty essential due to taking up work in the construction industry full time and unfortunately an Aurion just isn't suited for carrying tools and materials. I picked up the Hilux, seemingly in pretty decent mechanical condition but definitely needing a bit of TLC in regards to the cosmetic and interior departments. After getting her home and removing a trim panel to replace a faulty clip I saw virtually the entire guts of the dash was covered in dust which had started to be stirred up by the air con and simply got everywhere. Not being one to do things by half measures, virtually the entire interior has come out and I'm in the process of cleaning it and every piece of trim in there. More coming, including a photoshoot once I'm satisfied it's at least close to being in good stock trim.

Yep, don't get caught with those

That would be a beast, and most likely a pipe dream

Loop weather by now isnt it?

Going to be so freakin tired, but yeah I'll be there

I personally wouldn't wait until the plugs started to die before replacing them, if you have 120k then you've got good life out of them but they're still due.

Unfortunately the time has come for me to move on from the Aurion, as I'm changing careers the Aurion is no longer a suitable vehicle and therefore is going to make way for something more appropriate (but will still be a Toyota!) I've spent the last week or so doing all the small work that has needed to be done for awhile, and all the interior carbon fibre vinyl has been removed and replaced with new trim pieces as even though I liked it, I can see how many people wouldn't and that might have an effect when it comes to sale. I love this car dearly and know it right down to the chassis, it's been very reliable and hasn't once given me any trouble. I've done quite a bit of work to it but at the same time I'm looking forward to starting with a blank slate again with a different car and see what I can develop for it. I imagine I'll be posting her up for sale in a few days, hopefully this week sometime. Once she's sold I'll be creating another thread for my new ride.

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2012/02/18/tda-hatsune-miku-our-angel-is-more-beautiful-than-ever/ For those interested

I certainly won't be buying another Aurion - They're a nice package, but very limited in what you can do with them and the aftermarket has only provided a token effort in available mods. I do like the 2GR generally, but I'm disappointed in Toyota not giving the Aurion the same output as the IS350 - that would really give it an edge over the local stock 6 bangers.

Heavens no!.... er I mean YES

Sort of. The Kluger and Gen3 upgrades do work; but you need to screw around with the brackets and things. The TRD upgrade is all bolt on which is why I went this way. Just get RDA or DBA rotors (street/scum series is fine, I'm assuming it won't be pushed within an inch of it's life) and save a bucketload; even with redrilling and locating rings. Edit: In fact, yes you do. What you don't pay in money, you pay in time doing the designing, running around getting quotes/work done + engineering etc. You have to pay to play indeed. No screwing around with the Kluger brakes, they're more direct bolt on than the TRD's are (which require custom brake lines)

I'm not planning on doing any further group buys, so your best bet is to speak to George. 99.9% of aftermarket cameras use 12v, so I doubt many units would plug and play with this factory camera. However once again I'm not 100% on how the OEM camera is wired in so I could be well off the mark here.

Nice to know there is a DIY option as opposed to buying the whole reflector light assemblies off ebay etc. Good work!

22k is extremely cheap, I'd question the quality of the car at that price. Prices are around 28-30k for a 3500S version, around 35k for an 3500SL. Those are probably at the lower end you should expect to pay. Further it you want a sunroof, expect to pay more as the sunroof option included satellite navigation which attracts a premium. It's already a rare vehicle too so one you want may not come up for a while.

And I guess that's how Toyota saw it as well since after all, its intended use is not as a manual transmission. But for those that choose to operate it as if it was one, the logical direction is to pull back to go up a gear because that matches up with the movement experienced by the driver while accelerating/decelerating. Well almost, in a manual you'd be pulling back AND forward probably equally to shift up a gear.

That's fine, I've lost my results too. One of these days I'll find em

Oh yeah

The log book DOES state around the 100k mark (there abouts, can't remember exactly) to replace trans oil if under heavy operating conditions - which to me reads "you should bloody well replace it anyway"

There isn't actually any legislation or regulation in Australia that outright bans carbon fibre bonnets, nor are there any that support them. The reason why Insurance companies aren't keen to insure a vehicle with an aftermarket carbon fibre bonnet (or any body panel for that matter), and why they attend to attract defect notices, is actually far less to do with safety and how they absorb damage in a crash and more to do with technical red tape. Any car released in this country is stringently road and crash tested, to determine how safe they are and to see if they comply with individual design rules. Having satisfied these rules, the car is legally allowed to be sold in the Australia market. Note that MANY cars are destroyed for the purpose of these tests. Now any replacement panel that deviates from the OEM design and construction materials also needs to be thoroughly tested, and even then if the tests were successful that panel would only be approved for on-road use for that particular design and for that particular vehicle. So you can have a CF bonnet for the Aurion, but you would probably need to sacrifice several of them (and pay exorbinate amounts of $$$) to have them tested and (hopefully) approved. Which is why insurance companies aren't keen to insure you, or cover a claim, if you install an unapproved CF panel - can you imagine the insurance company faces any success in a civil claims court if it's found your car had modified crash characteristics that could have potentially led to a worse outcome? Facts aside of the panels actual strength or safety, the very fact that it was untested creates enough doubt to put you in a huge pile of the proverbial (even if the other party actually caused the incident). So GDUBB is fairly spot on, but also potentially opening himself up for a world of hurt (at least financially) if such a panel was installed on his ride.

I'll be there tomorrow. Someone bringing scales?

This pipe looks good. But is there any point doing this mod is there any gain? Having repeated this mod on a TRD Aurion and having found virtually no difference when taken to the track I found a while ago that this part of the exhaust didn't obstruct flow much at all, even in the supercharged models.

Everyone please be patient - the units were only shipped out last Friday; Australia Post will need at least a 2-3 working days to deliver them to you