Steven

What you must have witnessed is a really bad driver then or an old V8 from a while back. Well the photo he posted looks like a WK Statesman, so I'm putting my money on a really, really bad driver. The Aurion will still give them a run for their money until around 50-60km/h, before the V8 comes into it's stride.... but if the driver is even half competent I wouldn't expect to get even a car length in front before then. Dammit race already, I'm sick and tired of this speculation that won't give us anything but theories.

be weary of extended warranties and the servicing requirements for them. You could actually consider them a whole new contract, and they most likely stipulate exactly what the servicing requirements are within the fine print. Best to be safe and don't assume anything.

agreed! They really do match your car perfectly! outstanding results, congrats.

I've decided to upgrade the factory stereo in the Aurion. Not a huge system, but I'll be running amplifiers. So my question is, when keeping the stock headunit, what hi-lo converters have people been using? Also whats the best place to run the wires? I've had a quick look, and it seems as though theirs a large grommet on the passenger side of the car's firewall that could accommodate the power wire, and run it down the sill panels to the boot - my concern lies with the factory wiring harness that runs down both sides of the car in this same location, and whether the power cable might cause unwanted interference somehow. cheers

I wouldn't be so sure about that better traction business... As has been the main point of discussion here, being a front wheel drive requires extra care when launching to avoid loss of traction. Rear wheel drives benefit from weight transfer during launch, which in turn provides more downward pressure (thereby more traction) over the rear wheels. The weight of the engine over the front wheels does aid launching, but not to the degree that RWD benefits as per above.

I hear you, concentrating for that long is hard. I can't get past 5 seconds before my thoughts drift to sex.... <sigh>

you'll find their operating life is oddly related to whenever they can afford to be replaced - and until that day, they'll apparently be 100% accurate and without flaw... supposedly

despite how pure **** that is, I am going to get a soundracer! Just for the sheer LOL factor!

actually this is a good time to bring up the newer, digital speed cameras soon to be employed in Queensland. The tolerance for these newer cameras will be 6km/h, regardless of the speed zone you're in. No more of that ol 10% rule people seem to believe. ... still better than Victoria though

I wouldn't expect anywhere near top of the range, if a) they're from wow and B) they're only $229 a pair, unless he was meaning the top of that particular range in what Polk gear wow stocks. Never take a salesman's word on how good something is, for future reference. Most important thing is that they sound good to you. FYI, RCA's are only for connecting amplifiers up to headunits when it comes to car audio - they aren't meant for powering speakers directly (though they might have enough juice to run some tweeters at super low volume)

Can we even do A pillar mods considering the airbags?

Latest update - I've discovered the module does input analogue signal directly into the satnav unit. This means the above red circled plug is actually where the unit accepts the input signal from external devices. The problem, however, is getting the unit to switch to external input mode. Sofar, by using a resistor to bridge the plugs, I've been unable to discover what actually gets it to switch. In may require a basic CANBUS signal afterall, OR it could just use a basic voltage-differential on a certain input to decide which mode to function in (just me being hopeful). I haven't pulled the entire headunit out today, so I can't yet say exactly which inputs on the above red circled plug are the line-ins. I should have more time next weekend to tackle it again, and hopefully get more results.

Further to my last post, I've been scanning the manuals - and whilst the plug is shown, it's never identified. It's the red circled plug. The blue is where there is another plug on mine, that isn't even shown in the overseas model. From the looks of things, I'd say the navigation.pdf file I've been referencing is actually very different to what the Australian model is like.

it actually has three functions, where it can act as a CD Changer, another MP3-CD, or a MD player - I find having it in mp3-cd emulation works the best for me. All of those are also setup to control a third party device (ipod), so I imagine the box would have a bit to do with that. Either way, I need to check how it communicates the signal. If it's by an analogue direct line in approach, fantastic. If however it just reads the MP3 data off the IPOD, then it's a different matter altogether.

Just got an aftermarket module that plugs into the back of the factory unit via another plug, and allows connection of an IPOD. It's an entirely different plug than what I've been experimenting on previously - It may be possible to attach an AUX input somehow by studying this module.

which state are you from? If QLD, going through an Amber light (provided you should have easily been able to stop for it) and going through a red light carry the exact same penalty. You can fight it, but they can just immediately simplify matters but amending the charge, which leaves you exactly where you currently are. Face it mate, you obviously left it too late. Man up and accept it.

oh I can see we are really going to like you...

Personally not a fan of bonnet scoops unless they're factory fitted - aftermarket ones tend to ruin the clean lines of a vehicle imo

Yes I'm referring to that clock, and yes it has a red* filter on it. If you look closely with some bright light you will see it. It just happens that green light emitted by the VFD changes to a white colour when it passes through that red filter. * Well it's more of a purple/red colour, but for simplicity sake, I'm calling it red. I just had a look at that clock more closely today, replacing the red filter with a blue one unfortunately won't remove enough green from the VFD - A solution I've found though is to add a light blue filter in addition to the "red" filter - this removes that little bit of leftover red and provides a very clean white color (and doesn't dim it much either).

I read in the paper today that Australian models aren't affected because their accelerator assemblies were sourced from a different manufacturer.

sound proofing to cut down on exhaust noise, especially drones, will be especially difficult as the exhaust is usually of a much lower frequency than most sounds we hear - lower frequency sounds have a tendency to travel through most types of sound barriers we have available for use in a car. Even expensive stuff like Dynamat will be of limited use for these kind of noises. Your best chance is to tune the exhaust however required to reduce/remove this drone. If that REALLY isn't possible and you're willing to do alot of work, then I would use a single layer of Dynamat, plus about 10mm of noise absorbing felt under the carpet if you want to have any significant effect... though you'll probably find the Aurion comes from the factory with some degree of undercarpet sound dampening and adding much more will make things harder to refit.

Will he get the full benefits of that vortex without a fuel magnetiser and snake oil setup?

DJKOR would tell you to do a search, I myself have had similiar issues before with my satnav. Read the instruction manual and it will explain how you can manually reset your position. If you took it to the dealer, this is all they'd do at this stage anyway (chances are it's not the problem though). I took it back to Toyota 4 times, and on the 4th time they realised the satnav GPS aerial at the back wasn't plugged in properly or something stupid. The car uses other sensors to smooth out the GPS operation when satellite reception isn't perfect/available, and will show you the closest position it can under these circumstances (does a pretty good job actually), but say should you drive on new roads that aren't on your current GPS DVD software it won't be able to cope and you'll end up getting further from you actual position. I hope this makes sense. If it were me I'd be removing the headunit and making sure it's all plugged in correctly, but should you not feel confident enough for that take it to the dealer (and don't let them screw you around with it like they did me).

I guess Toyota hasn't worked all the bugs out yet :P

following that link, steps 3 to 7 are all you need to follow to remove the cluster. Once out, the front clear plastic just unclips from around the cluster itself,which will get you access to the gauges themselves. All up will take you about 5 minutes tops.