-DAvo

hehe i know i know :P the improvement in handling has just fuelled my lust for more! plus i just got a promotion at work! woot! have a few things in my mind but will post more about them as they eventuate..

nah not all white... will be a slight change to the front end coming soon thou :P

yeah, found a supplier local in australia who apparently has the right size for the aurions in the white LED rings, but still hesitant cos all the ones i have seen in LED look too thin... if only there were a ccfl that would be long lasting!!

You made the right choice brother!!!! *high five* still itching for the led angel eyes thou... but all the ones i have seen look really "thin" and not very big on the "wow" factor...

thats hot! looking really good there jeff :) was gonna post here earlier regarding if you had meshed infront or behind the plastic part of the bottom grill. seems that you meshed behind it.. anymore plans for your car?

yeah ive stuck some felt on the metal bits and the part of the boot spring to stop the rattle for now. will thread it thru the boot lining on the weekend.. have adjusted it one more time for tonights drive... went for 8 clicks (from softest) front and will try 7 clicks (from softest) on the rear... do you have different settings for the front to the rear? ive just been running the front and rear at the same settings, but will see how the different set up performs tonight..

mate, to say im blown away is a massive understatement!!! have adjusted the settings a few times, i think im pretty close to how i want them for everyday driving (running closer to the soft settings at the moment)... have driven approximately 200km's on them so far (yeah i did a LOT of driving yesterday/lastnight/today) so far my impressions are: Pros: . very very comfortable... i would hazard the statement that their MORE comfortable than my stock shocks with stock springs! (i believe i may have got a lemon set of shocks as from stock the car was pretty bouncy) . handling is very much improved (or so i preceive). corners much flatter, no nose lift or dive under acceleration/braking, steering feels very nice and light. bouce is reduced a LOT due to the rebound dampening i think(?) as before when i hit a bump the car would "bounce" a few times before settling down again... . noise is significantly reduced, both road noise, and noise i was getting previously from the pedders springs/stnd shock combo... previously, if i was to drive up or down a driveway with a sloped kerb, the car would make a "squeeking" noise as the shocks compressed.. again i attribute this to a set of lemon shocks from factory rather than the springs themselves. With the coilovers fitted the car is basically silent over the bumps and driveways. cons so far: . the rear adjusters, being longer, sometimes contact the bare metal of the rear boot (not yet dynamatted up to that area) this can be heard (when stereo is off) when going over roughish roads... will attach some felt as a temporary measure before i get the dynamat into that area. . makes me drive a lot! so fuel is being consumed faster than normal!! :P

Hey Davo! Did you managed to do it? not yet, still waiting... :( should hopefully have something to show for it by next friday (fingers crossed) Hi Davo Did you manage to get this done yet??? Pics... sorry guys, ended up putting this on hold at the last minute... having 2nd thoughts about the look... if anything i will get LED angel eyes rather than DRL strips.. FYI thou, if your interested, the DRL i was looking as was acctually a "side firing" led strip that could wedge between the headlight and the front bumper.. thus meaning you dont have to open up the headlight... but after seeing a few commodores with the same thing on, i kinda lost my taste for the mod.. no real major plans for now in terms of lighting apart from my new philips 4200k HID bulbs to replace my 6000k HID... sorry to keep ya'll hanging

mmmmm carnauba and sythetic coupling...IM EXCITED BABY! nothing beats a 5min spray and wax. oh the smell, yummmmmmmmy jelly like candy....i hate it when megs do that. they put the same fragrance from purple bubble gum in their purple long lasting tyre shine gel. drives me nuts!!!!! EDIT: BTW, feels good to save time doesnt it! yes it does smell awsome!!! yeah im really happy with the UQW, will definately be a permanent fixture in my detailing ****nal... so much so it has made me modify my weekly regime :P

thanks Daryl, however, i would of thought if anyone would of benefit out of coilovers, you would be the one... with your regular mountain runs (damn perth flatness)... reason i bought them was because i like the improvement in handling, looks, and also the tinkering side of it! :P i like not bottoming out on large dips on the road and reducing the "bounciness" of the car when only fitted with lowering springs... chicken - thanks man, when we gonna see you back on the road!!? need to get a cruise going again once the weather warms up! hehe Lee - Thanks buddy, i must say a massive thanks to you, as you answered all my niggling questions regarding these coilovers and made sure i didnt forget to purchase the longer adjusters for the rear coilovers! pics of the new stance to come. not mjuch lower than what it previously was.. aboutr 3-4mm lower in total but the drop has "levelled" out the attitude of the car.. :)

ok so a few changes have been made since i last posted here!!! first off. click. tune. play! the coilovers totally transform the car!! going from the coil springs, to complete coilovers, the handling is MINT! i have it set halfway (15clicks) and it already feels like the car is on rails, while still being more comfortable than the spring/shock set up! cant wait to get out there later tonight to give it a good run to get a feel for the different settings. paired up with the front strut bar and rear sway bar (thanks to you know who ;) ) the car now feels crazy! hardly any noticable body roll, car doesnt lift or dip when applying the brakes/accelerating hard from standstill. car attitude is more level as well. very very very happy camper!! will update with more feedback after i have given the car a good few drives! also some minor things... colour coded the fron numberplate holder.. just sanded it back, 2 coats primer, and about 3 coats of white gloss.. then hit it with some ultimate compound and swirlx, then 3 layers of nxt 2.0 also did interior footwell lights but will get photos later on... for now.. im off to go driving!!!

yea only paste version in aust, they used to sell the liquid but those who use it (experienced blokes) didnt need liquid because of the age old assumption that paste is more potent. they also stop liquid because hardly anyone used it on their DA. to be frank, i dont know alot of ppl who use finishing pads & their DA to wax - u just waste too much. hand is the best for waxing process. its up to you to decide really. some dude who uses one or the other may say that the one which performs poorer, is better. its like asking someone which speaker sounds better in the world of hifi? - subjective - unless someone has done unbaised tests in control environments. does a luxury wax that costs $5000 per 475gram going to outperform one that costs $42? If not, why do people use it? if so, why cant we mass produce that $5000 wax at economies of scale to decrease the product cost? (and dont give me the excuse that its because of some exotic tree in brazil - because all natural wax sources are sourced from the same plantation.) excellent points there wixy! i would still like a liquid version of m26 thou, purely cos i apply most of my wax with the mothers wax attack palm polisher/buffer, not my DA... just makes the whole process a bit quicker (for a daily driver) but having used the UQW for a few days now, i can honestly say im starting to rethink my hesitation about gold class plus... the UQW is hands down the best spray product i have used from meguiars... very VERY impressed by the finish and ease of application. Big thanks to Wixy for recommending this product... prior i was convinced all forms of spray wax were the devils work :P IMO so far, gold class plus paired up with UQW is a pretty hard combo to beat... to my eyes the gloss and reflections seem to be nicer than what iw as getting out of NXT 2.0... now the only thing that needs to come out of this is the durability, which i beleve UQW will help greatly in!

isnt m26 available locally? unless your getting the liquid version which (to my knowledge) was not supplied to the australian market... i would love the get my hands on some liquid m26!! you'll probably find that the gold class will give a slightly nicer shine (as it contains some polishing oils)... the m26 is great in the fact that you can "layer" it, as it contains little to non cleaning ability... my suggestions would be to put 1 or 2 layers of gold class (allow sufficient cure time) and then top it off with a layer of m26... should be mint! nxt2.0 is definately worth a try at some point... you might be pleasently suprised at the shine and protection it provides, being a synthetic sealent... on another note, got a quote on the autoglym high defintion wax today... $121.00! for those who have used this product, is it really worth it!? at that pricing, i could easily look at zaino etc etc... is it really 3-4 times better than a meguiars wax?? :S

well done mate looks excellent :)

nice, just with the AG stuff, have you used to hi definition wax before? seems like a qood wax? not sold over the counter here in perth thou :(

The Mirror Glaze Sythetic Sealant M21 is the same product as Nxt 2.0 so you've got a double up there. Also, the M205 and M2 pretty much do a similar job. All up probably $300-$400 worth of products. How do you find the interior quick wipes? yeah i bought the m21 on a whim a while ago. the m205 i find is hands down the best product ive used from meguiars... i find its shine to be a bit deeper than swirlx but that might just be me... interior quik wipes are great, i only use them on my headunit screen and dash consol... rest is meguiars ultimate protectant. :P

new items up for grabs 1. Slim LIne visors to suit Aurion (possibly newer Camry??) Condition: Brand new, test fitted without adhesives, then removed and placed back in package Reason for sale: Decided the slimline look wasnt to my personal taste.. Price: New on Ebay for 75 with shipping.. i will sell for $70.00 with free shipping australia wide. Extra Info: taken from the ebay seller: *Color:Light tinted(light smoked) with silver stripe *Material:High quality ACRYLICS,not black PVC. *Helps Keep Rain out of car with Windows Partially Open and lets Fresh Air in Also Helps to Reduce Heat Build-up in Parked Vehicles by Allowing Windows to be Partially Open Custom-built for a sleek look that fits, and great looking. pictures: also see private numbers Camry, he is using the same visors.. these look identical to the OEM slimlines and are made to the same standards. 2. Genuine Aurion Sportivo grille (diamond white) Condition: Brand new, fitted for 1 day, then removed and replaced with my custom grill, been sitting in the garage ever since. Extra Info: SAme as what you will find on any pre facelift aurion sportivo, no marks or scratches. has a nice layer of autoglym extragloss protection to give it uber shine :P price: $210.00 posted to your door

So while i was buying a bottle of UQW... i noticed sitting high up on the shelf... Ultimate Protectant! being a sucker for new products... :P (added a few other pics as well :P - missing is my bottle of ultimate compound - lent out to a mate )

hey mate i see your a perthie!! woot! im pretty sure the tyre size can be found in the Aurion FAQ... as for lowering, it would definately look better if you lower it.. /shameless plug - i will be selling my pedders springs in a week or so if your interested /end shameless plug) you just have to be careful of tyre width to avoid rubbing?

lee, i bought a magazine in singapore and in it they had a feature article (regarding its audio system thou) on a Asian Camry. It was wearing some pretty massive brembo's...

To start off the discussion... I have always been a Meguiars fan... i find their products priced well for the quality they give.. recently have been reading into some of the mothers range, and find myself very interested in their california gold range and how it stands against meguiars... would the Mothers california gold Wax be a direct competitor to the Meguiars Gold Class plus? anyone used the mothers wax and meguiars wax? which did you find produced better results? (in your eyes)

This is probably opening a whole can of worms here, but for those who are into their detailing and car care, what brands do you prefer? why do you prefer that brand? IMO not one brand is totally superior to another.. but perhaps certain products are more suited to specific applications/personal tastes etc. please post up your thoughts on different products you have used... this is particularly aimed at the Meguiars range and Mothers range... but if you have any input on a certain product from another brand (autoglym, sonax etc) please post here too :)

i know, its a real ummm and ahhh point for me... have been in contact with r style to try and get a simple lip kit but im not confident with the responses im getting back... wonder if toyota malaysia sell their kits... bring on the rellos!! :P only reasons im thinking of the spotivo kit is 1. easily available locally 2. OEM fitment... but yeah i totally agree with you jeff, need to get something a bit different... ultimately i want that simple factory lip kit that you can get overseas... problem is landing it here :( and as for car mate... <_<

The Sportivo looks pretty sporty without the need for a different bumper indeed! had been toying on my mind for ages now whether to take the plunge and drop my coin on a OEM spotivo kit (minus the spoiler) LOL love that front bar!! anyway sorry for the hijack