-DAvo

just my 2c, but i had the same problem with my atx when it was stock with the 16inch steelies...

took it into toyota a few times, and they eventually recognised the fault. was found that some of my wheels were not "round", ie they were slightly buckled. this lead to a bounce at speeds under and up to 60km/hr.

id suggest you speak to your local dealership... and if its anything like the battle i went through, be prepared to encounter a lot of "its ment to be like that" from the service advisors...

just sitting back having a beer after applying and removing a layer of mothers sealer/glaze.

:)

well after 2 days worth of detailing... ive almost completed my summer detail...

1. wash with meguiars nxt 2.0

2. clay with meguiars quik clay kit

3. 1 pass with meguiars step 1 paint cleaner

4. 1 pass with mothers sealer glaze

this takes us to the following results..

one step closer to the elusive "white mirror" :P

coming up will be 2 passes of meguiars gold class plus, and finished up with a top coat of meguiars m26.

also some other small details..

wheels will be finished off with mothers all wheel cleaner, and protected with meguiars nxt 2.0, tires dressed with meguiars hot shine gel, windows cleaned with auto glym glass polish.

thanks for looking :)

now I'm a major noob when it comes to electric, but can't you install a delay relay switch or something? I think chicken on the forums here did something similar to his set up... (if I've given wrong info please accept my apologies) :P

if not I think I still have mine floating around somewhere. if I can find them I'll sell them to you cheap.

just a update for you Lee, i went to measure ride height this morning, im acctually running at 605mm! so at least we can confirm that 605 works with little no scrub. i do scrub if i hit a BIG dip in the road going above 70km/hr... and i cant reverse up some steep driveways. foreward is no problem. speed humps no problem.

600 here we come! (possibly 595!, as the pedders guys say they can only really lower in 10mm increments??)

will keep you posted

ive been using EAGLE 1 NANO PROTECT METAL POLISH on my tips and they have stayed pretty shiney...

i would suggest you hit it with a good quality metal polish, get it nice and shiney, and then lay some good synthetic sealant (meguiars nxt 2.0) and make sure you clean them everytime you wash (do it at the same time as you do your wheels - before you wash your car body, and with a seperate washmitt/bucket)

this should help keep them cleaner for longer.

good luck@!

yeah i can confirm the scrape'age factor with mudguards and lowered heights.. but i used a thick 3m clear protective tape where it normally scraped, didnt stop the scraping, but did stop the paint from come off as easy...

the more i look at your car thou lee, the more i think that removing the guards will look pretty good.. but needs some nice rotors and a bigger caliper.. *ahem* :P

oh and, fyi.. im gunna be testing out a new height for aurions.. going for the magical 600! will report back with scrape'age factor after i get it done :P wish me luck!

just something to keep in mind lee, since i have had the sportivo kit fitted, and the mudguards obviously had to be removed, i have found that the wheels chuck a LOT of road grime up onto the side of the car... with the 245/35r19

ive had to bump up my wash regime to at least 2 times a week due to the crap i get plastered on the side..

but you know my stance on the mudguard issue, as ive said before... colour code them.. :P

Just been having massive rains lately in Sydney, heavy rains one morning on the way to work, I bumped a curb slightly in an awkward turn in Mosman (f*kn attrocious roads). Upon inspection there's a 7cm diameter dent on the panel which encapsulates the fog lights. The panel above (wheel arch) popped out slightly but I managed to push the clips back in.

I couldn't find anything on Search, but has this happened to anyone else? Could anyone give a clue as to how much it would cost to replace that plastic panel? Would $300 suffice?

bit hard to say without seeing photos, but if you have a aurion sportivo, the foglight surround is a one peice skirting kit... you can purchase this seperately, (which im guessing is what you have damaged)... cost wise is probably going to blow past 300 (just) once u factor in supply/paint/fit... i think the part alone is approx $200.00 at trade price?

ill have to admit, being a meguiars fan boy (and still am!) i have recently been testing out a few mothers products... one of these being the step 2 sealer/glaze... gotta say, pretty impressed by the outcome, even on white paint.. (note: all products have had 2 layers of Meguiars NXT2.0 tech wax or gold class plus on top, to seal and protect the finish, all with 12 hour cure time between coats and 24 hours cure time after 2nd coat applied)

comparing to other "step 2" type products ive used in the past, such as meguiars M07 show car polish, Meguiars M205 ultra finishing polish, Meguiars step 2 polish, and a few other random products (Meg fine cut polish, swirlx etc etc) id have to say the Mothers product came very close to the best ive used... dosent have the cutting power as M205 (which is currently still my fave polish) but on a well prep'd surface, the end result is very similar...

compared to the meguiars M07, i found the mothers sealer/glaze to be much much easier to apply and remove.

compared to the meguiars step 2 polish, i found the mothers product to "fill" fine marks better and haze over less.

compared to M205, not the same cut to remove defects, but very similar gloss/reflections. and similar in application and removal.

the other mothers product ive tested recently is the plastic polish... again results were fantastic. very similar to meguiars PlastX, but didnt feel like it had as much cut. more of a "cleaning"... end results were again very very clear headlights to the point where it highlighted imperfections "inside" the light :P

overall from my take of things, id say the Sealer/Glaze product and plastic polish... great products, would probably be a better choice for those who have a more regular cleaning schedule... (can be used over and over again without worrying too much about cutting down your clear coat).. and also probably better for those who already have pretty good finishes on their clear coat (minimal swirls/marks) as the sealer/glaze dosent really have any cut, more of a "fill" effect...

will definately be using mothers sealer/glaze more regularly, between applications of M205.

thanks Mothers for some really good products!

(still a meguiars fan boy thou :P )

have had good results with meguiars ultimate protectant.. was previously using gold class dash and trim foam..

I just don't seem to be having any luck with this swap.

In short I found I had actually blown a fuse under the dash, swapped it out and I have sequential mode again!!! :D

BUT

The steering wheel was grinding against the steering column plastic trim when turning. On closer inspection I've found that the steering wheel is actually warped and the left hand side is pushed back a bit, so it has to go back to the seller (USA) and hopefully a replacement can be sourced. Dammit!

a rough road leads to the stars dude... good luck with it. watching this mod closely.. :)

assumming that modern day aftermarket rims come with some sort of clear coating... you can tgreat it as you would your paint... try something mild like scratch x2.0

gd luck

yeah the car has always sat a bit higher (or so it looks) in the rear... not sure for the exact reason why, but i am going to get it lowered a bit more after christmas, so hopefully that can level it out a bit more... quite happy with the stance now anyway...

oh and the exhaust/muffler is something that is in the works... ;) ;)

not sure how to twin single side muffler would look... unless you had a way to block out the extra cut out.. DRE and V-FX are running dual twin tips thou and they look pretty good.

thanks for all the comments :) car is sitting tight in the garage at home, halfway thru a major detail... so far shes been washed, clayed, touched up, and will be buffing with m205 tonight :)

have some more plans for the car, but not until after christmas/new year.

:)

I say paint the plate holder. leave the fog shrouds. if you want a ultra clean look, paint your mirror shrouds

BUMP..

Springs and Wheels SOLD

PHillips bulbs still available

also new item

Eyelids to suit Aurion, great condition, probably better than what you get them from suppliers., has been sanded smooth and then wetsanded for a glossy finish, and also heat moulded to perfectly sit on the headlight... $50.00 posted.

Andre, have you looked at the rockford fosgate subs?

so i went in for a pedders 28pt suspension saftey check today after seeing Lee's original post.

Happy to get the all clear from my local pedders store.. wasnt expecting anything but was $14.00 well spent for peace of mind...

they did have to nip up the bolts attaching my rear sway bar thou so that was handy.. all bushings in good nick too :P

hope they sort you out right Lee.. pls keep us informed :)

looks great mate! love the wheels, very unique :)

thanks for the heads up Lee, have booked my car in at Pedders for a safety inspection next week... did you notice much difference in the ride quality??

wheels and tires are just one of those things that constantly need attention.

i have found that, as with any part of car detailing/cleaning: the intial effort put into the preperation will greatly reduce the follow up washing/maintaining...

i would suggest you invest in a dedicated (as in dont use it on your car body.. only for the wheels/tires) wash mit, good quality wheel brush and a brush for your tires..

be sure to also wash your wheels before you start washing the rest of your car (obviously after the wheels/brakes have cooled down enough to avoid warping rotors and the such).. any sort of car wash soap will do... i personally use a dedicated bucket and meguiars NXT gen car wash (from my experience it is slightly stronger than gold class/ultimatewash&wax)... start by rinsing with water, and using the wheel brush to clean between the spokes and behind the wheel.. then follow up with the mit to clean the face of the wheel and any remaining surfaces... dont forget to scrub your tires to remove any old tire dressing... then while your there use the brush the scrub the inner wheel guards.. then rinse all soap away... now move onto your next wheel... once all done you start washing the rest of your car (with a fresh bucket of car wash of your choice and different wash mitt!)

ive found that after washing and drying the wheel, an application of a good sealant/wax will greatly reduce the amount of time/effort needed on the next wash.. as the brake dust and grime tends to fall off a lot easier..

tash, if you find the finish on your wheels to be dulling off, remember, most modern wheels (OEM and aftermarket) will likely have a clearcoat protecting them... thus you can essentially treat it like you would your car body... ie using a paint cleaner such as swirlx/scratchx/ultimate compound to bring back the shine/remove water marks from your wheels... just remember to follow up with a coat of wax to lock in the shine.

as for tires, ive had nothing but great results from using meguiars hot tire shine gel. long lasting shine, great protection, and resists water pretty well... just be careful to wipe off any excess to avoid tire sling...

good luck and hope this helps :)

Item: Pioneer CDX-FM677 CD Changer

Location: Tas

Item Condition: Excellent

Reason for Selling: No longer used

Price: $40 (can post at buyer's expense)

Excellent condition, perfect working order. Comes with 6-disc cartridge, control unit, remote, and all wiring. Can be connected to any head unit (including your stock unit) via your RF antenna cable, or via IP-Bus if you have a compatible Pioneer head unit.

PM'ed ;)

great shots dave. abit sad to see the ferrari with swirl marks... is it hail damaged at the back?

thanks mate :)

yeah a bit sad to see such a nice car in a sad state like that... but on the upside.. our cars are in better condition than a ferrari! yay!

dont think its hail damage.. just heavy swirling and my light being too strong...