legend_of_lazz

Hi guys,

Rather than starting a new topic, I thought I'd ask here. I'm currently running an amplifier for my speakers and a monoblock amplifier for my sub. I am getting a little alternator whine coming from my speakers and I believe it may be due to my choice in ground, which is between the front seat bolt and the floor which has been sanded to expose more bare metal. What is the optimal place to ground an amp and is there anything else that could be causing the whine? It happens regardless of whether the inputs are plugged in.

Thanks.

For everyone who changed their speakers how did you manage to fit yours speakers in?

I have changed all the speakers in my car to Polk Audio DB691 speakers. They have a mounting depth of 81mm. The way I have fitted these speakers was to mount them on 24mm MDF board at the rear and bolting back into the original mounts. I have plenty of room between the speakers and the boot springs. I doubt this method would work with the parcelshelf in place. If you want to go this way, I'd suggest following my guide at Vibration Free Parcelshelf. This makes all the audio work back there far easier, it also gives far more clarity and volume with a sub if you are using one.

I am now running a complete sound system and can tell you that it will go painfully loud before any vibration or distortion.

Mine does this as well. I agree it also sounds like a dodgy fan motor in a computer but I think it may be the actual DVD drive spinning the disk. Mine does it from 10 - 20 seconds and has only started a month ago.

Thanks very much Daryl. Knowing this will save me hours of messing around.

Rather than starting a new topic I thought I'd ask here. I've just fitted a new amplifier for my new speakers and want to do a test run before putting the car back together. My question is is it safe to unbolt the drivers seat and lean it back to have easy access under the seat with the car on so I can test the sound system and tweak the amp under the seat? I'm not removing the seat or disconnecting any cables just removing the 4 bolts and leaning it back. Thanks for any help.

Before anyone says "do a search" though, I have been doing this - but one question I couldn't find an answer to... a "balanced" tyre that has all of the following:

- At least 40,000km lifespan

- Good cornering ability

- Quiet and comfortable

The Potenza Adrenaline fits 2 out of 3 of these criteria. Unless you drive really gently you won't get anywhere near 40,000km to them. My last set lasted just over the 17,000km mark with regular rotation and correct alignment and balance on my stock 17s. Then again, Townsville roads are rough and my driving isn't the most passive.

Ok thanks for the advice. Regarding the Traction Control, should it be disabled when this warning light comes on because mine isn't functioning at all?

Hey guys,

I've recently added the K&N SRI to my Sportivo and has this error appear along with the check engine light. Has anyone else had this issue with this intake? It's starting to concern me because the traction control light is on and I've tested tonight and the traction control is not working at all. I have reset the ecu twice and the problem goes away for usually 15 minutes or so and comes back on. When I turn the car off and back on the check engine light is on from the moment I start the car. Does anyone have any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Not really to do with the original topic, but I wouldn't mind knowing roughly how much the TRD steering wheel cost? It looks like a really nice addition to the car and my wheel is looking a little tired.

I don't have a problem with ex-rentals provided they look okay and have been regularly serviced. My car is an ex-rental from Hertz and I can't complain about one thing at all. In fact, it was in better condition than a lot of other when I was looking to buy. There have been a few others on this board who have had ex-rental with no troubles. DJKOR's Sportivo was a rental as well and it was the fastest Aurion here from what I've heard.

Hey guys, just doing my usual eBay searches for my car and I have come across TRD Springs pictured here. First of all will these fit and if so do you think they will make much of a difference performance wise over the original shocks?

They are listed for about $212 USD. Is that a good price?

I'm about to buy either a K&N Typhoon SRI or a Fujita CAI. They are roughly the same price off of eBay and will do pretty much the same thing. The only thing stopping me from deciding is the sound. Has anyone heard both the K&N and the Fujita? Do they sound different at all? And if so which sounds better?

the modifications aren't for any performance gain, but for other reasons that involve the security system

Where did you get that information? A friend of a friend fits them and has said they do also give a power and performance gain.

+2 for lumbar support. The first week I had my car it killed my back until I adjusted my lumbar support to all the way out and I haven't had a problem since. It feels a little odd when you first try it but you'll be used to it in half an hour and it made the world of difference to me.

I've had exactly the same issues both in neutral and in park. Does anyone know if this is normal or a problem or even what would cause this issue because it gave me a bit of a fright when it happened in park to me too.

I wouldn't consider this a defect. I have hit 15-20cm high gutter at under 60km/h at a 45 degree angle and done the same damage as this to a Mazda 3. 110km/h would have been a lot worse, and considering where it happened I probably would have been killed.

No, stock speakers are still in place and are in exactly the same configuration.

Ab well. Not an innovator I guess. At least now it's one more person signing off on it working.

Agreed. I do have 2 spare tubes I can use to accomplish this but it means having to sacrifice front and back. I'll see what happens.

Hey guys. Like many of you, the vibration from my sub drives me nuts. I have read through some of the relevant posts here and I believe I am this first to come up with this solution. Please correct me if I am wrong. From having a look around I can say 90% of the vibration is coming from the parcelshelf while the remaining 10% is from the tweeter section of the stock rear speakers. That’s an easy fix and will happen in a few weeks. The following mod has not only completely removed all vibration associated with the parcelshelf, but it has also given me more room to install new speakers in the rear and made the sub a fair bit louder and a lot clearer. In my honest opinion, it looks good as well.

It seems like a fairly extreme mod, but I have contacted Toyota who have advised me that a new parcelshelf is $165 including GST, so I was willing to take the chance. I also had a large crack in my parcelshelf from before I bought my Aurion so it was just one more reason to give it a go.

What I basically have done is cut a large hole in the centre of the parcelshelf and stretched a stretchy black fabric across to make it look good. The fabric was secured underneath section by section with a hot glue gun starting with the side closest to the seats as it seemed like a good idea starting at a flat section. I just drilled a hole to start and used a jigsaw to cut the hole. The entire project took about 2 hours, including a fair bit of trial and error with the fabric. I’m more than happy with the end result and would recommend this mod to anyone looking to cut back on vibration. Here’s a few photos of the process and the final item installed. Let me know what you think.

Adam.

So after the long wait I finally got this mod organised. I purchased an LED neon kit off of eBay for about $110 USD including shipping. I have yet to mount the front and rear so for now it's just the skirts. They are run directly from the battery with an inline fuse. The neons are screwed into the skirts and are not visible at all from the street. The wires have been run through the grommets on the inside of the skirts and under the carpet, over glove box and steering wheel each side and meet together for the control box which I have placed under my head unit. I have sacrificed the wireless capability of this unit as I have set the control box to always on and have installed a switch under my airconditioner controls on the blank plate. It may not be the smartest idea sacrificing the wireless remotes this came with, but I love lots of switches. Some photos below.

I know this isn't for everyone and I've had a mixed response to them, but I am quite surprised to say I am very pleased with the look and am keeping them where they are. Let me know what you think.

Hey guys, bit of a thread revival here, but I am now also a member of the sports grill club. Just hoping for a few opinions here. I have purchased a new Toyota badge from eBay and I'm thinking of attaching it to my new grill but I'm not sure if I like it or not. What do you think? Also bear in mind that the badge will be dead centre and straight if I decide to do it properly and it's just sitting there at the moment. I can attach it cleanly through the mesh (see picture). Also I'm thinking of re-meshing the grill as well as the lower grill as I hate being able to see into the engine bay so easily and like the idea of it being darker like a few others have here namely DJKORs. Where did everyone buy the finer mesh I see here?

Interesting, so once the car is up and running you still leave the lights on auto?

Sorry I think I may not have been clear with that. I just turn the lights on once the car is actually running. I have not used the auto light feature since I fitted my HIDs.

I've experienced this same thing on my drivers side. Once I had fitted them, I put the bumper and all that back on and turned my car on only to have the drivers side not turn on. From what I've found, when I turn my car on, my automatic lights kick in during the starting of the engine causing them to flicker from what I assume to be a drop in voltage. Based on what I know about HIDs this is not good for them. Now whenever I park my car I turn my lights off and once it's running I turn them on and go. Haven't had any issues since.

It is what it is. It's a matter of personal preference. It may not be a popular choice, but it's still something that I wouldn't mind seeing. If I don't like it, I'll take it off. It's just one of those things I want to do. Sure it won't appeal to the masses, but there are a lot of mods out there that I can't stand the sight of. 20 inch wheels and the RStyle Lexus style grill for instance, yet I don't discourage people doing it. I'll give it a go, post some photos and see what happens from there.