Full-Throttle

Yep, one piece :). Going around the lettering was a right bitch since you can't remove them, so I had to carefully cut around them with a Stanley knife and hope like hell I didn't slip . For the Toyota symbol I pried it off and stuck it back down with silicone afterwards. On the edges I had to cut slits in the vinyl and try to overlap as much as possible. I did have to use a few off cuts for any gaps left behind, but fortunately the carbon fibre pattern is very forgiving so it all blends nicely. Would love to do this with my white/black carbon fibre when it arrives next week, but think I'll buy another cover as there's no way I'm pulling all this off, haha.

With a few more hours of daylight left, I decided it would be interesting to wrap one of my spare engine covers (and here I was thinking the center console was a challenge, haha). This is the finished result:

Thanks man. I bought it from AliExpress for $16.90 USD with free shipping, but when I logged back in a few days later they had a 50% sale on and it was only $8.79 USD shipped, so I bought a traditional black/white carbon fibre roll just because it's cheap :). This stuff sticks better than feces to a fur coat and doesn't get air bubbles like other vinyl due to type of backing it has. Size-wise, it's 50cm x 200cm, so it's HUGE. The sale is still on right now - Here's a link: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/50x200cm-High-Glossy-Film-Vinyl-Car-Change-Color-Car-Sticker-2D-Carbon-Fiber-Vinyl-Accessories-Film/32351823018.html

The Aurion got some attention this weekend, starting off with wrapping the center console in a bronze/gold carbon fiber vinyl. The console had to be disassembled in individual pieces to be wrapped properly, so lining up the stripes was a bit of a pain, but with a bit of patience the end result was worth it. Continuing on with the carbon theme, I chucked this billet aluminium TRD style oil cap on. I really like the design of this cap, and although it's purely aesthetic, I think it compliments the rest of the engine bay nicely. That's all for this weekend! :D. Time to relax before the start of another week at work.....

My 2006 Aurion SX6 has done 205,000km so far, and the oil stays as clean as it would have on day one. I've had to replace the rear VVTi oil line and front oil cooler line from rubber to the newer metal replacement, and replace the alternator pulley due to an annoying squeak at 203,000km, but apart from that it still pulls hard and drives like a car with half the amount of km's :)

Have you tried sourcing the part online? The part number for the VVTi metal line is 15772-31030. I'd highly recommend replacing the front oil cooler hose at the same time with the latest metal version too, as it'll likely leak not long after the rear line (mine went just 2 months after replacing the rear one). The part number for that one is 15767-31020. Just before my VVTi line sprung a leak I remember saying to someone "my one hasn't leaked yet, touch wood" and one weeks later I noticed oil drips on the garage floor, so hopefully you haven't just jinxed yourself like I did :P. Fortunately that time I caught it before it actually ruptured, but I wasn't so lucky when the front oil cooler line decided to go without any warning, leaving me stranded at a petrol station with oil squirting out from under the car. So to cut a long story short, I'd hunt around online, maybe ring a few other dealers incase they have any sitting on their shelves, and as a last resort try getting the metal lines secondhand from a wrecker, as they may have some damaged engines or be willing to strip one off a good engine for the right price. Either way, good on you for being proactive about replacing it before disaster strikes, because it's not a case of if, but when....... ;)

Yeah you'd need one on each side. You could theoretically just use one, but it would look silly with nothing on the other side. I personally wouldn't want to use one in the middle of the exhaust piping in place of the resonator as I'd imagine the flow would be far too restricted when the butterfly is closed, but someone also had that exact same idea in this thread, which makes for some interesting reading: http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/15063-toyota-aurion-with-varex-mufflers/

Varex mufflers would be ideal in that case, although they're quite pricey. A few Aurion owners have installed them in the past.

Here is a video of someone that did a resonator delete on their Aurion, I personally don't like it. Hmm, yeah, way too raspy

You shouldn't notice any decrease (or increase) in power from removing the rear mufflers, but it will be ridiculously loud, virtually all the time - So that could get annoying on long trips or when cruising. Do a YouTube search for 'Aurion muffler delete' and there's a number of videos available. Admittedly, they do sound nice without the factory mufflers, but you may end up regretting it when the novelty wears off. I'd be more inclined to remove the factory resonator in the middle of the exhaust and/or block off one of the mufflers and only have one doing all the work. This should give a nice growl that won't become annoying after the first 5-minutes of driving. Although if it's only sound that you're after then you can't go past an aftermarket air intake - It'll only be loud when you give it full throttle, but when cruising it's almost silent.

The black lines aren't normal but are fairly common after installing HIDs. Try and rotate the bulbs and they should hopefully disappear.

The fog lights themselves are exactly the same as the 1st generation Aurion (and many other Toyota models) so can be bought quite cheaply. The surrounds however are specific to that bumper, but it's also the same as the overseas Camry, so there are a few aftermarket options out there, which also incorporate daytime running lights into the surrounds. If you want the plain black surrounds however then so far it appears that buying them brand new from Toyota may be on the only option at the moment. Here's some links to the aftermarket surrounds and fog lights + a photo of the original ones as a reference: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/12-LED-Car-styling-DRL-For-Toyota-Camry-7th-2011-2012-2013-Daytime-running-lights-Fog/32251675755.html?spm=2114.031010208.3.112.qulafk&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_3_79_78_77_80,searchweb201644_5,searchweb201560_10 http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2pcs-New-Fog-light-Lamp-Left-Right-Set-for-Toyota-Camry-Corolla-Yaris-Lexus-GS350-GS450h/317565_32368495024.html