Full-Throttle

Happy Friday!

9 hours ago, TRDnz13 said:

Hi Scott

Yes I was looking for a used daily driver and I saw the other TRD Aurion in Whangarei for 30-32k I think. It had quite low km around 60,000km but it was beyond my budget.

Originally I was looking at XR6 Turbo, Mark X and SS etc but the TRD Aurion popped up and I knew it was a rare vehicle. 

So when I saw this one on trademe for roughly 20k I jumped on it. I got on a plane to Palmerston North about 1week after the trademe ad went up  test drove it signed the papers. It got transported up to Auckland in a weeks time to Turners Auctions.

Its a little rough here and there as it was daily driven by its previous owner but I am happy with my purchase of course.

I am going to do a couple of things to it and thats all really. 

I am going to install one of these 10.2inch android tablet systems in particular this one below:

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Capacitive-10-2-Quadcore-Android-4-4-Car-radio-for-Toyota-Camry-2006-2011-car-radio/1179635_32710547112.html?spm=2114.12010608.0.0.Hw6lfE

and maybe some performance enhancements - nothing crazy. 

I'm based around East Auckland and work in South Auckland - Drury mainly. Let me know if you want to check it out. 

 

I remember the one in Whangarei. It was for sale privately for a while, and then ended up being listed by a park-n-sell place. Not sure what happened to it in the end. From the research I've done on your one it was imported when it was brand new, and a couple of weeks after it arrived it had the personalized plate 'AURION' (correct spelling), then a few days later was changed to the '35OOSL' plates it has now. It's funny you mentioned that headunit as I was looking at that exact same one on AliExpress the other day. Not for my Aurion though as I already have an 8" one in there (sadly these big 10.2" ones are only new to the market so weren't around when I upgraded), but they definitely look good. I'm actually located in Papakura, so I'll no doubt see you sometime on the daily commute to work or out East as quite a few of our family/friends live that way :). I'll be in touch for sure.

Ahhh, so you're the guy who bought this one! Congrats on the purchase! This is 1 of only 2 that I know of in the whole of NZ, and considering they made under 600 of them full stop  in Australia that makes it even more special. I'm in Auckland too. Would love to check it out sometime as it'll no doubt be the only time I ever get to see a TRD model in real-life. Welcome to the forums :)

You can buy them on AliExpress. Here's a link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Factory-Selling-CCD-HD-Rearview-Waterproof-night-vision-170-degree-Wide-Angle-Luxur-car-rear-view/32619182223.html

Great to see that someone else has tried this. A shame that you also couldn't get any heat out of it, but that's understandable. If you ever do stumble across some magical setting between high/low or different temps left/right that suddenly produces heat please let me know! . Loving the TRD SL interior by the way. I've always wanted that interior for mine, but we don't get the TRD models here in NZ (there are only two here that I know of, that were privately imported). Very nice indeed 

On 1/3/2017 at 10:08 PM, Tobzorz said:

Awesome, thanks very much for your quick reply. I've checked out a few other's mods on the steering wheel (including yours!) but was hoping I'd be able to use a GSV50R model as it'll be cheaper and easier to get than the Lexus IS350, and haven't been able to find any Blade Master wheels.

Love all your mods by the way. Been following them closely!

Thanks! :)

On 1/3/2017 at 10:13 PM, Tobzorz said:

One more thing, sorry. Can you remember from the previous post you were referring to, if the airbag is a different size to the GSV40R model?

That makes sense. Any of the Lexus wheels are going to have the type Lexus 'L' logo, and they are a real pain to change. There is another option I've had in mind due to other people asking me to come up with an alternative solution, but it will involve sourcing the airbag locally from a ZRE152 Corolla as I'm unable to send them via air freight. If I ever go ahead with it though I'll be sure to let you know, though you may have found a GSV50 steering wheel by then.

The physical size and shape of the GSV50 hornpad/airbag assembly is a lot different to the GSV40, but the igniter itself should be exactly the same (twin plug 2-stage type). You can use the igniter already on the back of the GSV50 hornpad, or change it with your GSV40 one if there are any differences. I did that with the Blade one since they only have a single plug 1-stage airbag, meaning I'd have one plug not connected which would throw up the airbag light. The actual bag itself should be very similar however, and I can't see there being any problems should it ever need to deploy.

Avoid DOT 5.1. While it has a higher boiling point, that's only ever going to be a factor on a race track, and, even then, if you're boiling your brake fluid you have bigger things to worry about. It has a much higher water absorption rate that DOT 3 or 4, meaning it needs to be changed sooner. Stick to good old DOT 4. You can get away with 1x 500ml bottle, but depending on how much you bleed the lines it would be safer to buy 2x 500ml bottles just to be on the safe side. Just don't keep the unused fluid to top up the reservoir for when the fluid drops down in future (pad wear etc), as once you've cracked the seal on the bottle it will start to slowly absorb water by sitting. So any unused new fluid should be disposed of or used in the bottom of the bottle you use for bleeding the brakes.

There was a similar question on the Aurion Owners Group Facebook the other week. The short answer is that yes, the steering wheel will physically fit. It should even plug into your original clock spring and allow the basic functions to work. For the paddle shifters though, you'll have to add a couple of wires to the spare pins on your clock spring (there are specific pins to use) and run the wiring to your shifter's + & - wiring under the centre console. The basic functions such as the 'Mode' button, call buttons, 'DISP' button and volume/track buttons should all work, but the wiring pin-outs may be a bit different, albeit all there. Can be done, just requires a bit of patience.

Thanks mate. All the best to you, too! :D

Season's Greetings!

On 12/20/2016 at 11:30 PM, truman47 said:

Hi full throttle.  ve been reading your build thread and hoped you would reply. So your Eonon is still going strong then 14 months later? The problem Im finding is there are so many reviews thats ay they have failed but then you get a few people like yourself that haven't had an issue so its very hit and miss.

Yes it's still working fine with no problems whatsoever. Everything works as it should and it's as responsive as day one :)

I've been through a number of different headunits (both factory and aftermarket) and ended up settling with an Eonon GA5164F unit. An Android based operating system is miles ahead of any WinCE OS. There's more info in my build thread here:

6 hours ago, krigeroz said:

I thought that it can be achieved  with some kind of black film, No???

Putting any sort of tint film over your headlights is instantly illegal, and it won't achieve the look you're wanting. The factory black is done from the inside of the headlight housing, not from the outside of the lens.

I haven't seen any pre-cut versions available for the GSV50 shape Aurion so you'll likely have to do it yourself using tint film. The headlights in the pic you posted are genuine Toyota headlights from the latest facelift Aurion. You won't be able to replicate the sort of look without opening up your headlight lenses and spraying the chrome black. There are a number of aftermarket headlight and tail light options for your car on eBay and AliExpress though, so I'm sure you can find some really nice ones if you're willing to spend a bit of cash.

3 hours ago, krigeroz said:

Which film did you use for your rear lights?

You can buy them pre-cut on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRE-CUT-SMOKED-TAIL-LIGHT-FILM-TINT-FOR-06-09-TOYOTA-AURION-CAMRY-SPORTIVO-TRD-/110993404114

Hey James,

I haven't noticed any difference in handling, but it's definitely a bit more comfortable with the higher profile tyres up front. I've hit one or two rather large pot holes since having them on, and I'm sure the extra rubber has protected the rims from being scratched or buckled compared to what the 35 profile would have. There have been no negatives from doing it, such as any error lights etc.

3 hours ago, Waqar J M Ali said:

Hi,

Brother can you tell me about your speakers front and back

Regards,

The fronts are Lexus GS450h Mark Levinson 6.5" speakers with aftermarket 6x9 to 6.5" adapter pods, and the rears are the factory 6x9 speakers.

8 hours ago, V6_fan said:

Interesting - out here in NZ I rarely see another Aurion,  what I see Toyota is mostly Silver Corollas, and lots and lots of Commodores and Falcons. But then we are rural, and a good hour away from nearest city (Wellington). 

You're not alone. I live in Auckland and I'm lucky to see 3 Aurions a week. I see hundreds of Camrys, Commodores & Falcons though, and thousands of Corollas, Wish's etc. I like that there aren't many Aurions on the roads here though, makes them more unique, and gives the Commodore/Falcon drives something to glare at, lol.

5 hours ago, campbeam said:

Member Full-Throttle has a very worthwhile thread with lots of modifications and photos

Cheers mate. I guess you could say I've done a few things here and there to make it stand out a little 

Build thread is in my signature below.

Removing the airbag is an easy procedure. Just disconnect the negative terminal of the battery, pump the brake pedal a few times, wait 10-minutes for good measure and then undo the two Torx head screws on each side of the steering wheel (pop out the small plastic covers to expose the screws). Once they're loose (they don't completely come out) you can release the airbag and disconnect the wiring connector by gently popping up the tab on the top and pulling the connector out. Then just loosen the 19mm nut that holds the steering wheel on, but DON'T completely remove it, you want it just threaded on a couple of turns, so that when you rock the steering wheel back and forward to pop it off it won't fly off and break your nose. Give it a few forceful pushes and pulls with your hands in the 10' & 2' position and it'll come off easily.

The voice control button and call function buttons likely won't work on your AT-X, as it'll probably be lacking the extra wires in the airbag clock spring, and also the microphone in the roof console (unless you already have factory Bluetooth), but if you wanted it to work you just need to insert extra pins into the clock spring plug and run the necessary wires. Otherwise, either leave them as dummy buttons or swap over your existing AT-X buttons, meaning the only thing that will be different is that the steering wheel is leather wrapped instead of being vinyl.

So basically, make sure you disconnect power to the battery, be careful with the airbag connectors and make sure the steering wheel is dead straight before you start so that you can slide it back onto the splines in the correct position during the reinstall.

Mine scrapes on the chassis rails before it scrapes on the exhaust.

The part numbers for the GSV40 factory swaybars are the same as the GSV50 swaybars (with exception to the Sportivo models which are slightly thicker, but will still physically fit). So I'd say that you'd have no problem fitting aftermarket swaybars designed for a GSV40.