Beep Beep

Hmmm.... anyone know if there's a proper Carbon Ceramic kit available? I'm guessing it'd probably be pretty exe.... like from AUD$10,000 onwards.

Yikes... talk about highway robbery! I guess It's what I've always suspected..... the profits are in selling aftermarket equipment.....

Hi Mika, If it's a soft metallic squealing noise, then it's probably the brake pad wear indicators showing up. Are they the original pads from new? I know toyota pads generally start making metallic squealing noises once they wear down to minimum. It's normal for the Toyota OME brake pads to make an audible metallic squealing noise to let the driver know that the pads are wearing to minimimum thickness. You should consider getting them inspected and changed (if appropriate) at the first opportunity. In my experience, it gets louder as you wear the pads down further and it will eventually get to a stage that it will make the noise even when you reverse. It would also be VERY audible. After that, you'll hear a terrible, horrible metallic grinding noise... that's when you know your pads are totally gone, and you've destroyed your brake rotors, discs etc.... It's not likely that it's a warped disc (unless you like dunking hot brakes into deep creek crossings.... trust me I've been there done that in my Landcruiser ). Costwise for brakes, if I were in your position, I would much rather let my mechanic sort it out for me. I'd rather spend a few hundred bucks and get the job done right for something that'll mean the difference between my a$$ stopping in time, or going SPLAT against the back of a truck. At the very least, have it checked out by a mechanic. I personally believe brakes are something you should NOT cheap out on maintenance, ever . If they're original pads from new, then getting 75,000km out of them is very good in terms of how long they've lasted (I don't know what your driving style is, though!). Hope this helps! BB

For extra power and blitzin performane, you COULD fill up with AvGas + Octane booster. Not too sure bout the effect on reliability and longevity of your engine, but it'd probably go like mad for a bit! But seriously, you're better off upgrading the ECU, running high octane unleaded after market supercharging, headers etc... it'll be a never ending project :)

Possible scenarios :- 1. You've had it in PARK and did not engage the Foot operated parking brake. Without the foot activated parking brake, the vehicle could've rolled forward or backward before the auto transmission stopped it from going further. Once it reaches this point, when you shift it out of PARK, you will notice additional resistance, followed by an audible "thump" noise as it disengages from PARK to R. This is simply because the weight of the vehicle is being held back by the Auto transmission in PARK and a lot of force is released when disengaged. 2. You shifted into reverse when the vehicle was still moving forwards. This may cause a sudden jerking as Reverse is engaged. You usually feel this rather than hear a thump, although a thump can sometimes be heard. If it's none of the above, I would get it checked out at the next scheduled service. Or, if you're really worried, go get it checked out without further delay. Ideally you need to be able to replicate the issue in the presence of the mechanic. I presume you have no fault warnings showing up on your dash either.

That's it. I'm moving to Brisbane haha a head unit would be no where near the biggest job done at a weekly meet... That can be read in SO many ways... but we'll stick to the G rated version. LOL!!!

After deciding it was time to ditch the 2009 Sportwagon Calais V (btw - I dang near fell over from finding out what it was worth after 12 months.... Daymmmmnnnnn!), I saw the Aurion and thought that it looked mighty temptin with the purposeful and elegant, sleek lines, even in the basic ATX form. I think you made a great choice in cars to "pimp" up. Show us some pics of your mods when ya get the chance!! Hang loose, bud. Sean (aka Jim-Bob)

I wish there was window tint that works like "transition" lenses...... gets darker as UV/Glare increases and lightens up at night...... That'd be perfect for me, I reckon.

Heh Heh.... you sure you wouldn't want a dash/rotary switch for traction control? Perhaps with the following settings :- "OFF", "Standard", "Nanna Mode", "Drift", "SMOKE'EM UP". Cheers!! Sean

FWIW, I would gladly forego an extra 10KW if it means squeezing an extra 50 - 100Nm of torque out of the engine..... that would be schweeeeeeet! :)

Hey Ian, One very important thing :- The Presara's HID's are ONLY FOR LOW BEAM. High beam are still Halogen (though they are very bright - on par or better with Holden Sportwagon Series II. Color wise it's white with a very slight hint of blue, I'm guessing temp range is around the 5000K range. With the auto levelling, the low beam illuminates approximately 50m ahead brilliantly with no "shadowing" effect. Thanks All, and a special thanks to Hallett505. This is exactly the sort of info I was after. Now it is serious hunting time.....go and rattle a few dealers and see what is on offer. Thanks again, Ian

Hi Aloysius, I picked up my new 2010 Presara (MY Sept 2010) a week ago today. While shopping around for the Presara, and doing my own research, I was told (by various dealer principals and fleet consultants) that there are no changes (shape, mechanical or spec wise) to MY 2011 Presaras. I was very clear to the dealers/sales guys that I simply didn't want to buy a 2010 plated Presara, only to have a facelifted or new series model pop up a month later to replace the current model. Having said that, I have heard from various sources that we in Oz are getting an updated Aurion range sometime in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2012. It may possibly be within the 1st qtr but this is dependent on reasons which weren't detailed to me. I'm presuming that if sales of the current model tank, then they'll fast track the rollout of the new model? There's also word (rumours? Can someone else please confirm?) that the 2012/2013 Presaras will be getting bi xenons, adaptive cruise control, power folding side mirrors and integrated Toyota TPMS. Furthermore, auto window wind up & moonroof closing/securing will apparently be added to central locking when the alarm is armed. It would be nice if powered pedal adjustment is also included and made part of seating memory settings too. I haven't heard anything about this feature being made available, even rumour wise.