benji4138

Just to update anyone who is still interested. Abby has been traded in

She got me from brand new and was traded at 170,000kms. Traded her in in full stock condition for a 2012 18,000km Camry Hybrid HL. I'd have loved to have kept her but even with her economical average of 8.5L/100kms she was costing me a bit in fuel for work. (I now travel 1050kms per week for work). I'm glad that I have this thread of her so I can sit back and reminisce about my time with her and when she met the Vic members at various times. It was a very tough day trading her in, the heart didn't want to let go even though I got a really good offer.

May you be driven by someone who appreciates you as much as I did, and may your spirit live on forever on these forums. I'll miss you Abby!

Sorry for digging up an old thread but I've been testing out different fuels as I do a lot of driving to work and back (218km round trip each day). I've found the E10 fuel (95 RON where I get it) to be the most economical in terms of fuel used, and also the cheapest in terms of $/L. Second to that would be 91 RON. I've had the E10 (95 RON) down to 7.9L/100km (actual figures, car said 7.5 but it was lying) while the best I could get any other fuel was 8.3l/100km which was with a tank of 91 RON. I find the E10 also feels like it has more power and it tends to get highway speed overtaking maneuvers done much quicker. This is all done in me Aurion though, so a little off topic to the hybrids

So we just pay $50 cash on the day?

If so count me in :) Work is changing rosters around but I'm sure I'll be able to find a way to see what my stock Aurion puts out, hehe

Spotted a black (best colour ) Aurion on Thompsons Rd in Geelong....Doubt that they're on here but if you are then I was the one sitting on the train...

Oh it wasn't standard, no idea what model but it was dark, about 18:30 and saw it coming with some awesome custom LED strips on the front in a wide angle upside down v shape over the fog lights....hard to explain but looked awesome :D

Seems like we've both slowed down on the modding.....darn money not growing on trees....

Just an update seeing as I haven't been on here for ages.

Firstly Abby is no longer perfect :( Don't know when but she received a medium size scratch which is also dented in on the rear left door. Not sure when it happened as I always approach the car from the right side and she was staying clean for a bit so hadn't washed her in a while either. Used some ultimate compound which got the scratch to look a little better but the dent will always be there now....

Next is the audio...

Started off with me discovering that my ebay headunit wasn't playing DVD's at all. Was found to be a faulty laser so had it sent back and replaced (bought from a Melbourne company) so that was all well and good. The problem was that I plugged in the wrong cable which to cut a long story short blew up my amp and headunit's amp. So took her into the audio shop here and had the amp replaced and just hoped the headunit would be alright. Worked for a bit which looked positive. After a while I found I couldn't start the car. So I jump started her and took her into a battery place up here. Was found that the battery was completely dead which the rep didn't think was too bad as he said Toyota battery's generally last 3-5 years so by putting in a powerful audio setup would've decreased the life. So bought a new battery and had installed there and was all well and good.

Then I had the flu for about a week and a half and didn't drive Abby anywhere...when I went to start her the new battery was completely dead, absolutely nothing. I'm trying to figure out what on earth went wrong, maybe it was a faulty battery. Bought a charger and charged the battery, drove around the next day and parked her overnight. The next day the battery was flat. After a few phone calls between me and the battery place it was decided that I take her into an auto elec. On the drive in to drop her off I knew something was wrong as there was smoke coming out of my headunit. (Headunit was turned off for the drive in). Auto elec was really good and found the headunit had burned out and that there was some unconventional wiring installed which was causing the battery to discharge in 6 hrs! While the auto elec was solving the flat battery issue I bought an auxiliary battery to power the sound system. Seeing that the headunit was no more I also had to buy a new unit, chose a different model on ebay and was a much better unit with all the specs and ended up with a much nicer feel to the buttons. Feels more like a Toyota made unit. So the auto elec solved the problem, installed the aux battery and a 3 stage charger to charge the aux battery. Am now very happy with the setup and Abby feels back to her normal self again.

And a small thing to finish off I finally replaced her broken bonnet protector with a brand new one :)

Might I say a great choice in car and a great name

Can't wait to see some pics when you get her :D

Bit late but not on here as regularly as I was.

Good to hear you're ok Lee. Walking away with a bruised ego is much better than not walking away at all. Couldn't you tell the boss that you were just testing the structural capabilities of the "unbreakable" hilux and didn't believe top gear had pushed it enough ;)

I run the tyre pressure that is recommended, 98 octane fuel BP or Caltex and i just start off slowly and just let the car roll along...... on the high way i let it coast down the hill, and gently go up the hills. I dont like to push the car too much but sometimes i need to give it a boot haha i love the power of the aurion. When i have the trailer on i accelerate down the hill whilst gettin the push from the trailer, so i get good speed without using alot of fuel and then use the momentum up the hills. Its all bout the amount of throttle you use when starting off and going up hills.

LOL. If I was to drive my TRD the way you drive your Aurion, I can get 9.1l/100km in the city and 7.6l/100km on the highway. But driving like that rarely ever happens.

lol, but if you were to drive your TRD that way someone would have to confiscate it for mistreatment of the poor girl

For a cheap but good looking mod I'd change the interior lighting. Even going to a white led looks better than stock imo and provides good lighting.

I'm thinking wheels will make the car and be able to show off it's personality the best. Which leads to a slippery slope of mods, after getting wheels it always looks to high so it would need lowering which starts to add up. Nice looking car btw. I've always been a fan of the "ferrari" red though but I still don't mind the colour

Welcome to the club :D Wow, your cars already smash my quarter mile time Would love to see them in action if I'm ever in the area

Bahahaha, brilliant....I love how you were trying to bait him into letting you have a "free* boat ride....classic.....Very funny :D

Welcome to the club mate :) Sorry to hear about the RAV but I think you've ended up with a truly excellent car....I'm not biased I swear

Welcome to the club Rohan :) Hope all goes well with the rego :D

My ones were really easy to install. A bit tight but not really too hard considering the other parts of the car. I would say tyre factory should have them, although living in Bendigo I've not had much experience with them. Only once when my mate down Melbourne was buying some wheels from them.

Not able to help with the size or what type you should get, but with my aftermarket wheels the manufacturer also sent out some hubcentric rings. They did take a while to send out the right ones though and when driving it felt like they were fine, until I hit 80km/h and above. I started to feel vibrations at any speed above 80km/h. Not big vibrations but enough to notice.

After the manufacturer sent out the right hubcentric rings for my car and were fitted the vibrations were gone. I've even tracked her and at high speeds there is no vibrations. (I tracked her with stock wheels but I've also equaled the track speed on my aftermarket wheels). Also done all my quarter mile passes on the aftermarket wheels and hit speeds of 160km/h with no vibrations.

ninja edit

I'd have to say Benji, I reckon you should go black grille...

Just a suggestion

Hmmm, well I do have some thick black mesh already here. And it does look pretty good. I'll give it a go and see how the top looks. If it's all good then I'll do the bottom in black as well :D

I can say that the Samsung Galaxy S for me was the perfect choice. All I recommend though is to check out the phones and their features and figure out which phone suits you best. I picked the Samsung for it's longer battery life (not the best but better than the other smart phones) as I'm used to using Nokia's.

Welcome to the club :) Hope you enjoy your stay here :D

Welcome to the club Jamie :) I'm sure you'll enjoy it here and if your up for it I'm sure the members here would love to meet you, whichever state you end up in :D

Welcome to the both of you :) Sorry Peter but I can't be of any assistance on that one. Perhaps if you post a new topic in here then you may get some answers :) Good luck with it all

Actually, have a look in the same link as above BundyBrad19 as there may be some answers within that area. If not it wouldn't hurt to also be asking in the same area as the link shows :D

Ninja edit

Welcome to the club :) Good to hear your enjoying your Cruiser and happy for you that we've had enough rain for some sailing to be done :D

Welcome to the club mate :D It's never too late to start ;) Good to hear your planning on travelling this fine country of ours and I'm sure the rest of the members here will be just as welcoming :D Good luck

Wow Loving the detail.....I'm loving all the colours.....so hard to figure out which way to go with the grilles.

Loving the height you've set her at as well....very inspiring ;)

Pretty sure if I wasn't in love with her already this pic would seal the deal

Welcome to the club mate :D Good to see another unbreakable hilux on the forums