Charlie Trout

Just to clarify, he bought the ascent with the standard trim, then as an option he got toyota to put the leathers in. I didnt realise you were relating the leather seats as a factory standard. I heard with VW's, that if you don't get the leather option with the car when you initially buy it(so they can put it on when they ship it out from Germany), it voids the warranty if you decided to put your own leather trim on it. I wonder why VW don't outsource their leather trim option in Australia. Is it true the dealership will have their license revoked?

Well, i hear that they will be working on producing it soon. Possibly at the end of 2011-mid 2012. Maybe the plans were stalled initially but this is what i hear the end product will be, i.e supercharged.

Do you mind if i ask who your sources are?

TRUE.

Ive got some more information im waiting for on the Auris GT that i will post as soon as i get it. Also got some information coming in about the new specifications other models will be receiving. Ill post them up as soon as i get an email. Eddie.

No one digs the BMW X1? Eddie.

Hey guys, just wanted to know whether anyone had heard anything on Japans Auris GT concept. A friend of mine has another friend working at Toyota in Japan, sent me this PDF last night and i thought id post it up just in case anyone wanted to read about it. Eddie. AURIS GT Concept.pdf

I thought the Ascent was the base model? Its an MY11 graphite toyota corolla ascent, leather seats, tinted windows and floor mats, $23000. Found out it was at Sydney City Toyota Waterloo. Eddie.

I agree, go with PowerFC. Eddie.

Hey Kenneth, I appreciate the guidance. Ill give the Ep3 at IMG a look at today or tomorrow. Looks like its pretty clean from the pics. One thing that did phase me, is that i asked about the import papers at two dealerships like you said to do to check the km's, and neither of them could provide me with them. They stated that they never received any log books with the cars and that with some cars they dont get the import papers and some cars they do. Seemed very shonky to me. Also another question, the Ep3 looks bigger than the 5 door sportivo, did you find that the case when you first looked at your car? And also, is the car fuel efficient, ive been looking on different forums and apparently the general consensus is that the majority of owners get over 10.5L/100km on them. I also just read that the Ep3 can achieve 0-100km/hr in 6.4 seconds, whiles the sportivo only gets there in 8.4secs? I thought guys were getting low 15 second passes in the quarter mile in their N/A sportivos. Eddie.

Cheers Sharpy, Ill have a look into it. Eddie.

My mate just bought a 2011 corolla on the 2.9% finance. He picked his up with leather seats and tinted windows. All up it cost him $23000. He got about 13 quotes before he opted to buy it from the warwick farm toyota dealership. Eddie.

Thanks for the info Kenneth, Edward Lee imports on parramatta road in concord has their Ep3 advertised with 50000kms, then when i went to check how many it had on it, it displayed 85,000kms. Also, when i inspected teh engine bay, some of teh bolts where mis-matched and starting to rust? Also, im getting confused with the type r's, apparently there's an EDM (euro domestic market) and JDM version (which has the LSD, and was generally recognised as a better car). How can you tell if its the JDM spec or the EDM spec, does it state it on the import papers? If i do decide to go for the type r, what year model do you suggest? Like everyone else on these forums, im just after one with high performance, easy to maintain and wont break down on me anytime soon. Are there any tips you suggest when inspecting an Ep3? Eddie.

hey guys/gals, just wondering whether anyone is looking to sell their 2003-2005 corolla sportivo? p.m me or just let me know through here. cheers. Eddie.

thanks for the help guys. Do you really think a country or rural resident would actually be driving a corolla sportivo, let alone a mature owner? i thought they'd be more of the ford falcon/holden commodore type. In regards to the sportivo, has anyone seen this one before at meets? http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?Cr=1&R=9478320&keywords=&trecs=21&__Ns=pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&__sid=12DAC9F62B60&__Nne=15&__Qpb=true&seot=1&__N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%204294962707%204294962861%204294927688%20898&silo=1011 Or does anyone know the owner and what not. Eviltwin i know you said a modded one has most likely been thrashed, but maybe if someone knows him they might be able to give some insight as to how much its possibly been thrashed. And the sportivo in general, im sure, can cop a bit of a hammering every once in a while. Also, having a look at 2 Ep3s today, luckily they are local, they seem to have ridiculously low km's for their age, does anyone know if its possible to clock back an Ep3? I know with the corolla if you clock it back, it snaps the gears so the ODO isnt able to turn forward again. Is it the same thing with these Ep3's? Eddie.

I had a look at an Ep3 today, its not bad, but looks surprisingly bigger than a 5 door sportivo. The price on the 2002 Ep3(stock with 85,000km)is a rip off as well($23000). With that kind of money spent, not including the extra $300 comprehensive insurance would cost me, buying an '05 sportivo plus mods is looking like it would cost less for the same performance. None the less, the search goes on. Im having a look at a few more Ep3's tomorrow and the day after, as well as continuing my search for a sportivo. RedSportivo thanks for the offer, ill look into it, but cant promise anything, either way ill pm you and let you know. Are you going to be upgrading to anything thats caught your eye? Are you sick of the sportivo, or is it just time to move on? Eddie.

Cheers guys, i was looking at the ep3, it seems like its a sportivo equivalent in terms of power output and might be better torque wise, however the crappy in cabin trim isnt really turning me on as much as the sportivo does. Plus, the type-r looks too "Tokyo drift" for my liking. That being said the celica, no offence, looks even worse. In the 1 month i owned the sportivo, there wasn't one bad moment i had with it (other then the occasional miss-shift). As for the other sub-category for hot hatches, i.e, vectra, focus, A3, their okay i guess, but still dont compare to a sportivo(I remember from test driving them, other then the A3(my mates one which is worked) nothing quite has the same "zippiness" as the sportivo).Even the new levins, my mates got one and its got no ball. I'll check out the type r for kicks anyway and see if i can get a test drive, as well as keeping my eye out on more sportivos. And again, i know theres a notion that you should by stock as a rock cars as they have probably been less likely thrashed, but is it worth checking out sportivos that have been modded with a little higher km;s in the $18,000-$20,000? Eddie. P.S hopefully if i do get my hands on another sportivo, i can just mod it with a powerFC chip and have even more fun. P.P.S, i called up a few guys and asked about their sportivos, i cant believe the amount of accidents most of them have been in, funnily enough its all front end damage. I learnt my lesson thought, NRMA inspection from now on.

Hey Peeps, I just found out a few days ago after leaving my sportivo at my panel beaters place, that its had panel work done to it. Since i bought it from a dealer, im returning it and getting my money back (trust me, sounds a lot easier then i make it sound). Anyway, since im getting my cash back, ive started looking at sportivo's to buy online, however nothings really tickling my fancy at the moment. Either their cars have been repaired after being in accidents or they've clocked too many km's for my liking, or they say the cars located in a particular area when really their located in the middle of Punchbowl/Lakemba. Regardless, i decided to research other cars but im lacking info on whats out there which you could classify in the same elite category of the sportivo. I know this seems a little against the grain, but i was just wondering if anyone knows/or is willing to admit what car beats the sportivo for price. There are so many variables i know, but all in all is the sportivo the best car in its category, i mean i would believe so, its got it all, all electric options, 141kw, fuel efficiency, and leather seats. Eddie.

Hey Mate, If your keen on getting your bike license, i hear its a three year wait till you get your fulls. I think its now 6 months for L's then 1 year for red P's then 2 years for green P's. Don't quote me on that since i got my license a few years back. You'll love riding them though, if it wasn't for riding a motor cycle i wouldn't know how to drive a car in manual transmission. Also you'll develop a greater sense of awareness in a car, so at least that skill is transferable. I guess the best thing about a bike, if the adrenaline rush you'll get out of it. The only thing that sucks is, after your on a 250cc for a couple of months you get over the straight line speed pretty quickly, as they lack the lower band power of the bigger super sports and naked bikes. However that should lead you to wanting to learn how to maneuver the bike better, as well as eventually getting a knee down fetish (IMO, still the greatest achievement anyone can get through any form of vehicle). P.S, when you go down, the instructors act all high and mighty about safety, DO NOT take their words for granted. Also have fun, revving the CB250s till they red line is still some of the best fun i had with a mate while learning to ride. Just make sure you don't treat your bike like that. As for purchasing a bike, if your after a sports bike, you cant go past the value of the ninja zx250cc, and as for naked bikes, the sv650 is hot, and if you can find the right person...get them to take the limiter off it after a few months so you can have some real fun. Till then, i hope to see you one day down at the national park, where the twisties are more then meets the eye. Eddie.

Thanks heaps super dave, So porting the manifold/header is the way to go rather then porting and polishing it. Are there other versions of manifolds other then the ceramic coated ones, or do you just believe that the ceramic coated on gives you the best gains? Also, does it mean if i do choose to go the path of porting a ceramic manifold, would it be better bang for your buck to do that then getting TRD extractors (or any extractors for that matter) put in, or is that something completely different? Also, in terms of the torque curve, by putting the extractor or porting the manifold, is there any loss of torque throughout the power band? Eddie.

Hey guys and gals, New to the forums, and from what Ive read in the past few months, you people sure know a thing or two about advice and the odd modification. As you an see in the post description, I'm inquiring about porting and polishing headers. I have no mods done to my '05 sportivo, however I'm looking to start. I had a look at most of the CAI options that have been posted before, but it seems that most of the people i speak face to face with suggest that extractors will reap better gains. This lead me to do research on extractors and before you knew it i was on a page about polishing and porting headers vs extractors. I'm based out of Sydney, so any help with suggesting performance shops/mechanics would be a great help, as well as any other input in general about the situation. Sorry for the newbie questions, but hey we gotta start somewhere. Thanks in advance, Eddie.