Hiro

Honestly, if you're still having problems with it now and you're not happy with the way Toyota has dealt with it, maybe it is time to cut your losses, sell it and move on?

And a selection of my favourite shots:

Christmas lights at Hunter Valley Gardens

And the fireworks

Newcastle Beach just before sunset

Iron Gate Estate up in the Hunter Valley - Spanish/Tuscan-style villa

Cat #1 - Ellie

Cat #2 - Penny

My gear (as of 03/01/2013)

Body:

Nikon D5100 DSLR

Lenses:

Nikon Nikkor 18-200G f/3.5-5.6G VR DX Series 1

Nikon Nikkor 50 f/1.8G FX

Nikon Nikkor 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 VR DX and 55-200 f/4-5.6G VR DX (kit lenses stashed aside for a rainy day if I ever sell the body and move to full-frame)

Tripod:

Manfrotto MKC3-H01

Bag:

Lowepro Adventura 160

On a couple of other forums I'm on, there are some threads set aside for general photography discussion - what gear you have/need/want, pictures you've taken (not necessarily of cars) etc etc. Over the past year and a bit I've taken a bit of a keen interest in amateur photography, so thought it would be a good idea to get something similar going here.

Feel free to post up any photos you want of any subject you wish, on the following provisos

1) It was taken by you (doesn't have to be with your equipment though)

2) The shots are work-safe

3) Please try and limit the size for bandwidth reasons (something in the 1024/1280 long side max) - no Captain Megapixel 5000x3000 shots that take half an hour to load

4) Upload your photos to a hosting site like Imageshack or Photobucket and then copy/paste the direct link into image tags like below, that way those who can't view attachments can still see them (and cuts down on the hosting load that this site has to bear)

[IMG]http://www.hostingsite.com/awesomepicture.jpg[/IMG]

5) No Nikon/Canon/Sigma/Leica etc bashing allowed (unless discussing the quality of a particular lens/body which is known to be crap/faulty eg) . We all use different cameras, just as we all drive different cars, and brand name has almost nothing to do with the end product.

If it's your first post in the thread, post up what gear you have/use too

I've always been a fan of the Series 1 corner lights, as long as they are kept polished and clean (faded yellow/orange is a bad look) :P

Nice, now you just need the English buttons and the nav sorted (although the chances of that are slim to none I reckon)

?? I don't understand what you are trying to say...

The foot-operated parking brake (ie the "third pedal" in an Aurion) is used for parking only. When you are driving around and need to do a hill-start (that would normally require the use of a traditional handbrake), either keep your left foot on the brake pedal and accelerate a little with your right before lifting off the brake (aka left-foot-braking), or push the brake pedal with the ball/big-toe of your right foot and accelerate with the outside of your right foot (heel-and-toe, although you don't really use your heel any more).

If you're stopped/parked and need to do a hill-start, then hold the brake with your right foot whilst you deactivate the parking brake with your left. Then shuffle your left foot to the brake pedal (note how it is usually much wider in an auto than a manual) and your right foot to the accelerator.

Or just quickly move from the brake pedal to the accelerator, unless you're trying to drive straight up a cliff you won't slip back too far.

Foot-operated parking brakes (which the Aurion has instead of a traditional handbrake) have almost no modulation and are useless for hill-starts - just learn to either left-foot-brake or heel-and-toe.

All automatics have some amount of hill-holding ability due to the torque converter not being able to 100% disconnect in drive - this is why the car can inch forwards on level ground without the accelerator. Exact same thing as slipping the clutch in a manual to hold it on a hill. This is not a "feature", simply a characteristic of a torque-converter automatic transmission.

Auto-hold/hill-hold as a designed "feature" is usually implemented as extra valving in the brake system which keeps the brakes applied on a hill until a certain amount of throttle is applied (or the clutch released enough etc) - it has nothing to do with the transmission at all. It is also usually found on 4WDs, often bundled in with a hill-descent control to keep at a crawl speed going down hill when off-roading.

Either. Ill be keen. Thinking of entering Toyota nationals as well.

Do it,

I might finally get around to entering this year too, depending on the state of the cars. Been meaning to for a few years now...

Pix or it didn't happen.

Only because I love you...

Whenever you check the oil, always pull the dipstick out and clean the end first, then re-insert it and pull it out again. Also make sure the car is turned off and has sat for long enough on level ground to allow the oil to settle, otherwise there's no point

If you overfill the oil significantly it can reach the bottom of the crankshaft and get whipped up to hell, which pressurises the crankcase and can cause your main seals to blow out.

A cm or so above FULL shouldn't matter (since the level drops when the engine is running), but 3-4cm sounds like waaaay too much. Drain it immediately until it comes down to the FULL mark, and give your engine a good clean/degrease to see if there are any leaks.

making the chassis more rigid with anti-sway bars will reduce the body roll significantly.

To be pedantic, anti-roll/sway bars do not make the chassis more rigid - that is the job of strut/chassis braces. Even the stiffest chassis in the world will have significant body roll if the suspension is soft.

Strut and chassis braces stiffen the chassis

Stiffer springs reduce body roll but decrease ride comfort as well as making the ride bouncy/stiff over dips/bumps

Anti-roll/sway bars allow softer springs for ride comfort and in dips/bumps but reduces body roll by twisting when one wheel attempts to travel more than the other

According to the Toyota Australia website

Automatic 2.2L AWD diesel models offer a towing capacity of 500kg (braked and unbraked).
Manual 2.2L AWD diesel models offer a towing capacity of 550kg (braked or unbraked).
2.5L AWD petrol models offer a towing capacity of 750kg (unbraked) and 1500kg (braked).
2.0L 2WD petrol models offer a towing capacity of 750kg (unbraked and 800kg (braked).

The reason why there are different ratings for different models is because towing places quite a large strain on the engine cooling system, transmission, brakes and suspension. "Harsh" conditions in Australia often refers to the heat, which obviously impacts on the performance of the cooling system as well, thus it is not unusual for either towing capacities to be down-rated for outback use or there being an optional "heavy-duty towing pack" which would usually included beefier suspension and/or extra transmission coolers.

Google will only get you so far - you need to go oldskool and crack open the Yellow Pages, and pick up the phone and ring around. Any decent smash repairers will be able to work with OEM colours, the trick is finding one that wants to do something other than an insurance job.

Kanmuri, flex paint is exactly what it sounds like - flexible paint (used on parts that are expected to flex and need the paint not to crack)

Firstly, do you have a twin-turbo or single-turbo model? Twin-turbos will be from a JZA70, JZX80/90 or early JZZ30. Single-turbo w/ VVTi will be from a late JZZ30, JZX100/110 and JZS170.

Past that, assuming it is completely stock (and hasn't been installed in a different car yet), looking at the sump can be a reasonable way of determining as their are 2-3 different sumps (front, mid, rear etc) depending on which model it came from.

so what if your driving from sydney to brisbane?

Corollas changed from 4x100 to 5x114.3 in conjunction with the release of the ZRE152, which in Aus was 2007. Thus, 2012 wheels will be the same PCD as 2008.

Just to add further credence to the "it's highly illegal, don't bother" argument, these are the fines in NSW in regards to radar detectors (info is a year old but I doubt it has changed much)

$1556 for owning, buying or selling a "speed evasion device" aka radar detector

$1556 + 9 demerit points for using a "speed evasion device", plus confiscation of the unit

$1556 if you fail to surrender the device.

So in total, you could be up for ~$4700 worth of fines + 9 demerit points, which is the same as being caught doing 45km/h+ over the limit in a school zone TWICE (as far as fine is concerned), or getting caught 10-20km/h over THREE TIMES (for demerit points). Factor in the cost of the unit itself, and just how much of a speed demon are you that owning one makes financial sense? And just because they are supposedly undetectable, doesn't mean their use can't be detected (based off sudden braking etc) and they can't be found if you're pulled over...

I'll freely admit that I'm not the world's slowest driver, and I do not always obey the limits (but still don't drive like an idiot), and I have only had 2 speeding tickets in my 10 year driving life, both for <15km/h over the limit - once in a zone where everyone was doing the same speed going up a hill from a 60 to an 80 zone, and once in a 60 zone that used to be 70 after a long frustrating day at work 2 blocks from home. Not once have I even considered getting a radar detector, because the cost outweighs the benefits many times over

I have also a look for the lotus evora which uses an aurion engine, interesting to see what gearbox they are using

In case you didn't already know, radar/lidar detectors are illegal in NSW, and you're opening yourself up to a world of hurt if you buy and fit one.

In the news yesterday

Volkswagen recalls 2.6 million cars for DSG, electric and fuel faults

Food for thought...

Yeah, they even released a limited edition G6R to celebrate the WRC wins....and what better way to celebrate a world-championship winning race car than to bolt a 6-speed gearbox to a standard 4AFE...

That blue one does look awesome though, even better than the AE101 FXGTs (and I love my 101 FXGTs)