Hiro

K-series engine, if that helps

Towing capacity is based off several factors, including mass of the vehicle, torque characteristics of the engine, the load capacity of the frame of the vehicle, the strength of the attachment points for the tow hitch, brakes, suspension/stability, transmission/cooling etc etc. Ford have designed the Falcon to tow as much as it does (in the past they had heavy duty towing packs as options, but it appears standard now) since a lot of people use Falcons/Commodores to tow boats/caravans etc. A Falcon isn't that much lighter than a Kluger though (~1700kg compared to ~1800/1900kg?), but they do have a big engine with lots of low-down torque (ideal for towing).

Like all Toyota F-heads, it is technically DOHC but only one camshaft is driven by the timing belt/chain - the other one is driven by a scissor gear arrangement off the first

I was more thinking it needs a couple of thumbsticks to go with the D-Pads....

Yes, the width (the 7 and 7.5) does play a part. However, since they have essentially the same offset the 17x7 wheels will sit about 1/4" further into the car (this is only ~6mm or so). Pictures tell a thousand words:

That blue/green skirt is _way_ too long...

The thing to remember with buying a ~10yo luxury car for the same price as a new mid-size is that whilst the initial purchase price is the same, chances are the servicing and repair costs will be significantly higher (fairly sure one of the reasons why 90s 7-series BMWs are so cheap these days is because they cost a small fortune to repair), plus any manufacturers warranty or service deals will have long evaporated. Factor in as well the fact that you're buying an import rather than a made-in-Aus car (which will have cheaper parts than the same car imported from overseas), and that the LS has a 4.3L V8 that most people don't need on the 9-5 run, and it ends up not being as open and shut as you think. Granted, if you _want_ a luxury car but don't want to spend the earth, it can be a great idea (hell, my missus loves the comfort, performance and luxury of her $13k '94 twin-turbo Soarer and drives it through city traffic to work every day) but if you just want an A-B car to ferry the kids around in and don't care about resale, luxury or image than the Camry/Aurion is the better choice.

Except that there's no such thing as a 3.0L V6 Tarago.

AE93 just means that it's an SX, although the series in general is still referred to as AE92 to avoid confusion Basically: AE90 = povo SE speck with 6AFC AE92 = normal CS/CSX models etc, and _very_ early SXs AE93 = 95% of SX/GTi models AE95 = 4WD wagon AE94 = facelifted CSi/CSi Limited/Ultima AE96 = RV/Ultima

Nova Auto Innovations in Hamilton. Good guys and they know their JZs

Central Coast maybe? Patonga/Killcare or Terrigal perhaps? First TOCAU meet I ever went on actually was a cruise to Killcare.

Still way less than $100 to do it yourself... Thermostat $20 Gasket $5 Coolant $20

$100 to replace a thermostat? If nothing is broken and you re-use the coolant then you can do it yourself for around $20.

Once rust starts it is basically impossible to stop unless you cut all of it out and seal everything up again. Since steel isn't passivating like aluminium, as the rust eats away at the metal it uncovers fresh uncoated areas, which will start to rust simply from the moisture in the air, let alone from water leaks etc. If you can get all the rust out, fish oil is great for stopping it from coming back.

A car that wasn't run in properly could easily go through that much oil by 80-100,000km, but surprised that a new car (which usually has the engine already run-in from factory they say) is doing it.

A fake one though... soo how can you tell the real from fake ? o.o Firstly, the genuine ones aren't blue (they're either silver, gold (which has been discontinued), or a 4-pointed black plastic). Secondly, they have a flat top, not recessed. Thirdly, there are a million and one copies on eBay that look like the one he bought, and it is only recently that they actually started making copies that actually copied the TRD style rather than just being a generic with a TRD sticker on the top. Not to mention that the TRD logo is the wrong size, and half the words are missing (should have Toyota Motorsport across the top). they spelt filler wrong :P ! The spelling mistake is genuine. If you go and buy a TRD cap directly from Toyota it will have the spelling mistake.

A fake one though...

Manual or auto? Fairly sure it is a common oil gallery for both of them (definitely is for the manual). If it's an Australian model it'll either be a 4AFE or 7AFE too

So you call a $2.3 billion dollar profit "trouble"? Considering all the crap that has been raining down on them in the form of recalls, earthquakes, tsunamis and massive flooding, I'd say they're in a pretty damn good position.

that seems like a silly idea... unless you wanted it to rev to infinity Would still make more sense than a 5S...

And catastrophic failures, which will still be present with computer control... ^this. Whilst computer control may remove some of the possibility of crashing, it can also override (either intentionally or accidentally) actions taken to avoid or remedy a crash (or other dangerous situation that the computer may not be aware of). Also, as long as there are human drivers still around, computer controlled systems will have to be designed extremely conservatively in order to interract with the traffic. Even an extremely well programmed computer would have serious issues with the chaotic and random nature of the human driver.

Interested depending on date/location.

Or are we looking at this the wrong way and it's a de-stroked 2.4/2.5?

Could be worse....could be a 4Y :P My guess is actually a bored/stroked 2.0L, but still struggling to think of what it could be and still remain viable/legal.

She has a Levin though - fairly sure the Levin was only released after the facelift, the bugeye pre-facelifts were CSX and Conquest hatch-only (and were actually sold alongside the out-going AE101/102 for a short period of time).