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V6_fan

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Everything posted by V6_fan

  1. Thanks heaps for that. So it's just a coincidence that it happens right at the first gear change... but it's strange that I haven't heard it before now (4 years ownership). hmmm, I'll check brake fluid level and condition. I'll try to check what road speed it occurs at, and vary throttle for take off, to move tx change point. I didn't even think of the ABS !! Road was wet last time, but only rain, not ice or anything. At least now I can stop worrying about my transmission failing and a huge bill. For info for anyone else - It's definitely NOT a single 'clunk' noise, it's more like the 'fart' noise as described in the second link. It's a buzz / vibration / electric motor type noise, a bit like the old electric car aerials made (for us oldies !!) I think it sounds just like a solenoid buzzer (again, old doorbells) but I guess that makes sense for ABS too...
  2. Hi Guys, I wonder if anyone else had had this..... 2014 ATX XV50. When cold, and starting off down the road, there is a strange 'buzz'/vibration sound at the very first gear change. It only happens once, and after that everything still works perfectly. No hard gear changes, even at the buzz. Pretty sure it's not the engine. Done approx 40K kms, so it seems a bit soon for any long term wear issues. No codes come up on dash. I wonder if it could simply be a bad connection to the auto control block, or perhaps fluid is a bit old (but only 40K...) Always garaged, and car does spend more time in the garage than it used to after I retired............ Any ideas or similar noises happen to you ?? thanks. Andy.
  3. Ditto for me (size UK12). No problem for space. Having other classic cars which are manuals, I do very occasionally push it as a clutch pedal when my foot is not underneath on the rest. Yeah, I know ...... but Aurion is great for long trips with the cruise control, as you can shuffle your legs for cramp and stiff knees, etc. and if the timing is just right [wrong!] The warning alarm comes on immediately when you do press it by mistake, so that's also excellent.
  4. I did see that here in NZ, the Blade is on the list along with the Corolla, for both 2.4 and 3.5 versions - even though not officially sold in NZ, but the NZTA site seems to have quite a few "import only" vehicles - good that they recognize reality ! So I guess that's the only recall for a 2GR ??
  5. Me too - here in NZ, with a little urban driving, mostly on open rural roads and highways, but with hills. I average around 8.7 on short-ish runs, but drops to 8.3 on longer runs, and if I'm gentle it can get as low as 7.7 on a long flat run (Canterbury plains) . Gauge on mine currently says 8.6 .... It's very, very good for a large V6 sedan, and fantastic combination of power and economy, hitting the throttle will flash past almost anything in the way... Even a fairly hard run over some of NZ's nastier roads through the mountains and hairpins, overtaking trucks etc, typically gives me around the official 9.3, but I do sometimes find the Sport mode a bit annoying. But if you're struck in traffic on your daily commute, it's hard to get close to these numbers, a large engine and autobox just can't compete with a tiny manual (or an EV !) in a crawl.
  6. Styling and badges !! My XV50 doesn't have any side badges either. I assumed this was probably a minor styling change made at some point, or perhaps only on certain trim options ? Of the ones I've seen in NZ there seems to be mix of 'have' and 'have not' badges on the XV50 models. So 'delete badges' was a purchase option ? I know BMW had this option on all their models, so it's possible....
  7. Seriously (and never intending to offend anyone) - this kind of thing is very individual. If you are shorter than average, especially if in the body rather than the legs, you may find seats feel too low, and don't go high enough, or relationship to wheel/pedals doesn't feel right. Tall drivers the reverse. It all depends if you have long legs or long body, and so on. I'm also broad across shoulders, some smaller cars feel claustrophobic around the shoulders if they curve in quickly to roof line. That's when I envy you shorter guys !! And yet the new mini is OK to drive for me (but I don't like the styling), 2015 Corolla just about OK, but cosy, couldn't go long journeys I reckon. So it's all about those little interior layout differences. I will definitely be trying out the V6 Camry when it appears... And don't even talk to me about economy airplane seats.... NB. It could be in the XV40 Sportivo I tried the seat wasn't going all the way down, but I was definitely closer to the headlining than my XV50 ATX. Could be Sportivo seats are firmer ? I did read somewhere Toyota had extended range of seat and wheel adjustment in XV50. I did once work with a really tiny woman who was under 5 ft tall, and she had a booster cushion and blocks attached to the pedals !!
  8. As a bigger bloke than average (6' 5"), it worries me that the new Camry looks a lot lower in front roof line. When I was looking for a new car, I tried STACKS of different makes, by actually sitting in them, both Japanese and European, large and small, etc. and found that MOST of them had my head touching the headlining. The 'boy racer' versions with bucket seats were better to some degree, but tend to be narrower around the butt, so aren't always comfortable either. So for me, a longer wheelbase won't automatically make it any better. Sure, the Aurions are based on the Camry, but I found it has noticeably more headroom than the Camry. But then mine is an XV50 and it seems to have lower seat (at minimum) than the VX40 Sportivo I tried out, so better headroom. Even with current one, I have to 'fold' my legs a little to get under wheel, but fine once I'm in .... Kids seem to be getting taller, but headroom gets less - why ? (and no, SUVs are *not* automatically any better at headroom, even though they look like they should be .....)
  9. Or the other way is to get Supercheap/Repco ones and cut holes in the mat for the toggles - I did this and made a couple of plastic washers to go over carpet and under toggles. cost was $25 (NZ) plus about an an hour of my time....
  10. May sound stupid, but are you sure it's really that bad ? I've always kept a little book of fill-ups and mileage (A habit from the days when your car didn't tell you! ). I've found that the displayed econ is pretty good against my diary, but once or twice it has shown quite a big difference for no obvious reason. Or at least nothing I can think of. Yeah, it's very old school, but it tells you exactly how much gas your car uses. I also reckon my speedo reads a about 9-10% high at town speeds, but more normal 4-5% at highway speeds - which looks like it was designed in.
  11. And give them a shock when you zoom past, as they reckon it's just a Camry (I have actually been asked if it's a new style Camry). Aurion is definitely a bit of a sleeper (or 'Q' car if you're an ex-pom like me), and I like it that way, so personally I wouldn't add anything, but, hey, it's your car, so your choice. Wouldn't be surprised if the cops get TRD versions in standard bodies - it's the kind of thing the UK cops used to do. I just love the way the engine goes from being almost silent to that wonderful low key growl ....
  12. Interesting - out here in NZ I rarely see another Aurion, what I see Toyota is mostly Silver Corollas, and lots and lots of Commodores and Falcons. But then we are rural, and a good hour away from nearest city (Wellington).
  13. Yesterday in the rain, I started to overtake, sport mode set in 3rd at about 60K, hit the throttle and it felt like BOTH front wheels came off the tarmac ! The traction light didn't even come on, a slightly scary moment..... Could have been shiny tarmac, but makes me think about some better tyres as well .... I looked and I've got Bridgestone supercats. Not impressed at all with grip in the wet....
  14. I was looking at mine the other day (2012 ATX), and I think it's fairly obvious - there are two bolts at the top of the grille (under the bonnet) if you remove the black cover panel over the radiator (about a dozen 'pop' pin types) I'll bet there's a couple more, but after that I reckon it's all little plastic 'snap' connectors - a gentle levering should release them. If you are talking about the WHOLE front panel, then that too has bolts at the top, and bolts all around the underneath, again obvious, and the black inserts (ATX) simply 'snap' in again. Just have a good look and you can see - there seems to be quite a lot of hidden 'snap' type connectors everywhere, but go through methodically and it should be fine.
  15. I nearly always use manual change before overtaking, and sometimes for merging in to a busy traffic stream. In my opinion, the kickdown/changedown functions aren't nearly quick enough to respond, whereas engine throttle response is very quick when TX already selected at 4, or 3 for slower speeds. Not had any problems, and on one occasion when I did overrev it, TX changed up anyway.... I also use it for going up and down hills to get better engine braking, so you can be a bit lighter on the brakes, and you get the snap throttle response for zipping past slow trucks (there's a few hilly highways in NZ !)
  16. From those descriptions I wonder if your replacement ECU is the same as the later Aurions. My 2014 model auto changes sound like what you have described - very early changes with light throttle (as early as 1600rpm I reckon), late kickdown response (which is annoying to me, it's too slow for overtaking), and early change downs. Only difference is TX does not immediately respond in sport mode. I now tend to preselect 4 or 3 BEFORE hitting the throttle, it's a LOT quicker on the accel response, and you then know what's coming, and I reckon it's safer. I notice TX can actually 'hunt' when doing the 50kph in town traffic as you slow for crossings, kids, etc. you can feel the changes, but it's still very smooth. I guess it would make sense for Toyota to simply use the later software ? What do you think ?
  17. I read to the bench grinder bit too, and thought "wait, you're using a BENCH GRINDER to get the GRIP SURFACE ?!" . On the basis the insert uses spring pressure on the bearing surface, it would have to be very flat ....and the chances of getting that right with a bench grinder are somewhere between fat and slim....(yeah, an old joke of a mate of mine) That's before ya even get to the oil and stuff... and wait, don't diffs have to be preloaded and all that stuff ? Or am I too old ....
  18. Just a quick update - I've just been on holiday around New Zealand South Island, which is not flat, has no true motorways, etc. I drove mostly around speed limit (100k) and a bit over, but definitely used the power to flash past those <censored> campervans and double banked trucks .... did 3,450 kms and got 8.09 overall (from fill ups). I'm impressed !! (2012 model with the 9.3 official figure). Also one short trip where we were very early, and fairly flat run, so I tried some very gentle driving as an experiment, did 200kms at 90k and got 6.9 !! Damn good - no issues, I still think auto changes are too slow to respond to foot down, even in sport mode, engine mostly makes up for it, but pre-selecting 4 or 3 for uphill overtakes is definitely worth doing for quicker passes of several vehicles ....
  19. [ This is for a 2014 ATX model ] Well after a few months and kms, I am getting an average econ of 9.3 / 100, just as per the official figures. This is driving reasonably gently most of the time, but still with some overtaking, on decent rural roads with a small amount of urban. Using 91 standard here in NZ, supermarket doesn't seem any less than the local Caltex I'm very surprised it's this good with a slushbox. Excellent. Approx 35k on car now. I measured this by logging odo and pump litres, not from the car gauge, gauge reads 9.3 also, so is very accurate as far as I can tell. Still beautifully quiet, but box is slow to change in sport mode, and overrides what you have set some of the time - so what's the point in it being there ? That's an annoying feature to me.
  20. About how much bhp & torque do you get from a worked Xr6 ? Is it up to/more than V8 numbers ?? Still getting the feel of my ATX after a couple of weeks, beautifully quiet when driven gently, seems pretty quick to me by comparison with other (stock) cars on the road, but it's a largish sedan, driven a few hot and modded cars which make it seem ordinary. Easy to speed though, no noise feedback.... (I still remember an Alpina bi-turbo converted M535i I drove about 30 years ago - that was close to the ultimate Q car - it was even that boring BMW maroon of the time, but hit the throttle and it was a total monster)
  21. Er, hang on, what you said doesn't make sense to me..... Unless your box has GPS capability it CANNOT know the exact speed of the vehicle. The ECU typically gets its speed info from a sensor in the gearbox, or a sensor on a wheel, which are both dependent on the rolling circumference of the tyres. Different makes of tyres with the same specs have different rolling circumference, so it's impossible to know for sure, so ECU value will have a margin of error too. This doesn't make the numbers given above invalid - it could well be that the speedo display is set 10% higher than the ECU, but that doesn't mean the ECU readout is automatically valid....
  22. I had a pull to the left on my old Volvo, but shuffling the tyres around sometimes would fix it. NZ roads have a lot of camber in some areas, so pull would vary. I thought it was the power steering rack at first, surprised it was that simple to fix. So may be worth a try to swop front and rear tyres over before spending money ....
  23. Hi all, I've just bought a 2104 Aurion ATX here in NZ, and have been reading the threads in here with interest. Have any of you guys driven a Blade Master ? There's a few around here as Jap imports. For those that don't know, it's effectively a Corolla with the 3.5V6 in it - same engine/transimssion package as the Aurion, shift points slightly different. WOW !! what an experience THAT was - HUGE grin factor, and very,very quick, probably sub 6.0 secs 0-100k ? somewhere close to that anyway. That's what got me to fall in love with the V6 engine, the Blade was a bit too small, so I convinced the other half to let me get the Aurion.... I will add to fuel economy thread - I don't drive all that far, and a mix of 100kph country roads with a small amount of town - getting 9.6 so far according to gauge - will check when I start filling up. Will be trying out a drive over the Rimutakas soon (bad hilly road in NZ, lots of accidents), looking forward to it.
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