Shaunus Maximus

Finch - What it is to burn.

We have a '82 Blue-(ish) hilux at home which we picked up for a song many moons ago, you could put your foot through the floor next to the clutch pedal, the thing looked like it had more rust than steel, wasnt road worthy, took a lot of effort to turn the wheel, but as I type, it is sitting down near the end of our driveway where we parked it when it ran out of fuel a week or so ago.

IMO I think most of the time Airbrushing can make or break the looks of the car, and before it gets done, you have no true knowledge of just how the car will look after the paint is on. Then again there is also the times when you would pull up somewhere and wonder if you should hide your car because someone could judge you on how 'visually loud' you car is. On the other hand, the artwork on this car is pretty darn good to say the least, so im sure the owner will be happy, and at least they didnt spend this money on ricer parts :D

Strange, I thought that it must have been perfectly legal to place them on the A pillar - having seen them all the time put there, never really put much thought into it though i guess

all the stock speakers are 6", the mountings on the tweeters are universal so if you buy pretty much any 6" splits for the front you should be right - I had no trouble with it. But honestly, If you're only thinking of replacing the stock speakers... Dont bother unless you are prepared to spend some moolah on an excellent head unit (around about $1k) because the internal impedance, gain, and noise ratio's for the factory components is pretty darn good. Truth be told i never really felt that much of a difference between the stock speakers and my new ones until everything is cranked, or when listening to something like pink floyd.

Manual FTW! But.... Automatic Tiptronic (flappy paddle gear box) also FTW, especially on performance cars! But still, 6speed manual FTW!

Was next to an STI at the lights on the highway in town a few weeks back, and at a glance i thought it was just a normal STI (with like a luxury pack or something - didnt see the midget bonnet scoop), and i gave it some to get in front of it so i could merge, but, the STI driver being totally awesome floored it and left me drooling on myself. The noise and the sheer acceleration of the thing is a pretty good compensation for the car looking like a done up Korean car.

Now to do an AWD conversion! Headache enough!

Picked up some new wheels today from beaurepaires ($1367 fitted and balanced). 17X7 speedy wheels rolling in Nankang Ultra Sport SG - II's. Just drove them home today, so with a back seat full of old wheels there was no noticeable improvement, just a slightly firmer ride and a little more road noise noticable only at low speeds.

Well the amount of time i spend in my car everyday 30mins to work and back, and to uni and back or anywhere in mackay or any social gathering, probably 1hour and 20mins round trip (About 450km a week). Not including driving around town. And actually, even though the stock speakers are quite good, the aftermarket ones are terrific. As for shaking the car apart - thats what the dynamatting is for. I usually dont have any people in the back seats, so thats my cargo space. Also, whenever i get another car down the track, I can shift over most of the audio equipment and put back in the original stuff myself to sell it. I dont mind the initial outlay, and i think its better value than a $100 (exaggerated slightly) TRD fuel cover cap. <_< Aur15 - For the matting, the total purchase cost of 5 boot kits and the installation of 2 boot kits (in the boot) and a (1 boot kit) difficult bit on the dashboard and the floor under the dash was $900. I did the doors myself, but these were pretty easy. All i had to do was make the door body pretty much airtight. Their should be instructions around here somewhere. Also, I used boot kits for the whole car, which makes the car feel just a little more polished than using door kits for the doors. It could have been a little over the top getting all boot kits which cost a hell of a lot more than door kits in hindsight, but what the hell. There is cheaper matting around, but for the same quality of noise cancellation, you need to use extra so it ends up about the same cost for the quality. The road noise at 100km/hr sounds like it used to at 60km/hr, and at 60km/hr its friking quiet. This also means that the audio sounds WAY better than it used to - a feat in itself. The volume doesnt have to be as high to sound loud at all. Makes that car seem like a million dollars, and i would honestly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a quiet ride with no rattles!

Spotted Black Sportivo looked lowered (there were 4 people in it though), loud aftermarket exhaust, 7 spoke alloys, silver tint windows, saw on saturday the 12th south of mackay.

It cost around about a grand, but I did the doors and the dash (including the central column, around the head unit, and the inside of both gloveboxes). And Silvabullit, what kindof paint did you use, just the standard bodywork paint?

The door panels just clip off from the outside, Ive got my hatch fully dynamatted by autobarn (mainly coz i wanted it done professionally) and i did the four doors and dash myself. Car doesnt rattle at all now! Only thing that rattles is the lid on the centre console when its open - thats it. Here is a few pics of the sound system i have. Head unit: JVC AVX-800 Double DIMM touch screen DVD + USB + SD card + bluetooth (currently running a portable hard drive for music storage) Front speakers: Kenwood 180Watt 6 inch splits, Rear speakers: Kenwood 120Watt 6 inch. Sub Amp: 2Ch 1000W Max Kenwood set to Mono out. Sub: SVC 400W rms 12" (friking insane - best value for money sub ever IMO) Also, a compatible LSD for the corolla would definately help performance with anyone that was serious about laying the full power of their engine to the ground, and powering out of corners without spinning the inside wheel. I almost bought an 07 civic instead because it had a LSD, i've driven FWD cars with and without them, and it makes a huge difference in corners. One of my mates Civic Type R was ace at going around corners even with throttle and i think the diff had a lot to do with it (other than the obvious suspension and awesome chassis) - but anyway, can you just bolt on a diff as long as its final drive ratio is exact or at least near the old ratio? I know a swap on a XR6 is about 500 bucks. As you can see in my profile pic, the TRD auris kit comes with white rear mudflaps (no mudflaps on front cos its too low) - but can you paint the standard mudflaps be as white as the car without stuffing it up - or are these mudflaps using a plastic back cover so that the white is the same as the car? Beats me, but i think its a good look. Also cant wait to grab a TRD front kit!

I'll tell you what though, instead of adding more power to my corolla though, ive been considering taking stuff out - not that i think i'd actually do it. A 1300kg hatchback is pretty darn heavy, and the lack of torque shows with the high weight. (would definately benefit from a S/C) But surely for the top end models they could use lighter seats (sportier), much lighter tyres, and use the whole tube manufacturing process for the frame. But then again, with modifications that severe, they would probably have to do it for all the models for continuity's sake, which would not happen.

It is possible to buy the front of the TRD bodykit for the Auris (sic) from the TRD japan catalogue website, and i know that i can get it delivered and fitted at my local Toyota showroom workshop. But there seems to be a problem with finding the TRD side-skirts and rear spoiler and bumper, anyone know how to get a hold of pricing on these? Although if they are all priced as expensive as the front on the kit, i may consider getting a TTE kit from europe for cheaper, but have to paint it here instead of ordering it in the right colour like TRD japan lets you. Plus i think if i want to do anything performance wise to my corolla, its going to have to be custom or universal parts, but i'll wait and see what happens when the 2ZR-FE corolla sedan gets released in america - hopefully some new performance parts will come onto the market. (Obviously though externally dependent parts will be non applicable). Also, there is a certain Scion XB (i think) model which has the same engine as our 07/08 rolla, so perhaps some performance internals or chips have already been made.... I dunno, but im pretty keen to adjust the looks of the car now the sound system is fully awesome!

It is possible to buy the front of the TRD bodykit for the Auris (sic) from the TRD japan catalogue website, and i know that i can get it delivered and fitted at my local Toyota showroom workshop. But there seems to be a problem with finding the TRD side-skirts and rear spoiler and bumper, anyone know how to get a hold of pricing on these? Although if they are all priced as expensive as the front on the kit, i may consider getting a TTE kit from europe for cheaper, but have to paint it here instead of ordering it in the right colour like TRD japan lets you. Plus i think if i want to do anything performance wise to my corolla, its going to have to be custom or universal parts, but i'll wait and see what happens when the 2ZR-FE corolla sedan gets released in america - hopefully some new performance parts will come onto the market. (Obviously though externally dependent parts will be non applicable). Also, there is a certain Scion XB (i think) model which has the same engine as our 07/08 rolla, so perhaps some performance internals or chips have already been made.... I dunno, but im pretty keen to adjust the looks of the car now the sound system is fully awesome!

Bloody hell, i'd love to do up my corolla, too bad uni is so impeding on income...

I have a 2007 corolla ascent also, It is a hatchback model, and i have only recently noticed a gentle rattle coming from the dash as well. Nothing is rattling in the glovebox or any compartment. It is worse when i have a passenger and when traveling at around 80kms/hr. It is not a mechanical rattle, just a interior rattle, as when the expansive dash is pushed down, it stops rattling.