DJKOR

Believe it or not, an engine is most efficient up fairly high in the rev range (something in the order of 75-80% or it's maximum). Engines reduce in efficiency when they vary speed and run at lower RPM's. This is why you have things like diesel locomotives that run the diesel engine at a constant RPM which in turn, powers a generator. The power from this generator is used to power electic motors that run the locomotive. Also the basic idea behind a CVT. Keep the engine speed the same, but vary the gear ratio to suit. It just happens that for a given load characteristic, it would work out more fuel economic for a car to run at lower RPM's etc. I'll use my mountain bike analogy again. Imagine pedalling along in the highest gear at a constant speed. Now if you increase your speed ever so slightly and then maintain that speed, you will notice that you are pedalling a little faster, but the effort required on each pedal feels less. Basically you have the same thing with the engine. The RPM may have increased, but the load on the engine would have gone down a little. If you may not have noticed, engines tend to produce their maximum power (and for some like the Aurion; torque) higher up in the rev range. This means that when cruising at a lower RPM, depending on the load you may be wasting more power maintaining that lower RPM. As for giving it a kick down an revving it up to the redline every not and again. This won't really clear anything out so to speak. It just adjusts the ECU shift patterns etc. And as for fuel economy, when it comes to highway driving, higher RPM doesn't always translate to better fuel economy. The difference between driving continuously at 110km/h and between 85-95km/h is quite amazing. You can get around 1-1.5l/100km better fuel economy if you travel between 85-95km/h on long drives. Because at these speeds, it's not just the engine economy you have to think about, but wind resistance.

I take it then that you don't have the Navigation unit? Both Navigation units with Bluetooth have the INFO button on them. In that case, try what Adamsy has said.

Due to the design of the transmission, if you wanted to flush it out in the way it sounds like they will do, you would have to consider using up a complete fill just for that purpose (2.8 litres). So this means you remove the oil pan drain plug and let it all drain out, then refill the pan with 2.8 litres of new fluid. Run this though the car for a little bit, then you can proceed to complete the rest of it (ie. draining the oil, dropping the pan, changing strainer, etc). Then you refill it again with some new fluid and you're set. This comes to about 5.6 litres, but having extra is always a good idea. So 6 litres sounds like a good number. I'm not providing any recommendations that steer away from what is the most ideal. I've suggested to change the strainer completely and that's the only advise I will recommend. If you really care about your car, you should always do the best for her.

Remember that the average fuel consumption gauge is only an estimate. It's not exactly what you will be getting in the end. What you are getting is probably a bit of an illusion. See, when you revved the engine up, you most likely would have increased speed. Then when you were slowing/coasting, the car had more momentum in it, thus it could continue to move forward under more of its own momentum rather than with engine assistance. Because the ECU calculates and updates its average consumption every 10 seconds based on readings from the No.1 injector in combination with the distance travelled, in this time where the car is moving under less engine load, it would calculate this as being more economical since you are covering the same distance as before but with less engine work. But this is all relevant to the time of calculation. So the car may think you are being fuel economic because you are rolling forward with less engine work, but realistically, you had to rev it up before hand to obtain this momentum.

Before coming to that conclusion, did you actually try to follow the instructions first?

A HUGE Birthday shoutout to Uncle Brennden (SILVABULLIT)!!!!

Usually the following type of drive doesn't need a post of it's own, but this time it had a bit more meaning. Today... as in a couple of hours ago, I finally introduced Aimee to the a well known 'track' in Brisbane (the name of this 'track' will be disclosed due to attached graph). I went at about 70% of my usual pace to get a feel of how she handles it and I was so satisfied... I went back for seconds, this time running at about 85% of my usual pace. Actually, I was attempting to get my phone to log some data but failed the first time, so I just had to go again to see what it can do. Basically, I'm disappointed in my choice of software. I can view parts of the 'track' bit by bit and analyse speed etc at each turn, but the zoom range of the graph is limited. I think I will look for some better software. One thing I'm not disappointed with though is how well the TRD handled it all. Definitely much more stable than my old Sportivo. Only gripe was that VSC was a bit more sensitive than that of Sam so I accidentally set it off entering a couple of turns. Anyways, just for fun check out all the variation in speed:

^ I see what you did there. Good effort mate. You must have a few good tools at your place to be able to bend the pieces at the end.

Everything goes together in the exact same order as you see in that diagram. So to change the strainer, you need to remove the transmission oil pan. This is why it's convenient to change it if they are dropping the pan in the first place. The o-ring is sold separately to the strainer, but common sense would mean you buy it at the same time as buying the strainer. The o-ring only needs replacement if the strainer is removed since it is attached separately to the oil pan. As said in my first post at the top: As for what it is, according to Toyota: Yes they said it should last the life of the vehicle, but depending on how the car is used and each individual's opinion, this is not necessarily true.

This diagram should give you a better understanding:

Having problems with your inbuilt Bluetooth ? I can't hear you.... Maybe those may be of use?

You've got my wishes mate.

I'm just... speechless. Edit: LOL And LOL WTF (x2 if you notice the epic camber in the pic as well): Edit 2: OMFG!

Cleaned my TRD air filter. Got dirty a little quicker than expected. But all is well now.

Continuous clicking is a good indicator of a flat battery. When they do a RWC, they don't really test the condition of the battery. If the car starts fine, the battery is considered good enough for them. As for the other discrepancies, sounds like they got a quick and easy (not necessarily dodgy.. but kinda) roadworthy. I know one RWC I got in the past, they just looked at the car from the office and ticked all the boxes.

Oh yeah, forgot to update this: Aimee Because it weren't for AAMI, I wouldn't have a replacement car and as well, I really am lucky to be with Aimee. If I was to try and think of a descriptive word, the first that comes to mind has to be classy.

You mean up to Brisbane and then down to the Gold Coast Someone needs some sleep. Hehehe.

Personally, I wouldn't have a clue. Never actually had to buy it. Feel free to use whatever you really want to. My final word is to only use the SLLC in there. If anything wears which usually wouldn't with the SLLC, then that comes down to the decisions you make. The genuine stuff is made to last; so much so, you don't need to change the factory coolant fill until 150,000km. I'm pretty sure that says something about it's quality. But as said, your car, your motor, your money.

Time for yet another fuel economy update. Thanks to doing more highway driving for work, avoiding the many mountain runs I once used to do, and driving a bit more sedately for no reason in particular , my fuel economy has managed to stay rather low. It's increased slightly compared to my last calculation, but I'm doing better than I did in my Sportivo. Last night I also filled up with the second largest tank of fuel that I have put into my Aurion since my Sportivo. It's been quite a while since I've ran my Aurion rather low, but this one was just due to the course of events during my day. Receipt attached below. I still had a good 30 or so kilometres left. Anyways, onto what this thread is about: TRD Fuel Consumption (Excel Spreadsheet) - At 5313km, my total fuel used was 500.99L and my average fuel consumption was 9.43L/100km - At 9532km, my total fuel used was 909.91L and my average fuel consumption was 9.55L/100km

Might be an issue with the magnetic clutch on your A/C compressor. That's one issue that can cause the A/C light to flash. Maybe a relay issue stopping the clutch from engaging. Definitely not caused by being out of gas though (even if it may happen to be).

Nice photos of your Aurion Dave. However, I would love to see some more photos of the city. I really want to travel to Perth (which I unfortunately missed out with due to changes in work), and the city in the background looks quite nice there.

Wrong place to own an Aurion . You should live in the State of Aurion. We have some wicked driving roads around Brisbane... and within relatively short distance. These roads also show you that yes, the Aurion is a pretty well handling car, but you will soon learn that it's not as good as you thought it once was,

Only ever use Toyota Genuine Super Long Life Coolant (SLLC) in your Aurion cooling system. This coolant is pink in colour and is purchased per-mixed from Toyota.

As said, it's your choice what you want to do, but if they are dropping the pan anyways, it's only an extra few minutes needed to change the strainer. But like I said, my recommendation is to do all this around 75,000 - 90,000 km. But then again, I do stuff myself so the cost of a strainer doesn't matter for me. It's more comforting to start fresh. As for cleaning out the strainer, I'd have my doubts personally. It's like a weaved synthetic fibre type element and it looks like something intended for single use and it isn't something I would think can be cleaned thoroughly with ease:

I once got this slight 'fogged' look on the front of my Sportivo headlights around the areas where the headlight is close to the body of the car. I always thought this was due to the wax whenever I put that on the car. After that, I've always taken care to avoid getting wax on the headlights. I guess I was worrying about the wrong thing?