DJKOR

I'm not saying the results aren't true. I'm saying that the Dynojet is built to give a figure which does not factor in drivetrain losses in the same way the Dyno Dynamics dyno does. As a result, the HP figure you have would be accurate... but not as a wheel horsepower figure... but rather as a flywheel horsepower figure. Hence when you compare it to the others here that have used a Dyno Dynamics dyno (nearly all that have posted figures here), you will find that it will show higher than theirs.

Oh man.... this is starting to get concerning. Here I am reading through things like this which means that it's probably not going to be long before some money is spent. After having the K&N SRI on my Sportivo, I really wonder what surprise the TRD would have when it is let to roar through the intake. I did say this a year and a half ago though, so I better keep my word:

The best way to describe the process is shown here from page 18 (page 16 as per the PDF numbering) onwards: Wiper_and_Washer.pdf Alternatively, you can get Bosch wiper blades that replace the entire assembly and save the time mucking around with changing just the wiper rubber only.

I don't want to rain on your parade.... but I wouldn't trust those results completely as a wheel HP figure. I'll just say that Dynojet dyno's don't really give accurate representation of power at the wheels. Instead, they tend to provide a figure that is a closer representation of the power at the flywheel. This means that around the 200HP area, a Dynojet dyno can read up to around 15% higher than what the true figure would be at the wheels.

Well, not being overly confident, I reckon the TRD may have some good potential around the track. I was able to get a similar time to Elgin in my Sportivo and that was both our first time out at QR. So I reckon there is a second or two to be shaved from the lap time. That said though, at this point in time I feel that this car is too 'new' to be exposed to the track. Maybe once I've driven it for several thousand k's can I then start thinking about whether I want to take her out or not. Thanks for the link Dave. I will definitely enquire with them then. Also, now that you brought them up, now I'll be tempted again to buy a Braille battery.

Well if you are all for the 'save fuel' side of the table, then sure... it would be something to avoid. But when the engine makes most of it's power up high and you get a good feeling from revving it out... it's not something I would say to avoid

Mate, what you are experiencing is 'kickdown'. This is part of the operation of all automatic transmissions. Of course planting your foot down in a manual isn't going to drop down a gear or two, but this is because there is nothing but yourself to change the gear. Putting your foot to the floor on an automatic car indicates that you want to accelerate quickly. As a result, the transmission will drop down a gear or two (or three) to enable it to accelerate quicker. http://ask.cars.com/2008/09/transmission-ki.html

Don't quote me on this, but I think I once heard that with some phones you need to transfer each entry one-by-one. Edit: I did a search (a useful feature on this forum) using the term "phonebook" which also happens to be in the title of your thread, and I found this. Looks like it's one-by-one with the engine off, or all at once with the engine on: Data transfer from phone to car handsfree

Don't rub it in mate I unfortunately don't have the resources that Dave has. Getting my current rims painted would mean that I would have to find a temporary replacement to drive on. Not sure if I can find that easily. Dave got lucky in finding a complete spare set of TRD wheels. Actually he approves of it. After the initial anger (ie. yelling at me furiously) after the crash, he then came to realise that the insurance payout was a good $12k more than what the car was purchased for. Once that settled in his mind, he thought the move to the TRD wasn't a bad idea. Considering that it had less k's than my Sportivo when I got it as well. Yeah, the 3500S comes with grey wheels and the 3500SL comes with silver ones. The grey ones would be nice, but not quite the easiest thing for me to sort out any time soon. I guess I will have to live with what I've got in the meantime. This is what the grey ones look like: http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5710/tr...n2007781420.jpg

Such a fine specimen there. I really love the direction this is heading in. Would be great to see it in person.

I went to Super Cheap Auto and got them to order directly from DBA. This meant I got them for the cost that DBA was selling them for and I only had to pay something like $7.95 each extra for delivery. Front rotors took about 3 days when I ordered them.

The 4000's make no difference to the size of the rear rotors. Same goes for the fronts. 3 weeks eh? That's a bit of a bummer. I ordered mine and had them in 2 days. I guess they must have run out.

The one on the left is the 'TRD' emblem and the one on the right is the 'AURION' emblem. I am tempted to paint them black, but I have a feeling that they are a 'soft' emblem. Can't quite go down at the moment to double check this, but if they are that definitely won't be happening. Even if they are not, I'm not sure I'd be willing to remove them just for the purpose of painting them. The Toyota logo is something I would consider though. This is something I will definitely be considering. I do recall reading this though: If I can find someone who can do this, I think I may actually get it done. Probably not the entire bonnet as mentioned above, but definitely the bumper. Being a daily driver, stone chips can be hard to avoid. I may see if I can find more information on this. Something like what is offered here: http://www.invisiblecarbras.com.au/ Edit: These guys are located in QLD. Maybe I should see what they can do: http://www.ducoscratch.com.au/ http://www.mautomotive.com.au/

Sure did. Was the Street Series as well since I didn't have the need to go over the top with the rears... plus I think the 4000 Series wasn't available at the time anyways. Here's a pic for reference... they sure look rather small eh: http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/8757/dsc05448.jpg

^ Good stuff mate. Certainly won't be disappointed. I'm not sure about you, but after fitting my rotors, I was very cautious about them. So when I stopped at a set of lights, I would (where possible) put the car into neutral and take my foot off the brakes. After handling them myself, I just couldn't bear the thought of them warping. After about 1000km of driving with them, you should go for a Nebo run to see how it feels. Definitely an improvement.

Well, since work was going pretty slow today, I had some spare time to go for a drive to the Barossa Valley. The first 30 minutes of driving was a completely different feel to what I am used to.. but after that, it slowly started to become familiar again, just with some exceptions. The seats are definitely different. It's certainly noticeable now sitting in some really comfy (but firm) leather seats compared to the cloth seats of the Sportivo. I think the leather in this one is much better than that of the non-TRD's. It definitely feels thicker and of higher quality. I noticed though that it strangely feels like the seat sits ever so slightly higher than a non-TRD. I'm not sure if I am imagining things with that though. The extra power definitely feels brilliant. It may not be really powerful, but when compared to my old Sportivo, this thing certainly has a bit of grunt to it. Only issues I found with it though is when you are accelerating sharply to highway speeds then ease off the throttle, it tends to have more of a 'sharp' bite to it compared to my Sportivo. Also, if listening carefully, it sounds like the exhaust has a bit of restriction in it as it approaches redline. I have a feeling this is coming from the front merge which I have plans for fixing. Apart from that, I absolutely love this car. Not quite as much as I did with my Sportivo, but I'll give it time. Gotta start off slow. I will also have to adjust slightly to the feel of low profile 19 inch tires. I noticed that the steering is certainly a bit sharper than the 17's that I'm used to and bumps in the road are definitely more noticeable. I guess as I drive it more, I will notice this less and less. I'm probably going to jinx myself in saying this, but one thing I am glad to enjoy at the moment is the lack of a dash rattle. My old Aurion used to have quite a lot of rattles and creaks from the dash. This one is dead quiet. Don;t know how long that will last though... especially once the sub goes in. I guess I will enjoy it while it lasts. I guess since I will be away from home for a little bit, I should probably prepare myself for my return and order some bits ready to fit when I get back. So I guess the next things to happen to it are the essentials: - HID's - LED bulb replacements - Navigation head unit - Subwoofer install (already waiting at home from my last Aurion) - Ultra Racing front strut brace and rear sway bar - Hawk Performance Ceramic brake pads - Eyelids (not sure if it would work, but I'll try it out) While I had her out in the sun today, I decided to take a couple of photos. This is all I've taken for now. She is a little dirty at the moment so I will wait till I've got her back in QLD and after I've given her a good wash before taking some more photos.

Recalls are only done for issues that affect the safety of the vehicle. In the case of the intermediate shaft, the slight misalignment only causes a knocking type sound but does not affect the way the car drives... and would most likely never cause problems. I really hope my TRD doesn't develop this issue like my last Aurion. And if it does... it better do it before the end of August, because that's all I've got left on my warranty.

I've said it before, but it will be quicker for me to type it again. The 'mute' connection is for when you have an external accessory that would output a 'mute' signal. About the only accessory I can think of that has this feature is a car kit (like a Nokia kit or something like that). It means that when you get a call, the stereo can automatically mute so you can hear your call. BTW, how long did the Autome305 unit take to get to you? I guess I'm going to have to get one of these soon.

My old Sportivo had the Asian Camry Hybrid tail lights as per the discussion here. Anyways, that's my old Aurion. This thread is all about my new one... which won't be getting those lights.

Good stuff mate. Appreciate the time you have taken to do the research and to build the device. I'm sure there would be quite a few people here that would be interested in these. If only I was still at uni. I could have borrowed their facilities to etch up some PCB's at minimal cost to get this thing going.

Well, it looks like this is something I am going to look into not far down the track. Ash, who did you take your rotors to when you had to get the holes drilled/elongated? Dave, what would you think about getting say the 5000 Series DBA rotors? That way, once you get the centre hat modified, all that ever has to be changed in the future is the rotor component. Would this seem right, or is there some reason why this wouldn't be the wisest choice.

Well the tail-lights unfortunately stayed with the car. Since it was a bit of distance away from home, I couldn't simply swap them over with the old ones, despite how easy they were to remove with the bumper gone So they pretty much had to go with the car. I guess this just means that I now have a set of Sportivo tail lights at home to experiment tinting on. Same deal with my head unit as well. That had to stay with the car... but that gives me the opportunity to upgrade to the newer HD version which has the better screen. As for the wheels, well pretty much what was shown above. The two front wheels were cleanly split... and the rears were not something you would want to recover. Oh wells. One thing I now realise is that I am going to have to factor in the cost of 19 inch tires for my TRD. I guess that's a compromise I'm willing to make.

Just a note on this, it's not the time that you will be the most concerned with... it's the trap speed (the speed you were going at the end of the 1/4 mile). As long as your car is close to the same weight it was when you did your other runs (so try to put in the same amount of fuel, don't take out anything you had in there previously, etc) then an increase in trap speed is usually a good indication that your power-to-weight ratio has increased. Well for sake of the discussion, stock Aurion's tend to dyno anywhere between 192HP at the wheels up to about 205HP at the wheels.

There has been quite a bit of variation in the 'stock' Aurion dyno figures which mostly comes down to the dyno itself and the conditions on the day. The differences are around 5-10HP at the wheels which may not seem like a lot, but when you compare it to another dyno chart, you may think you have gained much more than you really have.... if you have gained anything at all. But like I have said before (and Steven has said above), the 1/4 mile is a pretty good indication.

Thanks for the replies guys. I just can't wait till all my work here is done so I can spend some quality time with her. It's in a valet ark at the moment which I don't have access to while parked there, but regardless, work is extremely busy at the moment. I guess I will have to be patient. Once all that is sorted, then I will get some good photos. Pretty much I was willing to sacrifice the style potential of the Sportivo for the extra gain under the hood. It sure does look nice in person. I still somewhat feel a bit out place with it though. The one thing I liked with the Wildfire was that the colour stood out more on the road. Everytime I drove, I seemed to notice that there weren't as many red cars on the road when compared with other colours. I just don't feel like I would stand out in the pack as much with a silver car. But in the end, it wasn't really the colour that was the deciding factor... it was the red shiny thing under the hood. Nup, not that one. This one lived in the CBD, was used for mainly highway driving, and has only 18,000km on the clock.