DJKOR

I have said it before as well that the stock HIR lights are quite bright and it is true that the darker your surroundings, the brighter they appear. Correct. However I'm not sure how others use their high beams, but the moment I see oncoming headlights even far in the distance, I dip my headlights immediately. On the open road, this is how other drivers use their high beams... even before you can see the front of their car on a bend in the road... and that can be ages away. On that topic, it should be noted that any aftermarket HID conversion (if not a complete OEM kit built for the car including automatic levelling and headlight washers) is completely illegal. That doesn't stop most people though. Despite the fact that suggesting HID's is not a great answer considering they are illegal, the fact of the matter is that dixie here is not satisfied with his high beam output. Just telling him that it's all in his head isn't really a satisfying answer, so the suggestions here are to help satisfy his needs/wants.

Lookin' sweet. Everybody's getting new wheels. I feel left behind.

You can search around for better quality ones if you don't like the Spectre brand, but if you are fine with that, you can go to Autobarn or something and ask if they can order parts from Spectre (since they usually stock parts from them in the first place). There are two they have that you can choose from, the first one should work fine, but there is always the possibility that because of the MAF placement and the diameter of the pipe, your engine may not run at it's best. The second solution helps give more flexibility... but the main benefit is that it looks cleaner. I would suspect the first part would be plastic, and the second part would be metal: Air Flow Sensor Mount 3" Chrome - Part No. 8705 3" MAFS Adapter/Tuning Kit - Part No. 9405

???

LOL. Now it makes sense. That last statement went completely over my head. I think because I linked it to the 'light steering' comment. I had a sneak peek before hand thanks to you, so made a comment without seeing the photos posted here. Hehehe.

Look at my previous link. eBay is your friend here. I'm using a $70 kit and have had it for 1.5-2 years so far with no problems whatsoever. These are a bit iffy. On top of that, for the price you are paying, you would get a higher output from HID. But if you really wanted to get a +XX% bulb, I'd suggest getting Osram Nightbreakers... but that is if you really insist on changing bulbs. Want to know why? Here is the kicker. The HIR bulb beleive it or not was tested and here is what was found: HIR Headlights 9011 9012 bulbs The 55W ones will without a doubt. If you are referring to a non-HIR +80% halogen bulb (meaning a supposed 117W) be prepared for this... a 35W HID would beat it. The thing here is the HIR bulb is a proper patented bulb technology that produces a higher output for a given wattage compared to those other +XX% bulbs on the market.

You should click reply on his post. He forgot a 'w' in the address for the photos: And yeah, even in the photos that dish looks huge. I think it's because the spokes are so flat.

I'll definitely be there.

Sorry to hear about the unfortunate near catastrophe you had there Nathan. I also agree with Daniel here. It's statements like these that stereotype other young people out in the field. It's like the whole P-plater hoon stereotyping.

I'm going to revive this thread because this school holidays have really brought some crazy drivers back onto the road and I'm sure others would like to vent. Another one to add to the list are those that merge onto a road (ie. pulling out of a street or driveway) while you are approaching and fail to accelerate to match the speed of the flowing traffic. This results in you having to brake heavily or change lanes to avoid them. Some people just have no sense.

If my memory serves me correctly, the CSX was like an updated model of the CSi with a few little extras. Such extras were ABS (optional), front and rear power windows, 6 speaker stereo, and cruise control. I'm sure there were other extras/changes, but I'm not that good at remembering things.

+1 on that statement. It makes it look pretty damn sad.

LOL. That was good. They couldn't have timed that scene any better.

So good to hear mate. Now you've got some good tires to back up your Ultra Racing gear. If you're Aurion wasn't black and in such great condition, I'd tell you to take her out to the track. But a black TRD like that should not go there :P

Toyota wouldn't sell such a thing. Follow the recommendations in my FAQ: If you chose eBay, just search for something like "HB3 55W HID".

Don't you guys have any decent mountains around there? That's where I see such modifications showing their abilities. That said, even driving it on the street feels more stable. You tend to take corners quicker as a result though... and roundabouts become more fun. Who needs a track when you got roads like this* :P. This is a casual drive BTW: Please wait a few seconds for Video to Load!* I do not advise using public roads as a substitute for the track.

It goes against my recommendations of not putting HID's in your high beams... but for the cost of them these days and for what you want to do.... I would highly suggest putting HID's in your high beams. In this case, the pros of having a brighter high beam without the risk of melting/burning your headlight housing, outweigh the cons of a shorter lifespan for the HID's due to the constant on/off cycles they will experience. Well yeah, you can put 100 watt HB3's in there (even if you have to shave a little plastic off as you confirmed) and they should give you a brighter output. However, my previous statement about possibly burning your headlight housing still applies. This is a result of the extra heat that is radiated from a higher wattage bulb. To answer your other question as well, in theory the 100W bulbs should last just as long as the 60W ones as they are built for the higher output.

Who ever said that I was going to be selling it any time soon? Thanks for the heads up, but without understanding my intentions with this car, making a judgement like that may or may not be relevant. I have said many times that I plan to keep this car for a long time. I will literally be keeping it until it's to the point that it won't have much of a resale value regardless of how it was serviced. Remember, it's up to 91,000km and I've only been driving it for 1.5 years. This thing is going to have lots of distance on it. That alone will take a good chunk out of resale. I think you also forgot the details mentioned in the first post. Remember it was a 'flood damaged' repairable write-off and will always carry that title on the Vcheck report. That alone will already have an effect on the resale value. On top of that, it is also an ex-rental and I'm sure some people out there would avoid such cars as well. Fact of the matter, resale is not my concern. Making this car last on the other hand is something I care about. Edit: I'll just throw in some figures just for fun. Lets say for a car of this age, it's average resale is at most about 2/3 of it's new value. That would be something like $25,000 in an ideal situation; and that's with less mileage than I have on mine. Now for me, I'm not really paying attention to those figures because all I payed for my car is $18,000 and it doesn't have a great history when looked at on paper. So let's say I can get back 2/3 of that value. That is $12,000; meaning I have lost $6000 on the value of the car. I don't know what buyers out there are like, but if I put this up for sale at $12,000, I'm sure someone would be interested. Anyways, it's besides the point. This car is staying with me for a while. If I upgrade, this will just be my run-around.

I wouldn't think anyone would make them. Plus don't you think it would look a bit funny?

Was it sudden, or how long was it since you last checked your coolant level? What has the temperature been like over all the time you have been keeping an eye on it? With my Aurion, I've had the same deal but this was caused by hot coolant managing to boil/evaporate past the lid on the reservoir. Since the reservoir is there to handle the overflow of coolant as it heats up and expands there is the possibility that in really hot conditions, the reservoir can fill to a high level and coolant from there can work it's way past the seal over time from evaporation or even more worse case, overflow. Then as some coolant gets lost and the engine cools, it sucks the coolant out of the reservoir and it can get to the point that the level reaches low. On a side note, having an empty reservoir will not necessary cause overheating. As well, if a radiator coolant level sensor was present (which the Aurion doesn't have), having little to no coolant in the reservoir would not cause any warning lights as it is just the reservoir.

You essentially just need to find yourself an adaptor that looks like this: They aren't a part that is kept in store most of the time so you will probably have to order it in. Once you have that, you just add your hoses, drill out any necessary hole for vacuum lines, add your filter and then you are set. Or go all out and get this: http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=69-8610TTK

Yeah... that one kind of gave itself away. I just couldn't resist the temptation so I went ahead and bought it. More after the sound than anything else.

If you see the bluish tinge around the bulb, then I would say you have the 9011 HIR bulb. This would indicate that Toyota are still using the same bulb between pre-facelift and facelift. Normal halogen bulbs do not have any tint to them, and those that do will have a solid blue tint that is way obvious. You can simply change the bulb out for a HB3/9005 bulb without any further modifications. The bulb socket is for a HIR 9011 bulb but is backwards compatible with a HB3/9005 bulb. HB3 bulbs are available in 60W and 100W versions, so your next step up would be the 100W ones. Sorry for any confusion earlier. I was getting the bulbs mixed up. It is the HIR 9011 bulb that has to be modified to fit into a HB3/9005 socket. In addition to that, if you were to go that route, you would have to be careful as a higher wattage globe will (over time) create discolouration to your headlight housing which can ultimately in the end, reduce your light output below stock. You also have the potential to melt something. If you are wanting brighter high beams without the risk of burning or melting your headlight housing, I'd suggest getting some 55 watt HID's. They will wear quicker in comparison to standard HID's because of the constant on/off cycles, but they will be way brighter and not produce any extra heat. Here are photos I just took then of the high beam out of my Aurion just for reference:

That really annoys me. Like when they go up a small incline but done bother to put their foot down more. This one stretch on the Centenary Highway that is 100km/h and without fail, everytime I travel that stretch, there is always a line up of people going 70-80km/h. Yeah... those ones that think doing half the indicated speed is what they should be doing in the wet. I think we need a separate thread with all our driving hates. That way we can keep this thread for little non-driving related rants. Or resurrect this thread: Chance to vent about idiotic drivers

Stopping the engine while the car is moving and in gear will not damage the engine, even less of an issue with an automatic because the torque converter basically loses its coupling between the wheels and engine. Of course however, it's not something that should be done just for the sake of proper operation. Point being is that it's not going to blow anything up if it does happen. Stopping the engine while in gear and the car is not moving however is pretty much negligible. Main issue you will get though is that you will lose your power steering and your brakes will have limited usability. This is why it is dangerous for an immobiliser/anti-hijacking device to stop the engine while you are driving You need to host photos on a photo hosting site like ImageShack, Photobucket, TinyPic, ect and then you can get a link from there that lets you post full size.