DJKOR

Buying a car with the full knowledge that it has an illegal modification and doing nothing to correct this before driving it on the road yourself is just as bad as having the modification done yourself. Saying that the car came that way has no bearing on the views expressed in this thread. Why not.

Thanks as well Trent and Nicole for the organising and hospitality. Definitely would be something to do again.

Could you please quote where you got the 6kW higher than the Aurion from? Just curious as everything I've read seems to quote 203kW... which being Lexus, is probably based on premium unleaded only. The Aurion on the other hand is 200kW on regular unleaded and this is bumped up to 204kW with the use of premium. One way or another though, the difference is only minor and hardly something worthy of quoting as a gain if so. For the OP: if you were thinking of changing the exhaust headers for the purpose of a power gain, use your money more wisely on something else.

Farewell for now Nathan. I'm sure the GTI will keep you happy. A wise move one way or another. Was a pleasure knowing you on the forums here, since you were one of the earlier members I interacted with when I first joined.

This can be added on as an dealer fitted option (ie. you could fit it) for the American market. There are differences in the Body ECU programming between the American Toyota'a and the Australian ones so I would be nowhere near surprised if it didn't work on the Aurion. The only way you can really find out is if you pick one up and try it for yourself. In my opinion, you are better off with an aftearket kit if you so desire. The Toyota one automatically kills the engine the moment the door is unlocked and opened. At least with an aftermarket kit, you have a short delay in which you can enter the car and put the key in the ignition/press the engine start button. On top of that, most of these remote engine starter kits you can get can also be optioned with an alarm kit. The advantage here is that the remote unit can feature 2-way communication. This means if you are within the range of the transmitter in the car (some kits give you up to 500-1000 metres or so line of sight), it can warn you if your car has been broken into. May be a little bit of a gimmick, but some people like the sense of security.

1/3 of the screen eh: On a serious note, I have heard reports that the Android mobile version does not have a link at the bottom to view the desktop site. I recall IPB having the ability to enable or disable that from view for particular devices, so could you possibly check that out Steve? Also, are there adjustments available to the way you post replies? The quick reply box at the bottom of the page appears to be the only way a reply can be posted. The problem here is that it saves your post content after you submit it and adds the post to the page without a refresh (which effectively clears the reply box). This makes it quite easy to double post accidentally.

Thanks a million mate.

before you rail agaist the upgrade, can I suggest you try something like Ad-Block Plus for firefox if the ad's are such a HUGE deal. Ad-Block Plus does wonders on all my fav news sites / auction sites. Remember: Change is enevatable, progress is optional :) There was a spambot that posted pages of pill advertisements. I think that was the cause of the issue, not the site.

The mobile site has been updated too. What I find nice is the button at the bottom to view the desktop version. Only glitch there is my particular phone has remembered to display the full site now. I'll figure out how to change that one back. Overall, I quite like the new layout. It's quite clean. There are a few things that are hard to read due to contrast issues with the default colours, but maybe that might just be my eyes. Another thing that is neat is when you view new posts, if you click on one to read it, it is removed from the new posts list until another new post is added.

In all honesty, you performed a well known illegal modification and got defected. I wouldn't be expecting this thread to be going anywhere good.

Cool story.

But Dee is still here though On that note, I'll be there tomorrow night.

This is just like the "Tweel" which was developed by Michelin quite some time ago.

Have a look at the passenger side of the car underneath the windscreen wiper. You will see a perforated section in the plastic there and underneath that behind a flap to prevent water ingress is the fresh air intake. Quite interesting how you got a lot in there because it is difficult (but not impossible) for leaves to get in there. To get an idea of where the intake is, have a look at the following picture with the trim removed. You can clearly see it under the windscreen on the right:

Hey Lee. What iPod are we referring to here? If you have an iPod Touch which has the HOME button on it, connect the power adapter and then try holding down both the POWER and the HOME button at the same time for at least 10 seconds or until an Apple logo hopefully appears. Otherwise, if that fails, you may need to put it in "DFU mode" which you can fund by YouTubing a tutorial. If you don't have an iPod Touch, instructions on how to reset other models are available here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1320

Increased hard drive prices making you bump this 6 month old thread eh

The whole negative first thing isn't exactly a must. The action itself isn't going to cause any electronic damage etc as well. There's no need to really panic about it if you disconnect the positive first. The real reason for it is to reduce the change of creating a dead short across the battery if you are unfortunate/unskilled enough to drop a spanner and have it land in a way that it contacts the positive terminal of the battery and any other metallic object of the car. On a realistic side of things though, seeing that battery placement usually leads to te positive terminal to be the furtherest from the chassis when compared to the negative terminal. The chance of having a spanner drop and contact both the positive terminal AS WELL as the car body/engine/any other grounded component would be about the same as having one drop and short between the positive and negative terminal.

Well so be it, but just remember to try not to think narrow mindedly too. One can purchase this TRD and utilise the parts in any other car that uses a 2GR-FE. How many supercharged Klugers/RAV4's do you see out there? How about someone who wants to transplant the TRD running gear into another car for a custom build? There can be more than one use for the car. Besides, it has a starting bid of $10k which would equate to better value for those alternative uses specified.

The question of buying a new or used car is not one that can be solved purely by logic to provide one definite answer for every person. Obtaining a logical answer for that particular question for a particular individual comes down to a number of factors that need to be assessed based on the individual. For example, what are the financial effects of buying a new car compared to a used car? How will the car be used? How will this use affect the car and will running costs of maintenance outweigh the cost to buying a new car with factory warranty? What features are actually required and have a real life bearing to the value of the car? All of these things can sway the logical decision for an individual in either direction. Personally, if you really want to think the way you are, then there is no point to your initial question. Why try to get opinions when you have already made up your mind? Instead, I will leave you with a question that has only one logical answer: Say, you have to get up in the middle of the night to go out. The electricity is off for some reason and you've managed to get dressed but need a pair of matching socks. You know if you just get to the car or outside under the stars you can tell if your sock match. You know you have a drawer full of an equal number of black and white socks. They're all loose and not paired up. You don't want to carry an armful of socks to the car. So, what is the least number of socks you can take from the drawer in order to be assured you have a matching pair when you get to the light?

Please refer back to posts on page 4 and 5 before even taking the effort to modify your unit as this has been discussed before.

If you want to convert an Aurion to a TRD internally, I'd love to see someone do so without spending more than $15,000 (and without a half-cut). In that light, $15k is actually a good price.

Having 245/35R19 tires myself, I can give you a couple of suggestions. Don't get the Autogrip tires if that's how much they are quoting you. For around that value, I would get Federal 595SS. I got these tires for about $214 per corner fitted, though you may be able to get them for less than that. Prior to that, I had the Maxxis MA-Z1 which is what I reckon you got quoted on. These were about $245 a corner fitted as well (got them from Bob Jane in a hurry due to a puncture). In terms of grip, the Maxxis at first had quite a large amount of grip both in the wet and dry, but this just got worse as the tire started to wear. They also wore out relatively quick (when compared to my current 595SS). The Federal on the other hand has just that little more grip than the Maxxis and has managed to maintain it's levels of grip even as they have worn past 50%. Overall I would say I am quite satisfied... especially considering they were cheaper than the Maxxis. Bot h tires have performed on par or better than the OEM Dunlop SP Sport Maxx that came stock with the TRD Aurion. In terms of noise, both the Maxxis MA-Z1 and Federal 595SS exhibit the same levels of noise which when compared to other tires, is definitely a bit noisier. It's nothing unbearable and not be notices when you have your stereo up to an enjoyable level, but this is something to be aware of if you value a very quiet drive. But with that all said, I got a quote for Federal 595EVO's for about $9 more per tire however on both occasions when I tried to get them, the size I was after was on backorder. If you can get them, I would suggest those as they have even more grip than the 595SS and would be the best bang for your buck. I also hear they are slightly quieter than the 595SS, but I can't really comment on that.

FYI, these kits can be obtained online for cheaper (like $60 shipped). They function no different and can save you some coin for some LED's. As for contacting the seller via the forum, um.... good luck with that.

Ouch if that really is the case. Wouldn't surprise me though knowing crazy Toyota.

First "ON" position would be a better way of saying what I did. It will have an "OFF" position of course.