DJKOR

This is true. I never paid attention to it (because I'm wise enough to turn my lights on as it gets dark), until I was at the drags and realised I don't have to turn my parkers on so I can see the speedo. I agree here as well. Accident prevention is two ways here. You should also be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to other users of the road. If it's obviously not dark enough for them to necessitate the need to turn their headlights on, then it's obviously not dark enough for you to not notice them. As for trying to use DRL legalities in other parts of the world in the argument to justify you putting LED strips on your car for your preferential style, it doesn't change the fact people are just putting them on for style because it's a trend that they want to copy. If you were really serious about safety, you would be wiring your headlights (high beams) to come on at half power when the car is on like DRL's typically do. At the end of the day, I don't give a rats *** what anyone does to their car. I will always think LED strips slapped on a car will look crap and no amount of justification can take away the fact that you're jumping on the Audi knockoff bandwagon. Those cars with LED strips (ie. not Audi's etc) truly are head turners though. In the sense that I like to look at them to laugh. Like the Tarago I saw the other day with them... no joke... a Tarago.

Noise is about all you are going to gain from it.... and for some, they would say that is worth it just for that.

What pressure did you keep your tires at for the majority of their life? This can play a large role in how long they may survive for. As well, which model Aurion do you have... or better still, what tires were the ones that you had fitted to them from factory? I can see how you would like to simply blame Toyota for the issue... but it's not Toyota that makes the OEM tires that are fitted to them, and considering it's the tires that are wearing out, I don't think Toyota is where you should be directing your disappointment to. Of the two Aurions I have had, with proper care the Sportivo which had Michellin Energy MXV8's went for 45,000-50,000km before requiring a change and the TRD (on Dunlops) went for 60,000km. Not bad for OEM tires I would say. And my driving isn't exactly gentle. My second set of tires (which have not had a rotation) are up to 32,000km now and the rears (Federal 595SS) look as good as new and could get another 50,000km at least if they stayed there, and the fronts (Maxxis MA-Z1) are pretty much nearly worn down to the wear indicators, however these were given a lot of harsh driving conditions. With a rotation, I reckon the set could have made it to 60,000km easily but I wanted to get rid of the Maxxis. I wouldn't say the Aurion is harsh on tires, so I think the problem lies in either the care of your tires, bad alignment, or an unfortunate case of bad tires.

Without photos to show you, I'll explain the best I can. Observe how the valve and the levers attached to it looks when the car is off. Then start the car and observe if it changes it's position. If it does, then chances are it is okay and there is no need to worry about that (hopefully). If it doesn't change it's position between off and idle... then something is definitely not going good there. Another thing is you can disconnect the vacuum line to it while it is idling and see if it makes any change.

Even, is your supercharger bypass valve open properly when idling after you reset your ECU? If not, your ECU may be having a fun time trying to balance itself out while the engine is under boost.

LOL. Good spotting.

Well the next step would be to get a length of vacuum hose (if you don't have some laying around, it will only cost you a couple of dollars at most) and replace the hose that is currently there. Start the engine up and look if the valve is all the way back when the car is idling, ie. look at how it all looks when the car is off and then compare it when the car is on and idling. One indication when the valve is in (which means it's functioning) is when the tab circled below is not in contact like it is in the photo when the car is idling. If the valve is in when the car is idling, then I wouldn't exactly suspect the actuator to be the problem.

Inferno - 4R8

Anthony though he may have himself a new buddy

Not sure why you are waiting so long for the actuator and why it is even coming from Japan? Or is it some other part you are waiting for? You can just purchase an actuator from Harrop (who do the Eaton products in Australia) or there are many other places you can order one direct from the US. Should cost you between $60-$120 AUS and you could get it within a week. Did you also test your actuator like I previously mentioned? The stock length of hose fits pretty loosely and could easily leak vacuum and cause the actuator to not do it's job properly. Otherwise you may end up replacing a perfectly fine actuator due to misdiagnosis by Toyota.

Welcome to TOCAU mate. Stivo owners around Brisbane that are part of TOCAU are becoming rare. Everybody seems to have moved on to other things. It takes a bit of effort sometimes to get the Brisbane guys to sort out a cruise so maybe if you really wanted to do something, post up some ideas and see how the interest gathers. Would have to be something good though cause we don't tend to do them often. Also don't limit it to Sportivo's. Alternatively, a good thread to have a look at and a good meet to attend is: Brisbane Meetup (Every Thursday from 8:00 onwards)

I refuse to be part of that statement where you say I am right. My personal opinion is that DRL LED strips that try to copy the Audi layout look stupid. 1) Because only Audi can truly pull the look off properly in my opinion. 2) Because the design of the Audi DRL's are such that each LED is separated and can be distinguished from quite a distance. 3) Because the Audi DRL's are integrated and not just slapped on like an accessory. Any other form of DRL like the Philips ones regardless of how they are mounted just would seem out of place as well in my opinion. As for improving safety.... whatever makes you feel better in supporting your decision. I doubt it is going to make you any safer on the road.

Before anyone gets misinformed by the information you have provided and start to fill their batteries with tap water, I will add some input here. Most (non 'maintenance-free') lead-acid batteries used in cars have an electrolyte in them which over time, can have water lost from it due to electrolysis during charging or from evaporation. In those cases, you need to top up the cells (6 of them with one cap at the top of each) with distilled water. You can do this with the battery still connected and you do so by removing the caps and inspecting the level of the electrolyte in each cell and topping up as necessary. You want the electrolyte to be above the metal plates in each cell by at least a few millimetres. I tend to top it up to about an inch below the top of the battery (where the water makes an 'eye' shape for those that know what I mean), but this isn't exactly necessary. Also, some batteries have a mark on the outside indicating where the electrolyte level should be when full, so that may give you a good idea of how high to top the fluid up to. Bear in mind that topping up a flat battery is not simply going to bring it back to life. If it needs a charge... it needs a charge.

Sounds like a disc is jammed in the mechanism. Can happen if a disc becomes warped due to heat, if it had a label on it that was a little too large, or just bad luck. Not too much you can do if that's the case without having the unit removed and popping the top off to try and clear it up.

I came across this. I couldn't find any more info but thought it looked trippy:

And what percentage of people out there who have put on LED strips around their headlight etc have done so because they think it legitimately aides in their visibility? I'm pretty sure that the percentage in that case would be rather low. I could bet that the majority of them have done so because they think to themselves that it looks good. It's funny how you never really head of people doing it until Audi started doing so... but properly.

Personally I think the Rug Doctor product is a POS. Had some carpet to clean at home so I headed down to Woolies with the intention to pick up one of those blue carpet cleaning things. They didn't have it, but htey had the Rug Doctor instead so I thought "why not". Big mistake. The quality of it was crap and it barely did an okay job at cleaning. I'd highly suggest one of those more professional units. They are larger and are usually blue in colour. They have two large tanks on them and a variety of hoses and attachments. Those things do a good job at wet vacuuming and would be a better option for cleaning your car seats. I'm not so sure about the availability of them anymore though so mind me if you don't quite know what I'm talking about. But if you have the time, you should just take your seats out and work on removing the trim from them so you can clean it thoroughly.

Mate... if you look at matthew's profile, you would see that he was last online on May 12, 2010. Bumping this thread or the other one is not really going to help.

Um, the heater doesn't rely on power to create it's heat. It is generated by the hot coolant from your engine. If it's not cooling, either your heater core lines are blocked, or your air mix vane/servo is stuffed.

You need to be more specific. Photos are handy. There are quite a few vacuum hoses visible from the front of the engine bay. Also, any fault that is enough to cause a Check Engine Light will also cause the Check VSC System warning, so depending on which hose is split, this may or may not be the cause. I would be inclined to check if your vacuum actuator is definitely faulty as well. You can test this by attaching some hose to the actuator and sucking air out with your mouth to see of it moves. Not saying it's not faulty, but I don't always trust Toyota.

They would probably last well more than the day. At least you will learn where the limits of them are.

Insurance is very subjective to the individual. What works well for someone and/or may be more cost efficient, does not necessarily mean it is going to be the same for someone else. You are always best doing your own shopping around and selecting what is best for you based on your own needs and requirements. For every good story from someone about an insurance company, you will always have a bad story. So try not to view everything from one side if you start hearing only good things cause you may disappoint yourself later.

I don't see what the issue is with regards to the size of the unit. You can easily unlatch the OBD connector from the dash trim and it slides out the back. There you can have whatever size unit you want with no obstructions. You can do all this without removing any dash trim as well. Then when you take it to Toyota, just click the connector back into the dash trim.

You must note that in the United States, their type of octane rating is the Anti-Knock Index (AKI). In Australia, our type of octane rating is the Research Octane Number (RON). The AKI is the average of the RON and the Motor Octane Number (MON, which is another type of octane rating and can be several units lover than the RON) and as a result, the AKI sits about 4 or so points lower than the RON. Therefore in the States, 87 octane for them equals 91 octane for us. As for the spark plug service interval, it may quite be possible that the plugs can last up to 120,000 miles, but it doesn't mean their performance is going to remain just as good. Over the distance, the firing points of the spark plug will round off and this reduces its spark efficiency. Reduced spark efficiency results in reduced power and increased emissions. Changing them sooner is beneficial to help reduce those effects. The 90,000km interval is actually not bad when you compare it to Denso's literature which says they are capable of up to 120,000 miles of service yet they recommend changing them after 30,000 miles, It's like how they say your oil service interval is 15,000km, yet there are many of us here that believe the oil should be changed much sooner than that.

I would not go any more than 245/40R19 as this still falls within an acceptable increase in diameter. 245/45R19 is pushing it a little too far. I can't comment on the ride quality however as I have not tried such a size on the Aurion.