JIN

Yes. I'm plannin to Upgrade them means tradin them in with the Stock TRD, not to convert Sportivos to TRD.

When I say mods, the whole idea is just trying to be different and better than the stock.

Anw, thanks guys for the comments so far.

My no 2. question is actually askin how much to trade in my car...Soz for the confusion.

Supercharger costs 10G?!! Wasnt it 3-4G the last time?

first of all, yes, the supercharger costs about $10000 from Toyota Parts department.

or you can contact Eaton company that made the supercharger for TRD aurion but I am not really sure how much they charge for the supercharger.

If you're lucky enough you can find secondhand one with much cheaper price from ebay, overseas part dealers or some wreckers.

On the Mods, you have to get a direction that which mods you wanna do on your car.

Well..in my terms of mods, there are two types of mod, which are Dress up purpse and Performance purpose.

If you want to be different with other TRDs on road, you may have to focus on Dressup.

or If you like to improve your car's abilities, focus on performance.

If the money isn't the matter for you, you can do whatever you want.

If the money is the matter but you still want to do al of them, yeah, go for it.

What I am trying to say is, you can save a lot of money from deciding the mods you're going and looking for.

You may do half of dressup and performance for the other half on your budjet but it won't be too different with other cars on road.

You know what..

I have no idea of how much the TRD brake kit is but the brembo brake kit normally costs at least $4000. only fronts.

The supercharger has about $10K price tag on it from toyota, you may find cheaper one from ebay, some other dealers or wreckers but I don't think it's gonna be cheap.

Although you got the supercharger, the ECU will be the issue because it's encrypted and no one could hack it yet as I know.

I suggest you to trade in your car and get the TRD.

That's the way you can save your money rather than conversion from ZR6 to TRD.

Personally, if I have money to convert ZR6 to TRD, I would trade zr6 in and do some MANY other mods on TRD.

IMHO, if you really wanna do it, it sounds like it's gonna cost more than $20000 only for conversion.

I rather try twinturbo installation with that money.

Apart from the budget, there's another risk that no one knows how the conversion equipment works like.

TRD aurion is already fully tested before it's life from TOYOTA, but if you do it by your own, it's your own risk.

BTW, there are some more threads about TRD conversion from SX6 or ZR6, you better search them first.

Put a second battery in the boot with a cap

Jin you still haven't quoted how big your amps in rms no peak value and brand they are?

Azza73

Azza

I already have quoted all my amps and watt just above the picture of terminal.

I don't like the secondary battery idea because I have to get an proper isolator to prevent the first battery getting flat when the car is off.

The isolator itself costs about $100 and I don't think my setup would need that much of battery power.

Cheers.

The only benefit you will see going with a grounding wiring upgrade will be seen if you are running the ground from the amps directly to the chassis of the car. If you are running a direct ground line back to the battery, there is no need for this as the car is so new that the condition of the grounding wires will be very good.

Headlights dimming is simply a sign of excessive current draw that the battery and alternator are struggling to cater for. Remember that car manufacturers design the electrical system to simply cope with the stock car requirements and not much more. Upgrading an alternator will help the issue, as will upgrading the battery - although both may be unnecessary for the relatively minimal power of the amps you are talking about (400W RMS is quite small in the scheme of things). If you look at things above about 1000W RMS, then this is where you start becoming really concerned about batteries and alternators and may consider an upgrade.

For your situation, a standard capacitor will help control the power spikes. These spikes (which are causing the dimming of headlights) will eventually damage the alternator and possibly components such as the ECU. The capacitor provides that "reserve" capacity that will be used by the amp during sudden loads, and will recharge when the load from the amp reduces again. Think of it like a water tank really.

Thanks for your input.

Well, I wouldn't say the condition of the grounding is good although it's a new car.

The reason is that I upgraded 2 of engine block ground cables and I saw the ground points were not even sandpapered.

The bolt was just sitting on the thick painted chassis.(you would know what I am trying to say if you know about what the real grounding is.)

From the studying of audio by myself, I found making the ground well is quite important for both sound quality and good electirc flow.

I am not denying the capacitor would solve my problem and I know how the capacitor works with the power spikes so you don't need to explain what the capacitor is..

However, what I want to do is, as explained above, making the ground really strong and good enough to make the electric flow well.

A capacitor with POOR POWER CABLING DOES NOT REALLY MAKE SENSE to me.

Please don't get confused why I am doing the grounding.

Once, the grounding is done,I am installing another amp for front speakers, then I will think about either upgrade the battery or getting the capacitor if my headlights are dimming.

Cheers.

eww...guys..I didn't mean to have any arguments in this thread because of this issue.

My apoligies if anyone got tempered here.

I could tell I know about my setting because I put them in by myself after alot of studying about amps, electric stuffs, subs, cables, sound deadning ETC...

Q: 1. what amps are you running brand?

A: I've got 400WRMS amp (Clarion APX1301)+ 400WRMS@ 2OHM sealed sub.

That's only thing for now and if I turn up the volume a bit high I saw my headlights were dimming.

Q: 2. how many of amps?

A: just 1 of A/B class mono amp but going to put another amp for front speakers. Another amp will be Kenwood KAC-PS301T.

3. How many watts rms each amp?

400WRMS for sub + 200WRMS, 500W Max(maybe? couldn't find the exact info of kenwood amp) for front

4. how many subs and brand & wattage?

Just 1 of 12", as above, 400WRMS at 2 Ohm. 1000W max.

5. what guaged wire?

The sub is wired all around with 4guage cable(inc. ground).

Before we discuss about my setting, let me explain a bit more detail why I want to do the grounding.

I AM NOT ADDING THE GROUND POINTS AT ALL.

I am just upgrading the factory ground cables to thicker and good quality cables.

I've studied about amp wiring and learned that the power cable and ground cable should be in same size.

OR the electric does not flow well because once the big amount of elcetric comes through the thicker power cable but could not flow out into the smaller ground cable.

That causes unstable and insufficient power for any of devices using elctric. so I opened up the bonnet and found the cables were in poor size and this is why I want to upgrade my grounding.

Apologies if my explanation doesn't make sense but I am not an electrician but I know what I am doing.

I know capacitor would solve the headlight dimming problem. However, as I explained above, I just want the basis done properly which I strongly believe the grounding + proper power cabling is the basis for any of devices using electric.

BTW, I replaced 2 of engine block ground cables into 4 gauge (looks like the factory ones in 8gauge) and it seems like I could go a little bit more volume up without headlights dimming.

Thanks guys for your input.

..A capacitor fixes this problem, it job is too keep a reserve of power, whenever your amplifier tries to draw a ton of power it supplies that power instead, keeping your electronics running smooth...

..PS Capacitor will definately fix your problem I used install custom sound system and have won some tropheys ...

Yeah I know capacitor may solve my problem easy.

What I am thinking to do is, capacitor could be a resistance in the middle of the way to amp and it still draws the power.

I just wanted to make sure all the power lines, especially the grounding, work properly to pass the electric flow nicely before I do the capacitor.

Actually, capacitor is my last option because capacitor with poor power lines does not make sense to me.

I would just get the basic tight then go other options.

If the grounding does not solve my problem, then I will go for better battery, alternator upgrade then capacitor.

It sounds like I don't even need to go for capacitor once I change the alternator with bigger amp.

Thanks for your advice anyway.

Cheers.

Hey guys.

Just wondering, anyone did earth kit on your Aurion?

I am having headlights dimmed when the volume goes up a bit so I am planning to do the ground cable upgrading since I have some left over from amplifiering kit.

As I know, the original ground cables are in mix of 8 gauge and 16 guage(correct me if I am wrong), so I would like to upgrade those in 4 and 8 gauge.

The question is, how many points of ground just under the bonnet(roughly)?

how many metre of cable I would need for the job done?

I've read through the Electirical Wiring Diagram from sticky post but it only shows rough cable points etc..

Any comments would be appreciated in advance.

Cheers.

PS. where do you normally buy the ring terminals from??

Oh well...You may or may not have 22s on your aurion but the problem is tyres.

I don't think it would be easy to find any tyres with proper load rating.

Even it is HARD to find 30 profile tyres on 20s.

Just my 2c.

Hey guys.

Just fixed everything up today with Gerald(encounter).

Everything is sorted out now and all good.

I will update pics during the process after my lunch.

PS. Thanks Heaps to Gerald for helping me out with the stands.

No worries Jin, anytime...

Had a feeling you would of needed an extra pair of hands, and lucky for you I did...

All I had to do is take the 2 nuts at the top of coilover to release the top mount.

There was a hard part during this job done which was releasing the big 2 pairs of bolt and nut at the bottom part of coilover.

Haha, yup, that and when my @$$ met the concrete floor, after finally getting the bolt/nuts off...

Yeah your feeling was so right! and it saved my @$$ for good.:)

BTW, how's your @$$?? any bruize? Sigh...I really feel sorry for that one.

I got the wheels aligned and it cost me $65.

They told me they had to do it because the front wheels made the rear one bad too.

I don't know wethere they were saying bu!! $h1t or not but $65 was kinda acceptable so I just let it go.

Anyway everything goes really right now.

Also, I contaced BC racing Taiwan with pictures after fixed and they advised all correct. YAY!!

IMO, each to their own, everyone has different 'taste' they like.

However, it cannot be ciriticized having different taste and style because they have different taste with mine.

It would be better to ignore them for your mental reliefe, if you don't like their style.

I knew a rich guy owned a Nissan Maxima with heaps mods(mainly dress up purpose) like VIP style in first post and he really loved the style of his car.

At the end of the day, he ended up with BMW M5 tho..(no mods at all)

BTW, I am not a fan of the cars in the first post. :)

Success. Let us know how it all goes after you get it aligned. Do you have any mountains nearby? Should give it a run around something like that to see how it handles.

Well..there's no mountain near my place but I am going to test a bit after alignment.

I was worrying about leaking problem because the main roads I drive everyday are real $h1t, Paramatta road is one of them.

holes are everywhere, uneven rugged surface...etc.. still they look pretty strong and work well.

I am thinking to go a bit lower before I get wheels aligned.....just a think..

Cheers.

Here are some pics during the job done.

Finally, the job is done.

I couldn't do this job without Gerald(Thanks alot!!) because he brought the stands for this job.

I bought my stands but they were too high to put under my car.

What we did is just simply swapped the top mounts and it wasn't hard at all. All I had to do is take the 2 nuts at the top of coilover to release the top mount.

There was a hard part during this job done which was releasing the big 2 pairs of bolt and nut at the bottom part of coilover.

Anyways, as the pics above, now everything is good.

I need an another wheel alignment coz driver side wheel is a bit twisted and my car is pulling left a bit becoz of this.:(

Cheers.

Hey guys.

Just fixed everything up today with Gerald(encounter).

Everything is sorted out now and all good.

I will update pics during the process after my lunch.

PS. Thanks Heaps to Gerald for helping me out with the stands.

OK. I've been to garage today for fixing it up and made a change on it.

Unfortunately, the top mounts are not straight still.

It seems like it would be a bit hard to do the camber adjustment.

Still 20~30 degrees rotated from where it should be.

I am just wondering, are they all OK if I don't do the camber adjustment? coz I really have no plan to do it at all and just wanna make sure these are fine with that.

Here are BEFORE & AFTER PIC.

Before

After

Does the car like to wonder itself as it hits bumps?

That top mount actually will give you caster and camber at the same time, but each degree of changes I think the car's toe changes too. I have seen this on my friend's Buddy Club coilover for his Evolution 7.

Position it like this from top view : / \ (your before set up)

As you slide the plate up for more negative camber, it will give you positive caster, but this I would think whack out too much toe out. The positive caster is a welcome addition though, but too much toe out will destroy your tyre in no time. So make sure you play around with this on the alignment shop. You can adjust the toe not from the top mount also, but I am not sure if there is too much changes made by the top mount causes the std alignment adjustment not being able to come back close to factory setting.

If you like to know what caster and toe is, whiteline page will give you excellent information and after you finish reading that you may want to do it.

On my celica, and most cars, the three mounting bolts of the plate is like this from top view:

Can you see how the two bolt are line up horizontally on the chassis, while if you look at your Aurion it's position angled? And look at the camber adjustment slider, on my Celica it parallel with the two bolt of the plate, while yours doesn't. So I think that's how the BC plate is meant to be for the Aurion/Camry chassis, unless of course they gave you the wrong part. But again, I have seen this on my friend's Evo 7.

Why don't you play around with the plate slider and see if it work?

Hey mate.

Thanks for your info.

The truth is top mounts on each coilovers are in wrong side in the pics.

I've contatced BC racing coilover on this issue and they advised and apolozied me that they have despatched a set with wrong side indicator stickers on front top mounts.

BC racing advised me to change the top mounts only (Left one to right) and it seems like the angle should be ok if I swap them around.

I am going to do the job by myself on this Sunday and I will try to take some pics and update.

BTW, The camber and toe angle are all original and not been changed at all.

The angle may look like camber and toe adjustments done but since I haven't changed those setup yet and they are still original.

I am pretty sure there shouldn't be any problems with tyres now because I already have wheel alignment done which I have to do it again after this sunday.:(

We'll see how the top mounts go after swapping.

Cheers.

Thanks for being the guinea pig for the aurions...

i pledge $5 to help recoup the costs for your efforts.

Hey JIN

Thanks for your dedicated reporting back here, it has definitely given me the confidence to move forward with BC Racing Coil Overs now that you have confirmed the problem was a mis-labelling one and not a design or model issue.

I am getting a radar Detector first then the coilovers. I just fitted a new sub today so coilovers in a couple of month's for me.

Not a problem guys.

I decided to do it by myself because I am sick of wasting money for wrong job done.

Once I buy stands from ebay, I will change the top mounts and hopefully, it sorts all the problems out.

I will keep updated here with pics how it goes.

Cheers.

I contacted BC racing in Taiwan regarding on the camber adjustment issue.

Yeah..I was right.

They have put the wrong side indicator stickers on the top mounts and they told me to swap the top mounts only.

It seems like it would solve the problem completely but extra expense of wheel alignment and labor for swapping the top mounts should be done.

damn...I should have contacted them before I did my wheel alignment...

Any good and cheap places to get wheel alignment near homebush and paramatta area?

:( :( :( :(

..If the Camry 06+ is the same as the Aurion I don't understand whats causing the issue??..

1. I guess, the problem with coilovers is, the top mounts of the coilovers are not matching exactly.

They are working fine but the problems are the 3 bolts positions or the angle of the camber adjustment part as pics above.

The possibilities that I am thknking is, BC racing has put the wrong side indicator stickers on coilovers(haven't tried to swap left and right so I am not 100% sure.) or the coilovers come like that which is BC racing made them wrong.

The other possibility is, the coilovers are from Taiwan and the top mounts from camry 06+ are different with our aurion and camry in Australia and NZ.

I haven't contacted the seller because the suspension guy said it'd be ok without camber adjustment.

What is the problem that means you can't get them aligned up properly?..

2.The problem was the lipkit.

The bodykit was low and it blocked the signal so the sensors couldn't communicate properly for proper alingment.

EDIT: So there is nothing about suspensions on this issue.

That is what I was told.

..Do you need to have your cars suspension certified if it is modified to get your rego'? In NZ we have to have a certification to make the modification legit and I am worried that if they don't sit right this could fail although I agree with what your saying as I wouldn't go so low as to need extra camber either.

3.I don't think we have any cerfitified required on suspension changes in OZ?(correct me if I am wrong).

Don't count me in this but what I would say is it would be ok if you don't do camber adjustment.

EDIT: I will just leave them as they are and if BC racing makes the proper top mounts for my aurion, then I will propably get the top mounts replaced later.

Since the coilovers can be disassembled in parts and reassembled back easily if I have proper tools.

DJKOR

What I meant by displaying the 2 cars AT-X (2007 Australian edition) and the TRD from Australia. Is they have the exact engine model, compression and bore rate therefore I thought if you have the $10,500 to spend on a TRD Supercharger and fittings. That’s exactly what the TRD is right? 2gr-FE (10:8:1) supercharged. With a plastic TRD cover :P

I’m probably wrong, ,, but I did researched the living hell out of it.

So, from 0 - 60 (or 100) is the same?

Of course not.

Normal aurion and TRD are not same in 0-100KM.

AT-X model is around 7.42sec (may vary on other models depending on some extra equipment) and TRD one is about 6sec.

If there's any difference between normal aurion and trd aurion, why would people buy trd with higher price tag.

EDIT: OOPS..I put wrong word in last words.

If there's NO difference between normal aurion and trd aurion, why would people buy trd with higher price tag.

Just a quick update of coilovers.

During the weekend, I've been to another garage for wheel alignment.

They had a look at the suspension and gave me a bit of advice.

The coilovers would do the same functionalities as any other coilovers without camber adjustment if I don't do any camber adjustment, so it should be fine they said.

I might be able to do a little bit of cambers, but I am not interested in it at all for now.

I paid $75 for all wheels aligned. I felt it was a bit expensive but had no choice because it was saturday and no time to go other places.

Any other good places for wheel alignment and suspensions near Homebush and Paramatta?

No scrubbing(with 4people in my car), no noise or no leaking appeared yet. So far, so good(apart from the top mounts).

Cheers.

I really like your rear bumper and sound system.

Wiring looks tidy as well.

OK. I've been to garage today for fixing it up and made a change on it.

Unfortunately, the top mounts are not straight still.

It seems like it would be a bit hard to do the camber adjustment.

Still 20~30 degrees rotated from where it should be.

I am just wondering, are they all OK if I don't do the camber adjustment? coz I really have no plan to do it at all and just wanna make sure these are fine with that.

Here are BEFORE & AFTER PIC.

Before

After

The coilover struts will be a left or right so you wont be able to just swap them. What I think you need to do is remove the fronts so that you can turn the pillow mount 120 deg and then reinstall them. Drivers side 120 deg anti clockwise and passenger side 120 deg clockwise. The diagram of the pillow mounts look like they are 180 deg out for the Camry/Aurion.

Thanks mate.

I think the mechanic put them in wrong way maybe..if they fit in your way.

going to garage tomorrow again. :(

OK guys.

I found first error on BC racing coilovers.

Here is a pic of it.

The problem is, if you see the 3 bolts on top mount and manual picture, the 3 bolts position on the top mount angle is a bit wierd and rotated.

It seems like the 3 bolts positions are opposite way around between right and left sides.

However, if you see the camry suspension manual from sticky post, the setup is same as my aurion.

I am not going to do camber adjustment but can anyone tell me how that rotated angle could affect the suspensions?

Edit: BTW the coilovers are on right positions. in this case, can I just swap the left suspension to right? Any problems with swapping front suspensions?

You are right and for most people the factory setup is fine and they will never even think about modifications (my wife's gen 6 Camry falls into this group). Most will never even change their shocks even after they have done 100,000km and they are completely stuffed.

Its just that so many times I read "I have got my new lowered springs and the body roll is so much better" comment that it drives me nuts

I guess the main point I was trying to make is that if you want to stop body roll use a swaybars. If you have a car that feels floaty or soft get uprated springs and shocks to suit. And if you want to tighten up the body use braces.

..

Yeah. Also, I am thinking to get braces for front top and rear. maybe 2~3months later? coz I am so broke now. :D

I have looked into coil overs for my SX6 Aurion.

The BC ones (This is in NZ) I am getting are the same part code C-17 but are gold model that has extra multiple settings available including castor. I'm not sure if JIN's ones had this?

I am getting them from Redline Performance who are the Aus, NZ agents for BC. The company that has done my wheels, tyres and Audio will do the fit and send the car to the alignment specialists for tweaking.

They are $NZ1500 ($AU1875) fitted and a further $NZ499 ($AU624) for certification which includes plate riveted to the fire wall under the bonnet.

So that's $NZ1999 all up legit! ($AU2499) This big difference in price between this and JIN is the certification.

I'm not sure what the legalities are in OZ but here if you don't have certificate done by an independent authority and have the plate fixed to your car

you will have the car "pink slipped" or removed from the road, not to mention fines etc.

Because my car is shuddering in the steering and pulling to the left lately I was going to get a specialist alignment done anyway but have now decided to go ahead with Coil Overs and

specialist alignment covering all points is included in the above price.

I expect a marginal improvement in handling "feel" but I am doing this more for the looks of dropping it down about 40-50mm - and because I can!

Thanks to JIN for all the feedback on his research and final fit.

Thanks mate.

About the certificate, in NZ, as I know, any modifications should be certified for WOF which is pretty same as Pinkslip in Australia.

I am not quite sure wether Australia has similar system or not.

Someone please advise me on this because it's gonna be an issue when I have to get pinkslip later on.

In Nz, you may have to be certified from proper mechanic for any modifications but when I was in NZ it only cost about NZ$250~300.

It sounds like big margins in certification to me.

What I did is I contacted one of the main distributors in NZ and he put my order directly through the factory in Taiwan.

There's no certification or any fitting. I only paid for suspension parts and shipping cost. I paid $200 extra for fitting from garage so I paid roughly $1400 in total.

BTW, my front top mounts are gold too. You should have seen same model as one I had.

Emm...Before we talk about body roll and suspension ability, I guess we have to establish what the daily driving means.

I really have no idea how SupaTouring drives daily, but in my terms of daily driving, 110KM max on freeway + no serious sudden turning.

Generally speaking, many people don't even know what the body rolling is.

People like my parents just think it's got soft and comportable suspensions on their car and I do not really think they need some sway bars or any suspension upgrade.

Meanwhile, as I know, the coilover suspensions and swaybars etc. are originally for racing purpose and they were purely developed for decreasing their lap time.

It's so obvious they help dynamic driving on all cars but I don't really think normal cars on road necessarily need that kind of parts on unless you go to track sometimes with your cars.

hahaha sorry thats just too funny.

do u reckon instead of getting a strut top bar + front and rear sway bars + lowering springs, u could get equal or better handling with just coilies?

coz it would cost about the same fully installed.

If I have to choose one from 'strut top bar + front and rear sway bars + lowering springs' AND 'coilovers', I would pick coilovers because lowering spring could give much more stress on factory suspension and they could be defected quicker and it would result replacing the whole suspensions again.

Just remember that the coil springs of a car are not designed to stop body roll, that is what the swaybars are for. The strut brace is to minimise/stop flex in the strut towers.

By putting a firmer set of standard springs or coilovers you will actually be putting more stress on the suspension mounting points and possibly cause more flex. Which then may require the fittment of a strut brace.

You can make a car with standard springs and uprated swaybars corner/handle better than a car with coilovers and standard swaybars because the roll is being controlled properly. Also if you lower a car to far it can have a negative impact on the roll centre which can cause unpredictable/sudden weight shift when cornering rather then a slow/predictable weigyht shift as the cars body rolls.

I really recomend anyone who wants to change their suspension to have a look at the Whiteline website tech articles. There is a lot of good information there, even though it is not Aurion specific.

Is what your saying applicable to daily drivers/street racers/track car?

Would it reduce the body roll feeling in a daily driver?

It is applicable to all. Yes it will and because the springs haven't been changed the ride will stay the same.

I have replaced the rear swaybar and installed a strut brace on my TRD. Even on the TRD there was a hugh amount of rear roll during cornering which has be minimised with the RSB. The strut brace has made the steering feel more direct and accurate by reducing the flex in the front suspension towers.

I am not denying of SupaTouring's point in suspension theory but the question is how many people on the public road would have serious body rolling or unpredictable/sudden weight shift? unless in situation of racing or any emergency cases.

I've been pulled over by police because the police officer said I was making a very very quick turn at the intersection in the night time but I was turning at around 45KM in the 60KM zone, DUH?.

To sum up, SupaTouring has pointed nicely on suspensions and swaybars, but I doubt all these are REALLY necessary in NORMAL driving conditions.

I believe car manufacturers already have balanced all the car abilities on every subjects for driving so I wouldn't recommend any aftermarket parts UNLESS you want it.

Cheers.