My '06 Toyota Aurion SX6 Sportivo

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Ah ya, it's 2GR-FE so not GDi so a bit less powerful but still pretty good nonetheless.

What's the size and offsets of the rims? What tire sizes? Tires surely stretched a bit already. I prefer square fitment tires as it's better for cornering and comfort too.

May I suggest 1 more important thing though, your front brakes, it's still just 1 pot calipers! Toyota stock brakes are usually not good. With this size and power better upgrade to 4 pot calipers, plus stainless braided hoses and dot 5.1 fluids. I think you can use either from old Aristo, Lexus LS, or GS350 4 pot with some mods or brackets.

Yep, has less power than the FSE but without any of the problems associated with direct injection. Admittedly the V6 versions Toyota has produced have been pretty good with no major issues like the 4cyl D4 engines (1AZ-FSE etc).

The wheels are 19x9.5", 32 offset all round. Front tyres are 225/40/19 front and 235/35/19 rear, so there is quite a stretch on them, but nothing that affects handling or safety. You bring up a good point about the brakes, and one I thoroughly looked into when upgrading the rotors. I work at a Toyota wrecker so have access to all of the models you mentioned but after careful consideration I decided that for my style of driving bigger rotors and twin pot calipers would be a waste, as I only drive about 8km to work and 90% of the drive are straight roads. I went through brake conversions etc with my Corolla (previous project) and it responded well due to the lightweight body and high revving 20v engine, however the Aurion is a lot more fun in a straight line than it is around corners, but that's just how I like it

 

[vr2turbo]

Nice night shots........

 

[vr2turbo]

Thanks. The engine in the 3.5L Mark X is similar but not the same. They use a 2GR-FSE (direct injection) whereas the Aurion uses a 2GR-FE. The difference being 311hp vs 276hp. This is FWD. The wheels will easily spin in the wet if you take off quickly, and also in the dry, so it's not a car you want to floor it off the line with.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the wheel/fitment choice :proud:. The wheels sit dead flush with the fenders, whereas before with the stock wheels they sat very far in, which didn't give an aggressive look whatsoever. You'd probably have to see the car in real-life to see exactly how it sits, but I assure you that there's no poke, crazy camber or anything else that looks out of the ordinary

I like the newer setup, looks more aggressive also.....:rolleyes:

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Thanks!

Figured that I should post a few other small things that have been done over the last couple of months that made a noticeable difference (or at least to me anyway, haha). The photos were taken before some of the latest updates (carbon lip etc) but include chrome trim around the silver dash inserts and front fog light surrounds, a facelift Aurion license plate bracket that I modified to fit the pre-facelift front bumper so the plate sits nicer with the large frame, the reinstall of my original knob type A/C controls but wrapped in carbon vinyl to match my centre console and an updated photo of my engine bay as it stands right now.

 

[6UE5t]

Yep, has less power than the FSE but without any of the problems associated with direct injection. Admittedly the V6 versions Toyota has produced have been pretty good with no major issues like the 4cyl D4 engines (1AZ-FSE etc).

The wheels are 19x9.5", 32 offset all round. Front tyres are 225/40/19 front and 235/35/19 rear, so there is quite a stretch on them, but nothing that affects handling or safety. You bring up a good point about the brakes, and one I thoroughly looked into when upgrading the rotors. I work at a Toyota wrecker so have access to all of the models you mentioned but after careful consideration I decided that for my style of driving bigger rotors and twin pot calipers would be a waste, as I only drive about 8km to work and 90% of the drive are straight roads. I went through brake conversions etc with my Corolla (previous project) and it responded well due to the lightweight body and high revving 20v engine, however the Aurion is a lot more fun in a straight line than it is around corners, but that's just how I like it

I like the newer setup, looks more aggressive also.....:rolleyes:

Hehe as I suspected the rims are too big and tires very stretched, should've been only 8.5j width. With 9.5j it should've been using minimum 255 tires, 265 better, and the offset should be at least 45 but that may not clear the inside of the front fender. No doubt at the front it does poke out from the fenders, confirmed by your subsequent photos. The rears will also rub if you use properly sized 255/265 tires. Stretched tires will affect handling if you lean on corner a bit hard coz the tire may lean partly onto the sidewall already instead staying on the tread as it's supposed to. I think the perfect fitment for Camry should be max 8.5 with 235 tires all around (not staggered for FWD) with offset not lower than 35.

As for brakes, you'd never know when you'd face real emergency situation where very good braking system will save you and your already beautiful car. This car weighs over 1.6 ton with 270+HP, it does need better brakes than the normal puny 1 pot std Toyota. Toyota does tend to be cheap skate on some things and this is one of it, plus std Toyota brakes are usually a bit spongy and not enough stopping power. Judging from how well you've done up your car, surely budget is not a constraint for you so this is a very good upgrade to do, in fact more important than the rest. If you don't want to convert to 4 pot, at least use much better pads, stainless braided hoses, and dot 5.1 brake fluid. Rotors actually better use smooth ones or just slotted but not drilled.

Well anyway that's just my humble positive criticism on other wise an already great job you've done so far. It's your car and not mine so up to you how you view it.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Izso]

Wow.. 8.5km per day and the car looks like this.

Personally I'd get those brakes done just to fill the massive gap the 19s leave behind! And what a job! Toyota wreckers? Specifically only Toyota? DAmnnnnnn... my friend would love you. Especially since he's always looking for Toyota Chaser parts

 

[vr2turbo]

Hehe as I suspected the rims are too big and tires very stretched, should've been only 8.5j width. With 9.5j it should've been using minimum 255 tires, 265 better, and the offset should be at least 45 but that may not clear the inside of the front fender. No doubt at the front it does poke out from the fenders, confirmed by your subsequent photos. The rears will also rub if you use properly sized 255/265 tires. Stretched tires will affect handling if you lean on corner a bit hard coz the tire may lean partly onto the sidewall already instead staying on the tread as it's supposed to. I think the perfect fitment for Camry should be max 8.5 with 235 tires all around (not staggered for FWD) with offset not lower than 35.

As for brakes, you'd never know when you'd face real emergency situation where very good braking system will save you and your already beautiful car. This car weighs over 1.6 ton with 270+HP, it does need better brakes than the normal puny 1 pot std Toyota. Toyota does tend to be cheap skate on some things and this is one of it, plus std Toyota brakes are usually a bit spongy and not enough stopping power. Judging from how well you've done up your car, surely budget is not a constraint for you so this is a very good upgrade to do, in fact more important than the rest. If you don't want to convert to 4 pot, at least use much better pads, stainless braided hoses, and dot 5.1 brake fluid. Rotors actually better use smooth ones or just slotted but not drilled.

Well anyway that's just my humble positive criticism on other wise an already great job you've done so far. It's your car and not mine so up to you how you view it.

Keep up the good work.

Not only the tyre width but the aspect ratio also. For 225/40, yes it is being stretched. 8J or 8.5J is just nice, as for the rear 235/35, 8.5J or 9J is best 9.5J is max but usable.
However looking at the pictures, 255 and 265 cannot go in as he already on 35 profile. Using that width is too wide and too high.....

 

[6UE5t]

...

Personally I'd get those brakes done just to fill the massive gap the 19s leave behind! ...

Yup that too!

Not only the tyre width but the aspect ratio also. For 225/40, yes it is being stretched. 8J or 8.5J is just nice, as for the rear 235/35, 8.5J or 9J is best 9.5J is max but usable.
However looking at the pictures, 255 and 265 cannot go in as he already on 35 profile. Using that width is too wide and too high.....

9.5j rims means 9.5x2.54cm = 24.13cm and that's not yet including the additional metal plate thickness of the rim's lip which would add around 1.5-2 cm more, so the effective width measured on the outside lip-to-lip can be already at least >25 cm. That's why minimum must use 255 tires, 265 better for extra lip protection but cannot fit anymore into his car especially at the front. So 8.5j max with offset minimum 35 using 235 tires all around is a much better fitment.

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Hehe as I suspected the rims are too big and tires very stretched, should've been only 8.5j width. With 9.5j it should've been using minimum 255 tires, 265 better, and the offset should be at least 45 but that may not clear the inside of the front fender. No doubt at the front it does poke out from the fenders, confirmed by your subsequent photos. The rears will also rub if you use properly sized 255/265 tires. Stretched tires will affect handling if you lean on corner a bit hard coz the tire may lean partly onto the sidewall already instead staying on the tread as it's supposed to. I think the perfect fitment for Camry should be max 8.5 with 235 tires all around (not staggered for FWD) with offset not lower than 35.

As for brakes, you'd never know when you'd face real emergency situation where very good braking system will save you and your already beautiful car. This car weighs over 1.6 ton with 270+HP, it does need better brakes than the normal puny 1 pot std Toyota. Toyota does tend to be cheap skate on some things and this is one of it, plus std Toyota brakes are usually a bit spongy and not enough stopping power. Judging from how well you've done up your car, surely budget is not a constraint for you so this is a very good upgrade to do, in fact more important than the rest. If you don't want to convert to 4 pot, at least use much better pads, stainless braided hoses, and dot 5.1 brake fluid. Rotors actually better use smooth ones or just slotted but not drilled.

Well anyway that's just my humble positive criticism on other wise an already great job you've done so far. It's your car and not mine so up to you how you view it.

Keep up the good work.

I'm all for positive criticism and feedback, but your posts come off as very opinionated and quite rude. Lets be honest, you have no place to tell me what I "should" be doing because it's not your car. I'm not an idiot, and this isn't my first car - Every modification on this car has had plenty of thought behind it and everything is there for a reason. The wheels themselves even came as a blank template that need to be drilled to the stud pattern and shaved to the desired offset, so that alone took a lot of thought in order for the wheels to sit properly. I scrape over big bumps and with weight in the back as it is with the current 235/35's on the rear, so anything wider simply won't work - And if I wanted a ballooned tyre look I would have kept the 18" TRD wheels I had on previously.

As for the brakes, they're perfectly adequate for a vehicle of this size and weight, hence why Toyota used them. They're 296mm rotors in the front and 286mm in the rear, which is large compared to other cars. The aftermarket rotors I have are slotted and DIMPLE drilled, not drilled straight through. The pads are Bendix. No sponginess, no fade, no noise and best of all, no dust - Exactly what I wanted and all that I need for my driving style. I appreciate your concern, but I've got this

 

[6UE5t]

I'm all for positive criticism and feedback, but your posts come off as very opinionated and quite rude. Lets be honest, you have no place to tell me what I "should" be doing because it's not your car. I'm not an idiot, and this isn't my first car - Every modification on this car has had plenty of thought behind it and everything is there for a reason. The wheels themselves even came as a blank template that need to be drilled to the stud pattern and shaved to the desired offset, so that alone took a lot of thought in order for the wheels to sit properly. I scrape over big bumps and with weight in the back as it is with the current 235/35's on the rear, so anything wider simply won't work - And if I wanted a ballooned tyre look I would have kept the 18" TRD wheels I had on previously.

As for the brakes, they're perfectly adequate for a vehicle of this size and weight, hence why Toyota used them. They're 296mm rotors in the front and 286mm in the rear, which is large compared to other cars. The aftermarket rotors I have are slotted and DIMPLE drilled, not drilled straight through. The pads are Bendix. No sponginess, no fade, no noise and best of all, no dust - Exactly what I wanted and all that I need for my driving style. I appreciate your concern, but I've got this

Huh, I was being rude?? I mentioned that you did a great job, didn't I? I gave you thumbs up and likes on your photos too and you take those as being rude, opinionated and implied that you're an idiot??? I speak based on data and observation of your own photos. You on the other hand firstly denied that your rims poke out of the fenders and yet you've proved it yourself with your photos that they are indeed poking out. You also now admit that the rears indeed would rub even with such stretched tires, so say again what did I say wrong before?

Like one ZTH member here once said, why be so sensitive??? Or did I strike a nerve there somewhere? If you cannot take a straight to the point suggestion/criticism with proper reasoning, then that's your problem and not mine.

Well it is indeed your car and your money so you can do what ever you want. And I did mention like that, didn't I? So yeah you can scrape and rub all you want and I honestly don't care what you do with it. I think I have said enough and no need to waste anymore time here, so don't bother to response coz I'm checking out of your thread.

Have a good day!

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Huh, I was being rude?? I mentioned that you did a great job, didn't I? I gave you thumbs up and likes on your photos too and you take those as being rude, opinionated and implied that you're an idiot??? I speak based on data and observation of your own photos. You on the other hand firstly denied that your rims poke out of the fenders and yet you've proved it yourself with your photos that they are indeed poking out. You also now admit that the rears indeed would rub even with such stretched tires, so say again what did I say wrong before?

Like one ZTH member here once said, why be so sensitive??? Or did I strike a nerve there somewhere? If you cannot take a straight to the point suggestion/criticism with proper reasoning, then that's your problem and not mine.

Well it is indeed your car and your money so you can do what ever you want. And I did mention like that, didn't I? So yeah you can scrape and rub all you want and I honestly don't care what you do with it. I think I have said enough and no need to waste anymore time here, so don't bother to response coz I'm checking out of your thread.

Have a good day!

Perhaps you should read through your posts again, except this time from a different point of view. You come across as someone who is very arrogant and thinks that everything you say is gospel. You say you speak based on data and observation of my photos, but they are purely your opinion on how a car 'should' be, without any consideration that someone else's opinion and taste may differ from your own. As I said, my front wheels sit perfectly flush with the fenders, yet you insist that you see it differently from the photos, essentially calling me a liar. Criticism is fine, but you should find a better way to word your posts. Thanks for stopping by, and I welcome you to visit again, but perhaps next time it'd be best to bring a meaningful post to this thread that isn't full of opinionated garbage :shot:

 

[Izso]

guys, I think it's just a cultural difference here that's causing some intentions/words to be misconstrued.

Kiwi dude, I don't think he meant to be rude, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but ultimately it's your car so no need to get so worked up about his reply. Your money, your car, your choice mate. Besides, he's been a supporter of your build since you posted it up here.

Guys : ZTH isn't global enough yet. And until we are we need to remember that the way words written may come across differently in different countries/cultures. We Malaysians I believe are a lot more crass and opinionated so let's just chill out and agree to disagree. We don't need to like each others work but let's not start a war of words over a difference in opinion.

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

New photos:

 

[Veloc]

Bro Kiwi, I do agree with what Izso mentioned here. I guess 6UE5t has no intention of being rude. I guess he was just genuinely giving suggestions based on visual analysis of the photographs with application to our terrible local roads here. And I guess that the sentences were constructed in a way that we are used to here. I thought he sounded quite convinced, nevertheless friendly in his comments. I assure you that there is no disrespect whatsoever. The both of you are one of the most passionate people I've seen around.

That aside, I actually came back here after a long time to look for you. Got a situation with my blacktop engine that I wish to get your advice/opinions on. Sent you a pm.

 

[Tom]

Some new pics:

And this photo I took the other day:

Now that's a Camry I don't mind having as a daily, great job there

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Bro Kiwi, I do agree with what Izso mentioned here. I guess 6UE5t has no intention of being rude. I guess he was just genuinely giving suggestions based on visual analysis of the photographs with application to our terrible local roads here. And I guess that the sentences were constructed in a way that we are used to here. I thought he sounded quite convinced, nevertheless friendly in his comments. I assure you that there is no disrespect whatsoever. The both of you are one of the most passionate people I've seen around.

That aside, I actually came back here after a long time to look for you. Got a situation with my blacktop engine that I wish to get your advice/opinions on. Sent you a pm.

It's very possible that it's a cultural difference in regards to the way we speak and voice our opinions. We were having a constructive conversation until it all went pear-shaped. The thing that annoyed me was how he was telling me what I had done "wrong", when it was purely a difference in taste. I like wide wheels and stretched tyres, whereas he doesn't, but to say that something shouldn't be like that on someone else's car is a step too far, especially when I had already explained my reasoning for that particular style. Anyway, that's all behind us now, so we'll put it down to a difference of opinion and move on

I've just replied to your PM regarding your exhaust

Now that's a Camry I don't mind having as a daily, great job there

Thanks!!

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

After almost a year of the having the King Springs installed and never really being satisfied with the horrendous fender gap at the front compared to the slammed look at the back, I decided to do something about it and get new springs and shocks. I toyed with the idea of coilovers, but due to needing a cert it just wasn't justifiable enough for me, but luckily these new Dobi springs have dropped it to a coilover-like height without all of the extra expense. To achieve the perfect drop all round I ended up reusing the King Springs in the rear and only used the Dobi springs in the front.

You may notice that the carbon front lip isn't in the photos.....Reason being is that it ripped off from the front bumper trying to get into my garage....twice. So after two unsuccessful attempts to overcome the small concrete lip at the entrance of the garage I decided that a front lip is just never going to work at this sort of height. Even now the bottom of the bumper scrapes against the concrete coming in, and that's minor compared to most places I go, so it's probably for the best :D

 

[vr2turbo]

So now looks more even between front and rear.....

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Yeah it's finally even!! . Feels nicer to drive now that my nose isn't further in the air too.

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Decided to do a couple of small things to the Aurion this weekend. Had some stick-on chrome trim left so put some around the rear lip. Hard to notice unless you know it's not meant to be there, but makes it look a little better back there.

Tinted the LED bumper reflectors with a 50% opacity black film, so it's now the same color as the tail lights and has no more glare but isn't fully black when switched off (much better than the 20% tint or red film I tried previously).

And, last but not least, loaded some custom dash faces onto my head-unit which work with the DashCommand OBD-II software I have installed.