GTP Cool Wall: 2007-2009 TRD Aurion

  • Thread starter Wiegert
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2007-2009 TRD Aurion

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  • Poll closed .
Wiegert

Wiegert

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United Kingdom
United Kingdom
2007-2009 TRD Aurion nominated by @Murcie_LP640

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Body Style: 4-door sedan
Engine: 2GR-FE 3.5L supercharged and intercooled V6
Power: 323 hp
Torque: 295 lb-ft
Weight: 1615 kg
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Drivetrain: Front-engine, front-wheel drive
Additional Information:
One of two Toyota Australia vehicles to land with TRD badging and performance upgrades in the late-2000s to try and shake off the make's boring "grandpa-spec" image, the other being the Thai-built N25 HiLux.

The result of the Aurion's makeover - which included a supercharger and intercooler package on the standard 3.5L V6 (which wasn't exactly underpowered to begin with), larger wheels and tyres, Bilstein dampers and upgraded brakes, was (at the time) the most powerful front-wheel-drive car in the world.

The TRD-branded cars were short-lived due to poor sales and poor value for money; the TRD Aurion started at AU$52k in 2007 which was significantly more expensive than the Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo and on par with the Holden Commodore SS V - both cars that were significantly more accomplished in their chassis tuning and offered more performance. The luxury version (3500SL) was more than $60k which, despite TRD claiming it wasn't a competitor for them, put it right in the ballpark of FPV and HSV machines.

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Toyota Aurion = V6 Camry XV40

How cool is it to be in a middle class car driven by a man who works as an accountant?

TRD or not, it's uncool. It's even more uncool when it cost more than ford equivalent.
 
If anything it looks better than the Camry we got in North America.
 
Probably would've been a little cool if they left it looking like a standard Aurion or Camry, but they didn't.
 
I feel like this would drive similar to the 5.3L Impala SS, that's never a good analogy to make.

Uncool, because it's unmistakably a Camry with lipstick on.
 
A supercharged Toyota sedan?

Me gusta.

It's in front wheel drive format to handle that much power?

Seriously uncool.

And this is coming from a Toyota fan boy.
 
Oh Looky Here! A Camry with a lot less grip and a lot more Understeer.

It may have a V6 and a Bright-Red Supercharger, But a Camry will always be a Camry and the Camry is one of the dullest cars ever made.

I'm feeling generous today so it is just an Uncool.
 
I'll give it a low cool for effort, at least it's not a bodykit package that comes with TRD packages today.
 
Aki Ko
It worked for the Mark X. It doesn't work for this.
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Don't get me wrong, there are some TRD editions or factory added TRD superchargers...or as I've clearly noted, the supercharged variants that work. LX is another one that comes to mind, but clearly a response (can't quite remember which came first) to the NISMO variant of their Patrol.

But most of the time it's just a power add, I guess it's better to spend money in R&D making sure it will work then doing a true performance version of a car. Must be cheaper too, but I recall hearing a story about how they spent a ton of money (TRD/Toyota) trying to get a supercharger to work on an early IS, can't remember which it was.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Must be cheaper too, but I recall hearing a story about how they spent a ton of money (TRD/Toyota) trying to get a supercharger to work on an early IS, can't remember which it was.
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First or second gen IS?

Either way, I like it, but it's still a garish treatment to something that is based on transporting people who don't care about driving or cars a lot.
 
Aki Ko
First or second gen IS?

Either way, I like it, but it's still a garish treatment to something that is based on transporting people who don't care about driving or cars a lot.
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Which is probably why it didn't last.

And it was the first gen IS, they made a pace car and then had plans to make a trd/l-sport model which if I remember the story right, came never to be due to not being able to get one to work long enough and correctly, but not sure how true it is.
 

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