Aurion TRD concept released

[Rev28K]

Originally Posted by blackout

Why must you come in and drop all your racing mumbo jumbo to make yourself look good?

Believe me a pro could easily knock a second or two of my times.

I just wanted to see how hard you were pushing and what the car was capable of. Some cars "feel" good on a circuit but their times are slow. I assumed that Toyota may have bought a "star" out for the track days like a few other companies (BMW, FPV, Holden, Jaguar, Honda) do.

Your comments on "experiencing drifting, the import scene, owns a v8 rwd car and is usually quite critical of FWD cars" probably led me to think that you were a little more hardcore. No offence intended, now back to the topic at hand...

[Poetic Justice]

I take things to do with cars as a hobby and no more, I don't get down to the serious parts because I have better and more important things in my life.

There were at least ten of the Toyota Aurion cars out there, I doubt they'd have been modified in any form

[SNB05T]

saw the aurion at the syd motor show last night looks are ok (still just a tarted up camry) but $35k for a 200kw v6. me thinks it will be a good seller, maybe even scare the ve vectradoore this time around. nice job for a cardigan car toyota, still, id prefer my xr8:

[ClevlndStemer]

saw my first Aurion on the road today, i didn't think they were on sale as yet. Anyway it was a white one. Sorry but it looks horrid in comparison to the Camry. I know they're essentially the same car but the camry looks better. Both though make the BA/BF looked outdated as does the VE.

[Poetic Justice]

Taken from carpoint.com.au

Words - Joe Kenwright



There’s more than just good promotion to Toyota’s Aurion Sports Concept car and the company’s push to attract young Aussies into automotive engineering


Opinion

Hands up who has noticed a change in the visibility of Toyota in the automotive landscape. No, not the mile-long dealer’s yards as impressive as they are; we’re talking about the company’s burgeoning local engineering resources and (at last) a genuine intention to embrace performance.

CarPoint gained an insight into the change afoot at Toyota very recently. In one-on-ones with senior Toyota Australia management we have been given a heads-up on the agenda behind Toyota’s Australian International Motor Show star, the Aurion Sports Concept (more here), the establishment of independent local design studio Toyota Style Australia, the company’s sponsorship of the Wheels Young Designer of the Year and new programs dedicated to attracting Australia’s brightest and best to automotive engineering and, ultimately, Toyota Australia.

It would of course be easy to dismiss this activity as Toyota trying to promote itself as a good corporate citizen. However, these programs along with the high-profile Aurion promotion are symptomatic of a far more profound change that embraces even the highest level of Toyota management in Japan.

Internally, Toyota has always run its foreign outposts as scaled down replicas of its Japan business with management outposts staffed by loyal Japanese keeping a tight rein on any local deviations from the corporate line.

Under such a model, Australians would have every reason to perceive the company’s latest programs as window dressing for a mini-Japan operating in Australia’s midst. Nothing could be further from Toyota’s new internal culture. The above programs and others are serious in a manner never seen before in a Japanese company based in Australia.

As hard as it is to believe, according to our management source, despite huge global success Toyota has moved the top level of its Japanese management team 'sideways'. The rationale was that they were no longer hungry for new success. The ‘replacement’ management team has since redefined a new Toyota that harnesses the diverse resources of its outposts for the greater good of the global corporation.

For Toyota Australia, which has always been a highly regarded Toyota outpost, this has delivered a new freedom to explore new design directions and unprecedented resources.

As Paul Beranger, head of Toyota Style Australia observed in the media recently: “We have the world’s best parts bin at our disposal.”

The Aurion Sports Concept is a preview of what’s coming in March 2007 but CarPoint has been told it’s only a fraction of the excitement that Australians will see when the Prodrive-owned Toyota Racing Developments (TRD, more here) comes on stream.

As noted above, Beranger has describes the new operation as the company’s motorsport and special vehicle developments rolled into one. TRD’s internal agenda is to challenge local ideas about what constitutes premium performance vehicles and "move the goalposts".

As a start a power output of 250kW for the first Aurion performance model is well within reach, Toyota sources claim

Further, our management source suggests that a career path for a young engineer or designer within Toyota Australia is now as open-ended as one within Holden and Ford. Australians have traditionally been able to move to the highest positions in Detroit; in the new Toyota it is much more likely a ‘gaijin’ can reach such levels in Japan. No wonder then that Toyota is now looking to play an even more active role in nuturing young Aussie automotive talent.

Ill-fated Avalon aside, the Aurion program marks the first Toyota sold in Australia with significant deviation in styling and engineering from an offshore product. Under this new culture, former Wheels Young Designer of the Year, Nick Hogios (pictured, in suit with rally stars Neal Bates, Coral Taylor, Simon and Sue Evans and Toyota VIPs Lauren Jackson and Laura Csortan) worked with Japanese designers in Nagoya and a local team at Toyota in Melbourne to develop the Aurion design.

If the Aurion has a bold Australian look (and the Aurion Sports Concept more so), it’s partly because an earlier Hogios assignment (before joining Toyota) was developing FPV’s design language including the FPV logo. Hogios also worked on the corporate look of the FPV vehicle range that extended to the BA Falcon race car -- Ford’s first internal racecar program in decades.

Mainstream Australian performance car fans who once felt secure in dismissing Toyota releases as “rice burners” will soon be forced to re-assess this view when Toyota’s local design studio comes on stream early in 2007. And FPV and HSV better take note…

According to our source, the extent of the autonomy of the new Toyota Australia engineering operation (and its influence outside our shores) suggests that if Beranger and co ultimately need a rear-drive or all-wheel drive platform for Toyota to be seen as a serious local performance player then that is what he will get… Sooner rather than later.


....


Woah :P

[HSE2]

Rear drive V8 and I would buy that concept.

[Poetic Justice]

What about 250kw rear drive V6 s/c?

[Polyal]

Forgot to mention that I saw a TRD version on Bell Street the other day, it was camo'd up but you could see the rear bar. The guy was giving it to it aswell, seemed to go ok.

Is there a Toyota thing around that area?

[sfr rob]

i actually like this car, as everyone else has said.. spewing they probably wont be released with a rwd variant!!

[Boss 290]

Originally Posted by au3 chaser

Is it me, or does that look ALOT like the VE commodore....

i was about to say it looks like the hsv e series...especially the rear spoiler

[sfr rob]

I was parked in a street in port melbourne about 3 months ago.. and i saw 2 of the trd cars come out of one toyota driveway, up the road 50 meters and into the next.. did it 2 times while i was there.. pulled my phone to take pics and video, but they didnt come back out, the cars look awesome in the flesh.. for a toyota camry relative.

[HSE2]

Originally Posted by blackout

What about 250kw rear drive V6 s/c?

Not I, no. If they are serious about taking FPV on, then they have to come into the game at 2007 levels not 1999.

[Poetic Justice]

how is that a 1999 level?

KW numbers are nothing when the toyota's weigh in most cases alot less!

[HSE2]

If in "most cases" we are talking about this FPV challenger and it is enough to bring performance to the level at the time then maybe but I am a V8 buyer. Lexus make a pretty good V8.

That’s what it will take for me to consider it. V8 rear wheel drive

[Poetic Justice]

Yeah, and I think if you read the last paragraph of the article I posted, it could be the likes of people like yourself that will see Toyota to doing just that.

I think Toyota have had a good step in realising they need to become a competitor in the Australian Performance market, and they have done a good job at trying, but I think the next step is realising exactly what the majority of people in this thread have said...

And I think its true, it will come sooner rather than later as Toyota steps up to take on every single segment they can

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by blackout

how is that a 1999 level?

KW numbers are nothing when the toyota's weigh in most cases alot less!

The Aurion is only 100kg lighter than a VE Commodore, so basically they weigh about the same as the VZ as that was 100kg lighter than VE.

When are they going to release a final power figure for the TRD. I've seen 235, 240,250 and most recently 225 kw mentioned with a 400nm torque figure. Pretty tame, and i'd imagine that due to the Sportivos price they will be more expensive than the XR6T and the SS and slower too.

[XR8-260]

I just got the nov wheels issue today. Guess what? The 4spd BF falcon is still faster down the 1/4mile than the aurion. (15.3sec vs 15.5sec)

Considering that the aurion has a far superior power to weight and a 6spd auto i think it has just been : by the falcon

[Poetic Justice]

I'm quite surprised...

[JL]

It's funny how people on here have not driven it and already say it will torque steer to the left/right. :

Asthetics wise it looks good, better than the VE and the 380.

[XR8-260]

To be honest the mag journos admitted that the performance testing was done in windy conditions... so i imagine it would be quite close.

[Poetic Justice]

Well the day I attended had a 300m sprint against a BF Mk1 falcon, and the Aurion destroyed it..

[MON10A]

build quality is one thing it will have that my ford doesnt.

[Franky]

Originally Posted by Disco1986

nah FWD sucks! toyota and mitsi need to learn that if they want to compete with ford and holden! Unless of corse the make AWD!

hahahaha that comment cracks me up... have you looked at the sales figures recently? Camry outsold Falcon and Toyota have 3 cars in the top 5...

I'm not trying to back up Toyota but honestly no-one gives a flying f about FWD