Toyota launches TRD Aurion

[CSV_LS1]

Toyota has officially launched the long-awaited TRD Aurion in Australia today. While TRD-editions of select Toyota vehicles have been available in several markets for years, the TRD Aurion is the first vehicle worldwide to be sold as a TRD, now established as a separate brand under Toyota. This is similar to the setup that Mercedes has with AMG worldwide. The Aurion is based on the Toyota Camry.

In addition to the changes in equipment, appearance, and performance from the Toyota Aurion Sportivo, the TRD version also uses an Eaton TVS (Twin Vortices Series) Supercharger, a first for a production car. Power from the 3.5 liter V6 is rated at 329 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque and is delivered to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. The result is a 6.1 second sprint from 0-62 and a top speed of 155 mph.


The TRD Aurion will compete against the V8 powered Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore, with a price stating around $56,990.

www.leftlanenews.com

[mowog]

Its still a Camry and its still ugly

[fordAU]

Originally Posted by mowog

Its still a Camry and its still ugly

I second that motion, those crazy Tokyo boys, a would be if it could be, an XR6T would wipe the foor with it.

Starting price of around $56,990

[Grunter]

They look the goods on the outside, however the interior is still whitegoods be it with fridge magnets for decoration.

[blueoval]

I like it externally, but the interior is bland.

[RogueDriver]

I'm in love with that rear bar.
And I don't hate the interior as much as I probably should. In fact, the dash is almost sexy

But, correct me if I'm wrong, 329HP = 245kW, right? Isn't that a little on the low side? I would have expected more but then maybe I'm not in the target market (since I'm under 60).
It's going to be interesting to see who buys them.

[TZENU]

Looks nice, and i love those seats.... pitty about the rest of the interior

[RG]

Dual exhaust outlets integrated into the rear bar looks the goods, that's about all though.

[MeestaNob!]

Looks good on the outside and the seats are grand, but the dash (and the steering wheel OMG) are very ugly.

$56K is a lot of clams for a mega Camry too.

I know I spent $43K on a FWD XR5 and I love it to bits, but for $50K+ I want RWD or AWD and more goodies than this car offers.

That said, a up-specced Typhoon would be $8K-10K dearer and have about the same in toys too, so at the end of the day it appears RWD is the real sticking point.

[Xitdxr]

High in price. they are stating its going to be $56,000 starting price and over $60,000 for the luxury version. It looks good, and its 0-100 time is a claimed 6.1 seconds which aint that bad, but its pricing is going to kill it. Still Front wheel drive too.

[sleekism]

Geez for $57,000 245kw really isn't much is it???

How much does an XR8 or SS cost or an XR6 Turbo???

For that price they are pushing into FPV and HSV territory which are pushing 300kw plus.

It doesn't even have friggin AWD!!!

How are they going to market the piece of junk?

It's going to have less power, worse handling, sound crapper AND be more expensive than a Ford and Holden. Anybody who buys it deserves to be shot

Apparently Toyota are saying it will be more "sophisticated" than the HSV and FPV.

I can't believe it's seriously going to cost that much for a bodykit and a supercharger slapped on.

The worst thing is that knowing people the TRD Aurion is going to sell like hotcakes.

Hopefully everyone who buys it will understeer into the nearest tree.

Can't wait for the comparos.

[hy_boi]

it'll never understeer to many bloody gadjets on it to stop it, so it'll be boring to drive, think they were more trying to aim at taking on subaru's, mazda6 mps and stuff like that, but yeah wouldn't mind a drive and a read of a faircomparo

I do like the seats very nice

[futura]

Looks pretty good, touch of F1 nose on the front, However, still a front wheel drive, dash layout and function not the best. Power should be over 270kw for that price tag.

[ClevlndStemer]

for 60k, no thanks. Good to see Toyota giving it a go but they just didn't give it enough. It'll sell well though. An SS/XR6T for me at about 10k cheaper.

[Redrum]

Not too bad, looks good in red. But I have no interest in FWD cars..........

[DBourne]

not a bad car in my mind, but considering this is meant to be the sports model (hence the s/c) which knob decided to skip out on AWD?

[merlin]

Looks great exterior wise, interior is OK, but FWD and 329hp do not go together. I don't believe the Toyota claim of 6.1 to 100 (too much wheelspin), will wait to see what wheels and motor get.

As others have already said $57K is already more than $10K over the Ford and Holden offerings, it is more HSV/FPV territory.

Interestingly the Aurion SX6 finished last in BFYB this year - they basically said handling was rubbish (due to FWD, too much interference from electronics) but had a great engine, I wonder if the TRD version fixes the handling issues.

Did I mention it looks good?

[Rev28K]

There were rumors that the stability control in the F series Lexus is going to be less intrusive so maybe the same will happen with this one.

Re: FWD only if it is $56k with FWD and AWD was ditched because of price, imagine how much a (higher powered) AWD would come in at? Although being Toyota maybe they could have “bought” the market, sold an AWD model at a loss for the halo model.

Mitsubishi aren’t going ahead with their supercharged 380 so it doesn’t have a logical competitor. HSV and Tickford have had a few mis-fires over the years hopefully Toyota will do better in the future.

P.S. what racetrack where the photos taken at – it doesn’t look Victorian.

[PoMmYwOG]

245kw not bad for a S/C 3.4L V6...XR6T is making that and its a 4L... gotta give them credit for that atleast...

But FWD is what kills it for me, its hard enough keeping the front wheels from spinning in mums 145kw Camry sportivo let alone a 245kw s/c version! I would have thought they would have at least made it AWD...

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Rev28K

Re: FWD only if it is $56k with FWD and AWD was ditched because of price, imagine how much a (higher powered) AWD would come in at? Although being Toyota maybe they could have “bought” the market, sold an AWD model at a loss for the halo model.

I thought the camery platform can only be FWD, so there's no option for them to make it. I guess if this is a hit then they'll redesign the next platform to have it and bring more punters in.

But that much power and FWD pretty silly.

I couldn't care less I dont like Toyota's anyway.

[hy_boi]

eastern creek^^^

[arlester]

Yes it is overpriced but hell if they don't sell enough that will come down. Also we will have to wait for the next model to come out before anything other than FWD comes out. It's because the Aurion is built on the same Production line as the Camry.

A rumour though is the TRD Corolla will be AWD. Because that has a platform to sit on.

PS.. How do I get a pic of my car to appear under my name on the side

[sfr rob]

looks great, I am sure these will do REALLY well!
the interior is nice, apart from the center icc, and i think the rear is a bit, i dont know... looks like its from the 80's. It's good Toyota now have something out that will be up there with the xr6's and ss's!

[sleekism]

Just another point:

The TRD Aurion is said to be a competitor to the Mazda6 MPS but the rumours are that production of the Mazda 6 MPS is set to end due to poor sales (at a time when Mazda is at maximum capacity and looking at opening more plants).

A wise move by Toyota would have been to release it at some ridiculous low price like $39,990 drive away and watch the 50's super payout people come running.

This move by Toyota raises the question of whether Toyota should be allowed entry into the V8 supercars. I am all for it o one condition: They have to remain Front Wheel Drive.

I would hate the ridiculous situation of NASCAR where Front Wheel Drive V6's are "production" race cars in NASCAR with RWD and V8's.

As much as V8 Supercars are bagged at least in real life they ARE RWD with a V8 option.

[Piotr]

Originally Posted by sleekism

This move by Toyota raises the question of whether Toyota should be allowed entry into the V8 supercars. I am all for it o one condition: They have to remain Front Wheel Drive.

I would hate the ridiculous situation of NASCAR where Front Wheel Drive V6's are "production" race cars in NASCAR with RWD and V8's.

As much as V8 Supercars are bagged at least in real life they ARE RWD with a V8 option.

V8 Supercars arn't a production series. They are purpose built identical race cars, nothing apart from an outershell differs between Ford or Holden. The skyline killed "production" touring car racing in OZ

[winovin]

Ugly!!!

What about torque steer????? How many FWD cars have this much power? Any decent FWD maker with a powerful engine makes AWD available!!!!

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by sleekism

Just another point:

The TRD Aurion is said to be a competitor to the Mazda6 MPS but the rumours are that production of the Mazda 6 MPS is set to end due to poor sales (at a time when Mazda is at maximum capacity and looking at opening more plants).

Mazda 6 MPS production has wound up as the new 6 is not that far away and the MPS is a halo car for Mazda and not a mainstream model as such. They actually do quite a lot of work that is structural to the cars and a lot of components are different, over a normal 6 and I hear they are built in batches because of it. Plans are underway for a new MPS in two years time on the new 6 platform. Expect a 2.5 DISI Turbo.

As an aside, as a current Mazda 6 MPS owner I would not trade my car in for this Toyota. For one thing my car is AWD and for another it is also faster.

Anyway an interesting first attempt, but they need to make it cost around the same as an SS or XR8 to be competitive - this is not a HSV or FPV competitor. For non "Toyota tribalists" its a bit of stretch to image a Subaru or Mazda owner changing over to one.

Dan

[Piotr]

I think they look great.

[ebxr8240]

Is the Ford body in Nascar rwd ???
Atleast Ford have a rwd car...

[Focused]

FWD...??? Hmmm... no.