TRD goooooone!!!!!!!

[ADSXR8]

Originally Posted by TS50

Good bying at that price

And looks pretty good too. I cannot believe they made two variants, 3500S and 3500SL, but neither based on top line Presara. Another mistake by Toyota Australia.

[Daymoe]

Originally Posted by VenomST

That says it all really. It takes more than 17 people to do a thorough job researching, planning, designing, engineering, testing, advertising and managing the development of a new car model.

TRD could have been something decent but they didn't have the right base vehicles to start with. Realistically they would have fared much better playing with a Celica and an MR2 as opposed to an Aurion and a Hilux. Shame on Toyota Australia for no longer selling any coupes.

My workmate who was at TRD, got told that he won't be layed off because they couldn't afford to pay him off, so instead of within Toyota, they're trying to get him back into Prodrive who he left for TRD, if not then they have to pay him out. He doesn't want to go back to Prodrive at all.

[__MFP__]

just reading back Torxteer was saying on page 3 that toyota struggled to sell its first one hundred Aurions, i thought the same but have only just realised that (im not sure about the Mainland, but,) Tasmanias whole undercover cop car force are these TRD and normal Aurions which makes me think that anyone with over 200Kw has ABSOLUTELY no worries in the world.

I Agree with the majority of you all when it comes to your opinions on ytf Toyota didnt bring out a TRD corolla!!! i could see nothing better than another AE86 rolling off Toyotas production line.

I look forward to a NEW TRD Corolla AE??86?? Sprinter

Toyotas most popular Corolla was the AE86 because its the only bloody one w/out FWD, they definately need to bring in RWD or AWD for sure

[flappist]

What tha?????

I say that AWD seems not to be popular because it is dearer and less quick in a straight line than a similar RWD only despite having safer handing characteristics and this is why you say I am wrong?????

Originally Posted by ESP

That argument has no legs at all........

In most cases, the respective car had a rival amongst its own ranks that was cheaper, lighter in GVM, used less fuel and performance was on par regardless of the AWD combo........Especially the AWD platform in the HSV Coupe4. It was more a techno showpiece rather than an outright performance quantum leap over the rear wheel drive platform........and at 90K............why would you bother ????????

On the other hand........an AWD TRD most certainly would have major advantages over the FWD platform. As it stands, a supercharged V6 running all of its performance through the steering end was always going to have its limitations. But then again........cast your mind back to Toyotas last effort at building a performance AWD jigger........Celica GT4...........it wasn't exactly a performance firecracker either.........

WHAT THA???????

[sleekism]

Originally Posted by __MFP__

just reading back Torxteer was saying on page 3 that toyota struggled to sell its first one hundred Aurions, i thought the same but have only just realised that (im not sure about the Mainland, but,) Tasmanias whole undercover cop car force are these TRD and normal Aurions which makes me think that anyone with over 200Kw has ABSOLUTELY no worries in the world.

I Agree with the majority of you all when it comes to your opinions on ytf Toyota didnt bring out a TRD corolla!!! i could see nothing better than another AE86 rolling off Toyotas production line.

I look forward to a NEW TRD Corolla AE??86?? Sprinter

Toyotas most popular Corolla was the AE86 because its the only bloody one w/out FWD, they definately need to bring in RWD or AWD for sure

The AE86 was popular for enthusiasts not for sales. For most people the FWD Corolla was perfectly fine. Most Corolla buyers aren't looking to drift.

However what Toyota needs to do is polish the Corolla badge which they haven't done in 20 years. The Corolla seems to be the only car in the world going BACKWARDS in power!!!!!!!!

They STILL haven't matched the perfromance of the 4AGE AE86's and 20-valve AE92 and that was in the late 80's!!!!!!!!

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by flappist

What tha?????

I say that AWD seems not to be popular because it is dearer and less quick in a straight line than a similar RWD only despite having safer handing characteristics and this is why you say I am wrong?????



WHAT THA???????

.............you obviously haven't read your own post ...........

I was responding to :

Originally Posted by flappist

Handling and safety seem to be always a much lesser concideration than price and 0-400m with the average Australian "performance" car buyer.

You are assuming that the COUPE 4 was a revelation in performance car safety and handling and a whole heap better than the RWD !!!.....My point was that the Coupe 4 didn't really offer any HUGE quantum leap advantages over the rear wheel drive platform.........even in the handling dept as a performance vehicle......it was too fat and slow and the steering suffered.....even described as dull......maybe only on dirt roads where many comments were made about its superiority...........but hell...........how many people would buy a 90K+ HSV to take it dirt rallying......safely of course.......:


It failed , like the Celica GT4 as mentioned because it just didn't cut the mustard. It wasn't a whole heap better in any dept and offered very little incentive to part with the $20K gap over its RWD sibling........

However, as I stated, an AWD TRD WOULD have been better than its FWD iteration if executed correctly......it had the potential to offer heaps more than the FWD is capable of......and may have lended itself more to the market that is used to powerful Rear Wheel Drive cars.

[STHSV8]

What's going to happen to Neil Crompton's beloved TRD Aurion Aussie race car?

[Luke3000]

The thing about sales of TRD's are most people that would have bought a TRD would not have been taking direct comparision with any performance car like an f6 or clubsport. Most HSV and FPV buyers come from ford and holden and none from toyota.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by MRJUCY

Well if the numbers are accurate they did better then FTe.

Come on Mark whose team are you on :

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Peuty

I'm still trying to figure out who the sister is though.

Lucky we bought a Tickford before all that in house loving started. :

[Corzza]

Damn maybe if their vehicles had a bit more muscle they would be more popular

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Back to street cred though, I'd still be very happy with any Supra, any Lexus or any of the TRD Rally Corollas that are marketed to the public around the world and which would spank nearly all HSVs & FPVs - AWD, Turbo'ed, AND good build quality. Can't get all three of those in an Aussie or US built car.



Do you really think that Toyota head office in Japan give a rats about FPV or HSV? They wouldn't even know who they are.

Thats the thing, Toyota have not built a peformance model worthy of mention for years now, the Supra is dead, the TRD rally cars are purpose built racers, and the only Lexus worth mentioning is the ISF which is nowhere near as good as the C63 or M3. They do not have any turbo AWD models at all. They ditched all the performance stuff they made and just kept soley to white goods on wheels.

And Prodrive do not own TRD, they were only contracted to do the assembly for them, thats as far as it goes, they don't own any of it or do any development work for them, so they are not a sister operation to FPV, which is majority owned by Prodrive.