TRD goooooone!!!!!!!

[FPV8U]

TRD was always going to struggle with Fwd, the same Engine/Body combo with Rwd & Manual option would have faired much better i think..

[ltd_on20s]

i just dont understand how their road division can keep churning out FWD "performance" cars....they are in nascar/indy/F1.....so they know what it takes for the public to want to hve their vehicles.....looks to me like TRD never really "sold" that part of the business to the bean counters.....

[MrRhino]

Originally Posted by fpv84d

Who actually modified the cars heard thru the media early on that pro drive were doing the mods on the trd's they also have a hand in FPV, pro drive are fpr's driving force if pro drive modded the toyota's What were they thinking!

Your right there, prodrive as far as i was aware were still doing them, I went for a job interview there to slap the aurions / hilux's together, a couple of months ago, lucky i didnt get it!

It would of been Toyota that pulled the plug on pro drive, prodrive were in there for the money, that they were making off them, there is good money in making cars in to second stage manufacture, aka Subaru - Tuned by sti.

The company i was working for were going to do the aurion it was a big contract to have, but we didnt get it it was us or prodrive. The rest is history.

I was working at a toyota dealer briefly, they had 2 aurions sitting there for almost 12 months, covered in dust and didn't move. No - one was interested in them, then toyota techs came out to reflash the ecu's because with the s/c the motor was leaning out at high revs and grenading. So they just kept sitting there

Nice looking car just not concieved properly.

[XR8AU2121]

The up side for those less than 1000 TRD owners is that Toyota has just turned them into instant collector cars.

Those left will now be for sale at a premium.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by XR8AU2121

The up side for those less than 1000 TRD owners is that Toyota has just turned them into instant collector cars.

Those left will now be for sale at a premium.

What, like HSV Jackaroo's and SV1800 Astras. They will be worth nothing in no time. Anything based on a Camry will never be collectable in any shape or form.

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

What, like HSV Jackaroo's and SV1800 Astras. They will be worth nothing in no time. Anything based on a Camry will never be collectable in any shape or form.

What? So now you tell me. :

I was planning to visit my local TRD dealer to snap up one of the remaining “high performance” Aurions to put in storage next to my 1985 Limited Edition Corona Avanti.

I thought that I was sitting on a gold mine. :

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by Full Noise

What? So now you tell me. :

I was planning to visit my local TRD dealer to snap up one of the remaining “high performance” Aurions to put in storage next to my 1985 Limited Edition Corona Avanti.

I thought that I was sitting on a gold mine. :

How do you think I feel? I have a Brock Samara in storage waiting for the day they will be worth millions!

[Ducati888]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>…eeer what?

Concept and reality are two very different things. The Super Pursuit has street cred. Something that no Toyota will ever have.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Street cred is irrellevant. Selling units is what they are in the business of doing. Toyota outsell every other manufacturer on the market in Australia, and around the world, not because petrol heads despise them, but because they are very good cars, well put together and which meet the purpose of nearly everyone who buys them. If you add the monthly sales tallies of the Camry & Aurion, they exceed the sales of the new Falc in all guises. I can't figure out why so many Commonbores sell. Their build quality is . I had one for a while.... Got sick of a rattling dash then sold it and bought an AWD Mitsu.

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.

In reality, I'll finish my XB Coupe and cruise around with a smile on my face...

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.

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Street cred is irrellevant. Selling units is what they are in the business of doing. Toyota outsell every other manufacturer on the market in Australia, and around the world, not because petrol heads despise them, but because they are very good cars, well put together and which meet the purpose of nearly everyone who buys them. If you add the monthly sales tallies of the Camry & Aurion, they exceed the sales of the new Falc in all guises. I can't figure out why so many Commonbores sell. Their build quality is . I had one for a while.... Got sick of a rattling dash then sold it and bought an AWD Mitsu.

People can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forty percent of people know that.

And I bet that for every Ducati sold in Italy, they probably sell 30 Vespas. Does that mean that the Vespa is a better motorcyle than the Ducati? If Vespa made a “performance” scooter and tried to market it to bike enthusiasts, would they sell or would they be laughed at? Like you said, to Toyota, street cred is irrelevant. They wouldn’t even know what it means.

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.

Here is where the problem is.
They didn’t have a TRD Supra, Corolla or any Lexus version. If they did, there’d probably be a few blue bloods and red army members defecting. What they did was whack a body kit and a few pieces on a refrigerator and try to market it as a “performance” car. It’s got me buggered why it didn’t sell, (sarcasm off). Toyota will stick to what they know best, selling boring cars to boring people. Let’s face it, there are a lot more boring people than interesting ones in this world. That’d be why you’re doing up an XB instead of a Crown.

Originally Posted by Ducati888

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.

I dare say that you’d be right there.

[Pistol]

Did you know that TRD is a division of FPV bet you didn't know that

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by Pistol

Did you know that TRD is a division of FPV bet you didn't know that

Prodrive? To tell you the truth, I don’t really care.

Edit. Is that supposed to make me feel guilty?

[TS50]

Originally Posted by Pistol

Did you TRD is a division of FPV bet you didn't know that

not really
a divison of prodrive yes
but so is FPV
but TRD and FPv were only related by thier parent, prodrive

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by TS50

but TRD and FPv were only related by thier parent, prodrive

So that would make them brother and sister then?

[TS50]

Originally Posted by Peuty

So that would make them brother and sister then?

siblings that never got on

[Peuty]

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

[TS50]

well maybe TRD, being a b***h of a thing

[NudgE^SIKBRO]

i will say... i saw one of them TRD Aurions the other day, not a bad lookin thing for what it was but i wouldnt buy one...

[johnny351]

my oldman works at toyota in altona and he got an TRD aurion for the day gotta say i had some fun in it... kinda sucks that TRD is gonna die

[BFZ Wagon]

Toyota Australia never seemed to care about AWD. In Japan, most Toyota's (including the Camry variant) are available in AWD. So it was possible.
But Toyota Australia always think they know better. They are very arrogant!
Well that's my opinion anyway.

[Ducati888]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>And I bet that for every Ducati sold in Italy, they probably sell 30 Vespas. Does that mean that the Vespa is a better motorcyle than the Ducati? If Vespa made a “performance” scooter and tried to market it to bike enthusiasts, would they sell or would they be laughed at?<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Fair point, and well made. The point I was trying to make, though, is - what is the definition of 'better'? Why is one car better than another? Better for what and to whom? This is a highly subjective issue and everyone is right and everyone is wrong at the same time. Passion is valid, but is only part of the picture. Hell, people like Land Rovers, and they are the most poorly put together vehicles I've ever been in.

TRD didn't make a better performance car than FPV or HSV, but to everyone who bought a non HPV Toyota this year, they must have thought their choice was the best for their purpose.

I, like a number of posters here, can't figure out why they did such a half arsed job of things at TRD. No AWD, no souped up Lexus V-8s, no hope. A poorly conceived and poorly executed plan. So much potential though. They could have blown the doors off any Holden or Ford if they had done it right. Toyota Japan, however, have a focus on Left Hand Drive vehicles. Have a look at what their range offers in those.... It's unlikely they would re-tool to sell a couple of hundred performance cars in Australia.

Jeez, the Camry & Aurion don't do too badly in sales as it is. If they had an AWD version of both, they would take a lot of Subaru sales as well

[flappist]

Originally Posted by BFZ Wagon

Toyota Australia never seemed to care about AWD. In Japan, most Toyota's (including the Camry variant) are available in AWD. So it was possible.
But Toyota Australia always think they know better. They are very arrogant!
Well that's my opinion anyway.

Well maybe they are not all that wrong. FPV F6X, HSV Coupe4, HSV XUV, HSV Adventra; all performance vehicles, all AWD, all abject failures in the sales arena.

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

[4Vman]

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.

VERY true... the average aussie performance customer's pre-occupation with 1/4 times and basement pricing blinkers most to much better vehicles when driven in the "real world"...

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by flappist

Well maybe they are not all that wrong. FPV F6X, HSV Coupe4, HSV XUV, HSV Adventra; all performance vehicles, all AWD, all abject failures in the sales arena.

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

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.........

[Full Noise]

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.

I was talking to a bloke on Saturday when I was picking up some parts for my new toy and we were discussing this very subject. I told him how I have no real desire to go excessively fast and that I never really have in the past.

He laughed as he pointed out that the car I’m building will be capable of 200 MPH. Oh well. : :hihi:

[CAT600]

Originally Posted by flappist

Well maybe they are not all that wrong. FPV F6X, HSV Coupe4, HSV XUV, HSV Adventra; all performance vehicles, all AWD, all abject failures in the sales arena.

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

It is funny that you mention the failure of the AWD Coupe4, a few mates were around the other day having a yak about FPV/HSV, and we all agreed that the Coupe4 would be about the only HSV we would consider.

A awesome basic platform only hampered by an inferior IRS and no manual trans option. I personally think that the price is the key issue with these "sales failures", not the powertrain layout.

Daniel

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by CAT600

It is funny that you mention the failure of the AWD Coupe4, a few mates were around the other day having a yak about FPV/HSV, and we all agreed that the Coupe4 would be about the only HSV we would consider.

A awesome basic platform only hampered by an inferior IRS and no manual trans option. I personally think that the price is the key issue with these "sales failures", not the powertrain layout.

Daniel

Basically True.........the awd layout hampered exhaust layout and trans combo. Off memory it "only" had 270 Kw , so there was less power and torque than the standard offering......in a much heavier car, with only the 4 speed auto.

Thirstier, with handling compromised by all the extra fat........and at $20+K more.........it was executed about as well as the TRD.

Again.......the intent was there..........but the execution was lacking.

[Noddy]

Resale is not the best either

http://www.carpoint.com.au/used-car/...sn6246037.aspx

[ZC001]

xyzabc

[ADSXR8]

Originally Posted by Noddy

Resale is not the best either

http://www.carpoint.com.au/used-car/...sn6246037.aspx

Geez, alota car for little money.

[TS50]

Good bying at that price