Aurion TRD: 3.5-litre supercharged Aurion released in Australia

TMR News and Features

Aurion TRD - banishing the bland

Aug 20th, 2007 • 13 comments • Link to Article • by Steane Klose

Toyota has just announced the official arrival of its new Aurion TRD. The much anticipated “hot” Aurion gives Australian Toyota fans a performance car to drool and fawn over that actually looks good. The most powerful Toyota ever sold in Australia, Toyota believes that the Aurion TRD will inject some much needed excitement into its image as a maker of reliable but bland cars.

The new TRD Aurion is the world’s first production car to use the Eaton TVS (Twin Vortices Series) supercharger. Fitted to the standard Aurion’s 3.5-litre V6, TRD have managed to extract a handy 241kW from the warmed over engine and claim that it is enough to see the TRD Aurion dispatch the 0-100km/h dash in 6.1 seconds.

The TRD Aurion is available in two guises, the 3500S (‘S’ for sport) and the 3500SL (‘SL’ for sports luxury). Both variants feature the same 241Kw engine, performance brakes, 19-inch alloy wheels, TRD front and rear bumpers, side skirt and rear spoilers, sports seats, power driver’s seat, alloy pedals, TRD scuff plates, air conditioning and leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Pricing is a little higher than we expected with the 3500S available from $56,990* while the 3500SL starts at $61,500*. Toyota and TRD may claim that their new performance star should not be compared to HSV and FPV products but it is getting up there on price.

The 3500S comes with a stability control system, six airbags, power windows, cruise control, power driver’s seat, foglights, alloy pedals, air-conditioning, trip computer and a six-disc CD player.

The 3500SL includes added features such as Smart Entry, TRD Smart Start, a full leather interior, parking sensors, dual-zone climate control air-conditioning as well as a six-way power front passenger seat and TRD floor mats.

The Toyota press release features some interesting quotes from Toyota Australia’s senior executive director of sales and marketing, David Buttner, such as;

“The Eaton supercharger lifts performance to a new plane with instant throttle response and excellent acceleration at low engine speeds. At the same time, it’s so fuel-efficient you don’t need to be a ‘petrolhead’ to enjoy exhilarating performance.”

and

“Potential customers include the user-chooser who wants an alternative to the existing offerings. There’s also the family man who has a taste for performance vehicles without being a total revhead.

and even

“They make a statement without being overt and they deliver owner and driver satisfaction without stress.”

Apparently, according to Toyota, Aurion TRD buyers will be in their late 30’s, earn in excess of $105k per year and reading between the lines… will have little in common with the uncouth, ‘revhead’ and ‘petrolhead’ owners of overt vehicles from the HSV and FPV stables, which are cause for significant stress in their owners lives.

To keep the target group’s hands free of the nasty calluses generally associated with the working class, the Aurion TRD (as is the case with all Aurions) is only available with a six-speed automatic gearbox.

So, the big question is really this. Can this front-wheel drive, auto only performance car, priced awfully close to current rear wheel drive V8 offerings form HSV and FPV really be aspired to by the passionate car enthusiast?

Time will tell.

Steane

*Recommended retail prices exclude dealer delivery, government and statutory charges and optional extras.

Filed under

Tags: 500, accord, air, art, Aspire, aurion, australia, auto, brake, brakes, car, cars, cts, custom, driver, Eaton, ecu, efficient, engine, esp, EV, exhaust, FF, FPV, fr, fuel, g, gear, gearbox, government, heel, HSV, i, ice, interior, is, isf, Land, luxury, lv, market, may, mb, MG, motor, new, OFFER, official, oil, performance, petrol, price, prices, pricing, production, Rally, red, report, retail, retail price, ring, rl, rs, sale, sales, Seat, sl, smart, speed, Spoiler, sport, Sports, ss, sti, supercharger, SV, system, ti, tl, Toyota, TRD, trd aurion, TT, US, ute, V6, v8, variants, ve, wrap, x, z

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Comment by Virak
22 August 2007

hmm i wanted to know that does the body kit plus exahust and the supercharge are for sales?

[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Neil
28 August 2007

Sorry you,,ve lost me for that price I will get a GT it will probably hold it’s value far better than this, plus I get more power. Need to drop price for SL by $10,000

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Comment by steane
28 August 2007

It does seem a little over-priced compared to whats on offer from HSV and FPV. I’m afraid paying that sort of money for a torque steering front driver may be too much for some.

I’d go the E-Series Clubsport or FPV Typhoon myself if I needed a large car. If I could make do with smaller one then the GOLF R32 would be in the driveway before the Aurion.

[Reply to this comment]
Comment by xr8eta
29 August 2007

TRD stuffed up from that start with the aurion. If they want to copmpete with rivals from HSV and FPV they to think about a V8 power plant maybe and i think they should’ve made the aurion rear wheel drive too!!!!

[Reply to this comment]
- Comment by Mitch
  25 July 2008
  
  GT Or HSV hold there value???Are you kidding or what.
  Car yards are full of petrol guzzling V8s(know one wants them) and with the price of petrol just going up and up those cars will be a thing of the past.
  All the jap cars a finished off better and are a heck of a lot more reliable than the Fords and Holdens as well.
  Only thing that Toyota should have seriously looked at was making this car rear wheel drive as they will always be a better set up for a performance car.
  
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Comment by Pedro
29 August 2007

I think the TRD is a terrific offering and I will seriously consider one. I don’t want a thirsty 6.0 litre pushrod V8. The TRD fits my need for a modern, fuel-efficient, automatic with smooth drive-train, sparkling performance and good manners on the road. Who cares whether its a front driver or rear? I’ll also bet it will hold its value better than Ford or Holden. Congratulations Toyota, a terrific decision.

[Reply to this comment]
Comment by Bruce Saville
5 September 2007

Pity it’s not AWD. I’ll stick with my 2004 AWD Sprintex Supercharged Magna thanks. It’s less than 1/2 the price and takes 422Nm torque through 4 x drive wheels. Why didn’t Toyota adapt the Kluger AWD platform and modify for the Aurion? This would have justified the price.

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Comment by BEep
6 September 2007

hsv and fpv are far better cars than this. TRD have tried but six cylinder was a mistake and front wheel drive turns many buyers away. Pretty sure resale will stink.

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Comment by steane
6 September 2007

Bruce - FWD is the biggest bug-bear for the TRD Aurion. It looks okay, has a sweet engine is built well also. But FWD!!!
People will carry on about the electronic nannies and how FWD or RWD makes no difference but the road tests are already proving this wrong with plenty of torque steer being reported.

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Comment by Josh
19 September 2007

Golf GTi, Mazda 3 MPS, Civic Type R, VXR etc are all front drivers. Yet people don’t complain about them?

I guess a lot of people expect it because they are hatches, however, the same handling dynamics, torque steer and power delivery (read: snappy) can be achieved from a different chassis, I believe.

Admittedly the TRD Aurion is sporting some extra 300kg over the likes of the Mazda 3… but a damn sight more power as well.

AWD would have been a far better option but production costs would no doubt have seen this place the Aurion into the upper stratosphere for large sized performance saloons. I feel they’ve made the right commercial decision, however, whether it will ignite emotion in an otherwise dull market is yet to be seen.

[Reply to this comment]
Comment by steane
19 September 2007

The 3 MPS gets a hefty ribbing from time to time for torque steer but the big difference is the amount of power being put through the front wheels with the Aurion - 240kW compared to say 170kW with the VXR (going from memory here so dont cane me if Im wrong…) and under 150kw for the Golf.

My concern with the Aurion is how do TRD develop it from here…? It only just handles the power that it now has so its difficult to see TRD winding the boost up on the next upgrade. Is it going to be stuck in a time warp and never go beyond the power it has now?

Oh…and the price - thats a bucket load for a slightly flawed FWD - even one that looks as hot as the Aurion does.

On the flip-side I suspect that it will be another case of a perfectly packaged niche market product that will be highly successful for Toyota and TRD - just dont compare it to the V8 RWD competition.

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Comment by wally
21 April 2008

I’m going to buy the lovely 3500SL soon, just wondering if Toyota would make it 4×4 after i get the front wheel drive

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Comment by Wes
6 May 2008

lost interest when they said it wasnt all wheel drive, that sort of power with front wheel drive would just spin the wheels, much prefer my all wheel drive 2.5ltr twin turbo Mitsubishi Legnum im guesing TRD arent making a wagon version like the legnum either

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