Toyota Aurion 2008 review

From Toyota's specialist tuning division, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), comes this hot Aurion. Based on the Aurion Sportivo, the TRD Aurion has a supercharged 3.5-litre V6 engine that punches out 241 kW. And a hefty 400 Nm at 4000 rpm, with at least 300 Nm on tap from a mere 1200 rpm all the way through to the engine’s redline.

Toyota Australia wants to enter the local muscle car scene that’s dominated by HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) and FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles). Toyota knows it’s winning in many other market segments in this country, but feels left out of the hot car scene.

Aurion TRD is chiefly an Australian designed and built car. Not just by Toyota, but by other local companies, including Harrop Engineering, and Orbital Engine Co. Final assembly is done by performance-car specialist Prodrive in a factory close to Toyota's Altona plant in Melbourne.

Looks are important in any muscle car and TRD stylists have given the Aurion a sharp appearance with a spectacularly body-enhancement kit that lifts it right away from the original design. The mesh finish in the radiator grille is done in stylised ‘R’ shapes as a reminder of the ‘Racing’ in TRD.

This supercharged Toyota can go from rest to 100 km/h in just 6.1 seconds and could top 260 km/h on a racetrack, though it is speed limited to 250 km/h in keeping the gentleman’s agreement used by many of the world’s car makers. On our recent road test we found that power and torque generation are virtually instantaneous – a real advantage in an engine using a supercharger instead of a turbocharger. 

It’s necessary to use the top grade 98 octane fuel to get this performance. This isn’t unusual in high-performance cars and quite a few top class Europeans also demand the best in petrol. Buying 98 octane petrol is less of a problem these days than in the past, but you may still strike trouble from time to time. The engine can run on lower grade petrol should 98 not be available. Power is reduced by the engine computer to cope with the change in fuel and prevent engine damage. 

Typical fuel consumption is about nine to ten litres per hundred kilometres in slow to medium paced country runs. Rising to 12 to 15 litres per hundred around town, and going even higher if you really want to hammer it.

There's a lot more to the new TRD than simply engine performance. The suspension, steering and brakes have all been revised to match the 20 per cent extra engine output. 

The TRD Aurion remains pretty comfortable for a car in the sports sedan class.

On the road the first feeling is one of refinement. This is a Grand Touring (GT) car, not a weekend racer. The engine is quiet in its operation, though there's a nice note to let you know it’s something special. 

The steering is precise without being too abrupt and the big Toyota holds the road in a balanced manner that is really going to surprise those who haven’t driven one of the latest crop of refined muscle cars.

You will have to be going very hard and doing silly things to get anywhere near the limits of this big Toyota family car. And if you do get it wrong, TRD has fitted an ESP system to help out.

Yet the TRD Aurion remains pretty comfortable for a car in the sports sedan class.

There is one major problem in the TRD Aurion. Too much torque steer. Putting 400 Newton metres through the front wheels can cause the car to grab on one side or the other, sometimes with very little change when it switches from one front wheel to the other. This results in severe tugging that can be felt through the steering wheel under hard acceleration.

Good drivers can anticipate and work their way around the problem, indeed many will love the character the torque steer gives to the big Toyota. But we have worries about young and/or inexperienced drivers using this car in wet road conditions without some advanced driver training. Indeed, no car in this class should be pushed hard unless the driver knows what the are doing.

Two hot Aurion models are offered, the TRD 3500S (Sports) and 3500SL (Sports Luxury). The former is priced at $52,990 and has sports seats featuring side bolsters and leather/alcantara trim, the driver’s seat is power operated, there's a broad-rimmed sports steering wheel, trip computer, six-disc MP3 audio system and alloy pedals. The $56,990 TRD Aurion 3500SL gains power operation of the front passenger’s seat, climate-controlled air conditioning, sonar parking assistance, and remote-control engine ignition with a push-button start/stop. The SL also has a more elegant interior trim treatment than the S. 

The thinking behind building a niche product such as the TRD Aurion is complex. Only a small number of people buy the topline car in any performance range, but the so-called halo effect can often see a sports model actually pulling extra customers into the showroom. Customers who then sign on the dotted line for one of the standard, or semi-sports offerings in the same range.

However, while the standard Aurion is sailing along very nicely in the sales race, the TRD variant is struggling to find buyers. It has recently been joined by a tough ute, in the TRD HiLux and the two cars may be able to work together to increase Toyota Australia's high-performance image in our market.

Model Range

TRD 3500S 3.5-litre supercharged four-door sedan - $52,990
TRD 3500SL 3.5-litre supercharged four-door sedan - $56,99