Supercharged TRD Aurion For Sporty Families
First glance at the TRD Aurion shows Toyota’s Australian design team know their stuff.
The proportions of TRD version with its locally developed body kit, the way the vehicle sits on its 19-inch alloy wheels and the contemporary colour pallet all combine to produce a world-class visual.
Inside the theme continues with both the 3500S and 3500SL versions featuring glorious sports seats, alloy pedals, sports leather steering wheels, TRD badges on door sills, seats and steering wheel plus a host of other goodies providing genuine appeal to performance sedan buyers.
According to Toyota Australia’s Senior Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, Mr Dave Buttner, TRD Aurion buyers will most likely be a fleet customer whose company allows them a choice of any vehicle to a certain price or a family buyer who has a taste for performance vehicles.
CAR Showroom spent a very enjoyable week behind the wheel of a TRD Aurion 3500S and the CAR Showroom Juniors (ages 4 and 5) enjoyed their rides in the back seat. Co-incidentally a friend - whose daughter attends the same kindergarten - opted for an Aurion for her company car and she was astounded at the level of specification included in the TRD model.
The differentiation is highlighted when turning the ignition key – the TRD version with it glorious twin tailpipes exiting through the rear spoiler growls to life thanks to its sports exhaust system, developed locally by Walker Australia and Total Tooling Company.
The 3500S we drove has a recommended retail price of $52,990 while the 3500SL gains Smart Entry, parking sonars, full leather interior, dual-zone air etc and carries a price tag of $56,990.
TRD Aurion is the world’s first production car to use the Eaton TVS supercharger and the blown six-cylinder powerplant certainly sizzles – maximum power is 241kW, peak torque is a ripping 400Nm. Melbourne-based Harrop Engineering was responsible fore the supercharger development – the same company also supplies performance parts to Ford North America racing guru Jack Roush).
Toyota claims the TRD Aurion will accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds and cover the standing 400 metres in 14.2 seconds.
Aurion’s standard 3.5-litre quad cam V6 was impressive enough for its power, acceleration, operating quietness and fuel economy, but the supercharged TRD version is exhilarating to say the least. Sometimes you lose track that the car you’re driving started life in Altona, Victoria as a plain Aurion!
Drive is to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic – we encountered some wet roads (in Melbourne of course!) during our test and we can vouch for the effectiveness of the standard traction control system when accelerating over wet tram tracks.
Toyota worked with local specialist PBR to develop an impressive braking package for the TRD Aurion. Fronts are 325mm by 32mm ventilated discs with twin piston calipers while the ventilated rear discs are 310mm by 18mm. With standard ABS anti-lock, Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Brake Assist, it’s the state-of-the-art braking package demanded by high performance sedan buyers and – as you would expect from Toyota Australia – it just works well every time in all conditions.
Same with the suspension package, developed in Australia specifically for the TRD Aurion.
The engineers started with the Aurion Sportivo model, but went for stiffer springs, recalibrated shock absorbers and reduced the ride height by 12mm.
Then to further enhance the TRD model’s cornering response they did a re-tune – more negative camber and toe-in on the front wheels and neutral rear toe – to deliver sports-style steering sharpness and nimble handling.
Both TRD Aurion models sit on 19-inch alloy wheels, again sourced locally from ROH (finished dark metallic on 3500S models, silver metallic on 3500SL versions) with 245/35ZR19 Dunlop Sports Maxx tyres which are very stiff and feature a multi-radius tread design for enhanced road holding on wet or dry roads.
Overall, the TRD Aurion delivers the type of well thought-out, balanced, sophisticated, contemporary and appealing package we’ve come to expect from Toyota Australia.
