Kiwi-Corolla

I had been thinking of a way to fill the void in the engine bay where the factory intake used to be and ended up killing two birds with one stone by settling on this large oil catch tank. It's designed to catch blow-by oil from the PCV valve during full throttle and turns the vapor into a mist that settles in the bottom of the catch tank instead of getting sent back into the intake manifold. Radium Engineering made a catch tank set-up for the Lotus Evora (which uses the same 2GR-FE engine) and owners have reported quite a lot of oil being caught, so they sound like they could be quite beneficial on this engine. I had one on the Corolla and it worked well, so I figured it'd be worth a shot in the Aurion. Ended up putting my factory silver engine cover back on at the same too, as I prefer the cleaner look compared to my carbon fiber wrapped cover (which I'll still keep to mix things up every now and then). Will be interesting to see how much oil this thing collects :)

Some more new photos:

Fitted some slightly larger tires up front to fill up the guard gap a little better. Other benefit is that it brings the lip of the rim further away from potholes and is a bit more comfortable since you don't feel every dip and crack in the road. Fronts are 225/40/19 and the rears are 235/35/19. The old tires are only a few weeks old, but the wheel-well gap was bugging the hell out of me, so for now I'm happy :)

New photos:

Threw some camber bolts in the front tonight. It's evened it out nicely now, so no more strange poke at the front.

Thanks mate. I've really been enjoying modifying this car so far. It responds well to most things that get thrown at it. The new wheels were just the icing on the cake :)

The Aurion got some new wheels today. They're Vertini Magic (concave) 19x9.5 front and rear, +32 offset and wrapped in 235/35/19 rubber. They get custom drilled for the stud pattern and shaved for the offset you want so I had to wait about a week for them to get machined, but it was worth waiting for :). Being concave they bow in the middle, giving that very dished effect. The rear guards needed to be rolled as there was slight scrubbing around corners, but apart from that the fitment was pretty straight forward. I just have to get some camber bolts for the front so I can give it some negative camber and tuck the wheels in a bit more, but apart from that the fitment is great and I'm loving the new look :D

A few small updates: * 'V6 24VALVE' stickers fitted to the rear doors. * Bought a 1:43 scale model of an Aurion (Asian Camry) from eBay. * Received some Rays wheel nuts from Japan. Watch this space ;) And I decided it was time to upgrade my brakes, but I didn't need want to go for bigger calipers or larger rotors since my daily commute to work is only 10km and it's mostly straight, lol, so I settled on these Znoelli dimpled drilled and slotted rotors front and rear, combined with Bendix brake pads all round.

Happy New Year!! :D Got a couple of upgrades done on the Aurion over the weekend :) First thing was the installation of some Euro plate style license plate surrounds and the second was applying some pre-cut tint film to the lower sections of the tail lights. I wasn't 100% happy with the blandness of the plate surround so ended up using some of my left over bronze carbon fiber vinyl to wrap the sides and make it a little more interesting. Here's some photos of the process and some before vs after shots:

Thanks mate :) Happy holidays everyone!! :D

I may as well post these photos I took today of my partner's 2004 Toyota Wish while I'm here too :)

Yep, very familiar with hydrographic printing - Chose to go with vinyl as it's the cheaper, non-permanent solution ;)

The Aurion got some attention in the weekend, starting off with wrapping the center console in a bronze/gold carbon fiber vinyl. The console had to be disassembled in individual pieces to be wrapped properly, so lining up the stripes was a bit of a pain, but with a bit of patience the end result was worth it. Continuing on with the carbon theme, I chucked this billet aluminium TRD style oil cap on. I really like the design of this cap, and although it's purely aesthetic, I think it compliments the rest of the engine bay nicely. After wrapping the center console, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try and wrap one of my spare engine covers. Well, lets just say it was considerably more difficult than the console, and cutting around the non-removable letters wasn't fun, but the end result looks pretty sweet so the effort paid off :)

Some new photos from yesterday:

Welcome, and cheers for viewing my build thread! I bought this car in May '15 and didn't really plan on doing any mods to it, but as we all know, things often don't stay standard for very long. I've always liked these cars, so when I finally had the chance to buy one I opted for this '06 SX6 Sportivo model. It came with 18" TRD wheels, but apart from that it was all stock. It's not very often you see modified Aurions here in New Zealand so it leaves people wondering what the hell it is, while still blending in as a family sedan at the same time. The car now wears 19x9.5" Vertini Magic concave wheels, along with an array of other mods that contribute to the overall look of the build. This post will stay updated with the most recent mods & photos, but the rest from post #2 onward are in chronological order. So far the spec list is as follows: Engine: * Stock 2GR-FE V6 3500cc 24v Dual VVT-i engine. * Custom made 3" cold air intake setup. * Simota extra long pod filter behind LH fog light. * Potent Booster throttle controller. * Aurion 2012+ GSV50 full metal VVT-i oil line. * Aurion 2012+ GSV50 full metal oil cooler line. * TRD style billet aluminium oil cap. * Custom bronze carbon fiber wrapped engine cover. * Large 2L polished aluminium oil catch tank. Exterior: * Aftermarket ducktail roof spoiler. * Carbon fiber bumper lip extension. * Aftermarket colour coded reversing camera. * Aftermarket concealed front bumper camera. * Genuine Toyota optional towbar & wiring. * Genuine Toyota optional weathershields/monsoons. * 35% opacity window tint. * Bodykit Kingdom headlight eyelids. * CREE LED headlight, park light and fog light bulbs. * Chrome trim around fog light surrounds. * Aftermarket red 'Heat Emblem' in Toyota boot badge. * Aurion 2012+ GSV50 'AURION' 1-piece rear boot badge. * 2009+ Toyota Landcruiser Prado 'V6 Dual VVT-i' sticker. * 'V6 24 VALVE' stickers on rear doors. * Aftermarket Japanese Mitsuba Alpha dual front horns. * Lexus GS450h engine bay horn for factory alarm system. * Personalized license plates - 00 01 00. * Facelift Aurion extra-long license plate bracket. * Carbon wrapped Euro style license plate frames. * Smoked vinyl wrapped lower tail light sections. * LED rear bumper reflectors. Interior: * Eonon GA5164F Android GPS/USB/Bluetooth headunit. * Aftermarket Bluetooth mic mounted in roof console. * Genuine Toyota optional LED blue footwell lights. * Toyota Blade Master G leather steering wheel. * Lexus IS-F genuine Magnesium working paddle shifters. * Genuine Toyota optional carbon fibre steering wheel logo insert. * Custom bronze carbon fibre wrapped centre console. * Custom bronze carbon fibre wrapped A/C controls. * Aurion ZR6 silver door trim and chrome handles. * Chrome trim around silver dashboard inserts. * Aurion Grande carpeted centre boot trim. * Genuine Toyota optional rubber moulded boot tray. * Aftermarket 6x9 to 6.5" front speaker adapter pods. * Lexus GS450h Mark Levinson 6.5" front speakers. * Aftermarket white LED door courtesy light units. * Aurion Grande auto dimming rear-view mirror. * Valentine One radar mirror mount & hardwire kit. * Novatek A118 HD dashcam concealed behind mirror. * UltraGauge OBDII display unit (speed, RPM, temps etc). * Altezza aluminium footrest pedal (to match OEM pedals). * Carbon fiber dash vent surrounds. Wheels/Suspension: * 19"x9.5" (32p) Vertini Magic Concave alloy wheels. * 225/40/19 tyres (front) & 235/35/19 tyres (rear). * Rolled rear fenders. * Rays chrome wheel nuts and lock nuts. * SPC 17mm front camber bolts. * SPC 15mm rear camber bolts. * Znoelli dimple drilled/slotted rotors front & rear. * Bendix GCT stealth brake pads. * PBR brake calipers painted red. * Dobi Sport SL springs (front), King Spring SL springs (rear). * Aftermarket shocks & swaybar links. * Alutec aluminium front strut brace.

Thanks man. I've never been as attached to a car as I am to this one, so it makes things very difficult, but with 3 kids, only a 2-car garage and other things to save for in the future (wedding, house etc) it's time for the Corolla to move onto a new home. It's been a great run, and one I'll always remember. My new car is a 2006 Toyota Aurion SX6 Sportivo. It's quite a different kettle of fish to the Corolla as it's a much larger vehicle, and packs a 3500cc 2GR-FE Dual VVT-i V6 under the hood. Practicality-wise it makes a lot more sense as I can fit all of the kids in it (carseats and all) and it has more than enough power than I'll ever need, while being a lot safer and more modern in the process. It has nothing on the Corolla in terms of quirkiness though and feels a lot more 'generic', but it's my new pride and joy, and one that I'll no doubt keep for many years to come :)

As much as I hate to say it, this build is now over and the car is up for sale :(. It's been a very enjoyable 6-years and I've met a huge amount of great people over that time, so I'd just like to say a massive thank you to everybody who has supported this project over the years and has offered their thoughts, opinions and encouragement. Without that, this build likely would've died a long time ago, so cheers! :D. I look forward to seeing what the future holds and the exciting times that are ahead :) TradeMe auction link: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=913025762

:D :D :D I swear the kids ride in more style than what I do! :lol:

Happy New Year to all! :D First photoshoot of 2015:

My latest addition is this Blitz Access ECU. This is a standard 4A-GE 20v Blacktop ECU that has been 'chipped' but Blitz in Japan, and offers more aggressive fuel mapping, a rev limit of 8,500rpm, no speed cut etc. Straight after installing it I could feel that the midrange power was noticeably stronger, allowing the car to get into it's power-band sooner and pull consistently until redline. The performance is similar to the 6-speed ECU I was running previously, but this one has a noticeable 'kick' to it when you put your foot down. I have to give the ECU some time to adjust to my mods and driving style, but so far the upgrade seems to have been worth it :)

Thanks man :). LOL yeah! I was actually thinking the exact same thing. Looks like it could have been scanned from the factory sales brochure or something. It has the '90's Japanese' vibe to it. Here's one more shot from yesterday that made the cut:

Here's some latest photos. The first two were taken today (about 4-hours ago) and the last one is a cellphone shot from last Sunday :)

Insanely Rare JDM AE101 Optional Rain Sensor In Japan they had all sorts of crazy and quirky optional extras for the AE101 Corolla, and this optional rain sensor is definitely in the top 3 in terms of it's rarity. For almost 6-years I've only ever been able to see a tiny picture in the original sales brochure of the rain sensor and have never come across one in real-life, until early last week when I stumbled across one myself! :D. The only other one I've ever heard of was back in 2005 on eBay so the rarity of these are truly off the scale. It works by sensing the intensity of rainfall and automatically controls your windscreen wipers, varying the speed without the driver having to even touch the wiper stalk. For a full and very interesting read-up on how it works check out this link: http://www.fujitsu-ten.com/business/technicaljournal/pdf/2-7E.pdf It was made in Japan by Fujitsu Ten for Toyota Motor Corporation back in the early 90's as an optional extra for a small selection of Toyotas and likely would have been a fairly expensive add-on. It simply plugs into the existing wiper connector for the combination switch and 'watches' for rainfall, while still allowing you full control over the wiper speed using the stalk if you prefer. I very rarely drive my Corolla in the rain, so I'm still deciding whether I'll install this or sell it to someone who will get more use out of it, but either way it's a really cool thing to have found and another thing to cross off my 'optional extra bucket list' :D. The photos showing the sensor on the hood are how it's intended to be installed by Toyota, but if I was to install it on my Corolla I'd mount it on the cowling as seen in the other photos, as I feel it'd look a lot cleaner that way.