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Toyota six a hit as Aurion sales ignite Ian Porter December 6, 2006 TOYOTA'S second attempt to crack the Australian six-cylinder family car market got off to a promising start last month when the Japanese giant sold 1543 of its new Aurion sedans. The monthly total was better than any month for the company's first attempt at an Australian six, the Avalon, except that model's first month on sale in July 2000. But the new Toyota's success was not a disaster for its competitors, as Falcon sales rebounded 20 per cent from a flat October and Mitsubishi's 380 also recovered some ground. Holden's new Commodore, released a month earlier than the Aurion, held its own against the newcomer and remained the country's bestseller. The overall effect was to lift the large-car sector to 15.5 per cent of the market, significantly above the 14.1 per cent it had achieved in the first 10 months of the year. "We believe the introduction of the Aurion will be a watershed in the large-car market," Toyota's director of sales and marketing, Dave Buttner, said. The Aurion is more powerful, more economical and offers more equipment than its base model Expensive Daewoo and Ford rivals for about the same price — $35,000. The 380 is significantly cheaper, starting at $29,990. Last week the Aurion won the Drive Car of the Year award for best large car. But all the good news for Toyota was tempered by the apparent cannibalisation of the new Camry model by the Aurion. Camry sales had been running at more than 120 a day since its release, but dropped to 101 a day last month as buyers were confronted with a choice between the Aurion and the Camry. The price-sensitive light-car market continued to expand rapidly, with sales rising 19 per cent to 394 a day, compared with the previous November. "The light-car boom is undoubtedly one of the major motor vehicle stories for 2006," Peter Sturrock, chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, said. The chamber compiles the monthly Vfacts registration figures. "Throughout the year, the motor industry's smallest models have been the biggest growth trend, propelled by spiking fuel prices, rising interest rates and the exceptional value and convenience these cars now represent," he said. Toyota's Yaris is the standout performer in this category, with a 28 per cent share, followed by the Hyundai Getz on 15 per cent and the Expensive Daewoo Barina on 11 per cent. Mr Sturrock said the industry was headed for total sales of about 970,000 cars and trucks, which would be the second-best year ever, after last year. The other sector to show good growth last month was the small sport utility vehicle market, which more than made up for weaker sales in the medium sport utility sector. The big winners were Subaru's class-leading Forester and the Toyota RAV4 and Nissan X-Trail.

Bank blitz sets foreign debt up to beat GDP Tim Colebatch December 6, 2006 AUSTRALIA'S gross foreign debt is on track to overtake the nation's gross domestic product after swelling by $134 billion in the past year, Bureau of Statistics figures revealed. The ABS announced a welcome fall in the current account deficit in the September quarter to $12.1 billion, pushing it under 5 per cent of GDP for the first time in 3½ years. A rare slump in import volumes cut the quarterly trade deficit from $3.3 billion in June to $1.2 billion in September. But half this fall was offset by another surge in net income payments to foreign investors, as interest and dividend payments jumped sharply. Australia's net foreign debt shot up to $522 billion at the end of September, and the gross foreign debt to $868 billion. Both have doubled since 2000, as foreign bonds have replaced domestic deposits as the chief source of banks' funds. After climbing 66 per cent in five years, import volumes fell 1 per cent, allowing net exports to add to output for the first time since 2001. Oil imports plunged 12 per cent as oil prices peaked, and imports of machinery and capital goods generally fell 6 per cent as business investment shrank. But while the ABS estimated that the growth in net exports would add 0.4 per cent to September quarter GDP, ANZ estimated that this would simply offset the fall in domestic activity, delivering zero growth for the quarter. ANZ estimates that with household consumption subdued, housing investment flat and business investment falling, today's national accounts will show no growth in the September quarter and just 1.5 per cent growth in the past year. A Reuters survey found other forecasters more optimistic, on average predicting growth of 0.4 per cent for the quarter and 2 per cent for the year. But economists said the trade deficit was the result of falling imports rather than strong export growth, with export volumes up just 0.7 per cent for the quarter and 6 per cent for the year. The trade deficit doubled in October as imports rebounded. But Westpac economists predicted the boom in mining investment over recent years pointed to rising export volumes ahead, even factoring in a sharp fall in rural exports. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics estimated that the drought had slashed this year's wheat crop by 61 per cent to just 9.7 million tonnes, the lowest since 1994. Barley production recorded a similar fall. Victoria had the worst fall, with production of wheat and barley falling to a quarter of last year's levels. To make things worse, farmers had gone to the expense of sowing a near-record 2.74 million hectares to crops, only to recoup miserable yields. The bureau's figures show that while the trade picture has brightened, the net income flow overseas continues to rise at a giddy rate. In the past year, the quarterly interest bill on the nation's foreign debt has soared by $2 billion, or 43 per cent, as banks borrowed heavily overseas into rising interest rates to meet the demand for loans. In the 12 months to September, the bureau says Australia's gross foreign debt shot up from $734 billion to $868 billion — or from 80 per cent of GDP to 89 per cent.

Fear keeps industry from inquiry: report AAP, 05/12/06 Fears of retribution have stopped some automotive component manufacturers from offering frank advice on how to help the ailing industry, a report says. Fears of retribution and loss of contracts have stopped some of Australia's automotive component manufacturers from offering government frank advice on how to help the ailing industry. A report into employment in the car components industry tabled in parliament on Monday said some parts makers steered clear of the inquiry because of financial fears. "Some component manufacturers were reluctant to participate, citing fears of retribution or loss of contracts," inquiry chair Phillip Barresi said. "These are internal cultural and leadership issues which the industry itself must address if it is to confront global changes in a unified and coherent manner." Mr Barresi's comments come little more than a week after one of Australia's major parts manufacturers, Ajax, went into receivership owing almost 200 workers about $12 million. The report admits large scale redundancies have been a part of the industry in recent years but recommendations are also made on how to transition workers from the industry into new jobs. "A focus on training, recruitment and labour adjustment programs address the immediate needs of the industry," Mr Barresi said. "There is also a need to focus on how to best position the Australian automotive components manufacturing industry to ensure its ongoing competitive viability and success in the global marketplace."

I think it's there to force as much air through the cooling system as possible. If the air gets an easy way to get out, ( via the missing cover) a lot will not go through to cooling system. IC, Aircon cooler, Radiator. I did read somewhere that that is the reason why the system is all covered in.

This is what I use to check all the sensors. I get all the sensor information from the cars OBD port into my Laptop Computer. The information is in real time. The software I use: Proscan v 4.0 Digimoto v 4.03 Pcmscan v 1.4.3 AutoTap v 3

What about this ?

My wish list for xmas 06. Dear santa. Just 2 things, please. 1 Porsche 911 Turbo and 1 BMW v 10 M5. Thank you

Just got this from a Newspaper.

I got one last year, and yes it covers the whole car. From the 6 , 6T and the 2 8's. All of it. Very Happy. Paid 13.00 dollars all up.

I hope this will help you with your choice. Air horns were also very effective but required more engineering and space ... that horns are overused by men and underused by women. ABC Southern Queensland Thursday, 6 October 2005 Presenter: Ian Hill It’s probably no surprise that we react quicker to a loud sound than a visual cue. So when it comes to warnings from moving vehicles, they popped up as early as the mid 17th Century. But the forerunner, a bell, was also a catalyst for change because it was not unique (bicycles, trolley buses and bakers vans used the same sound.) It was ineffective and guess what – overused! The more distinctive bulb horn, popular in France, was adopted in England, but the sound didn’t travel far enough, once the new 240 metre rule came to pass. So the Klaxon horn, a vibrating metal diaphragm, which positively shrieked, (hence its name), eventually took line honours. Air horns were also very effective but required more engineering and space so the klaxon style continued to dominate – raising the pitch to cut through the road noise, reducing size weight and cost and upping the volume. Sound will always be a good warning device – the type and way we produce it will change but for now, no major plans are afoot to alter the status quo. Oh by the way - Studies have shown that horns are overused by men and underused by women – and in Australia you can be fined for using it as a greeting instead of alarm. You have been warned! http://www.abc.net.au/southqld/stories/s1477093.htm

The first few hundred miles of a new engine's life have a major impact on how ... This lack of "blow-by" keeps your engine running cleaner and cooler by ... http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines ... http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

How to keep an F1 car cool Essentially, the need for cooling is a product of the inherent inefficiencies of the internal combustion engine. Even an advanced modern F1 engine is relatively inefficient when it comes to converting the power available from the fuel/air mixture into power at the rear wheels. This is measured in terms of 'thermal efficiency', and is typically in the region of 30%: that's to say, if a typical F1 engine produces slightly under 650 KW (approx. 850 bhp) on the dyno, something like 1500KW (or potentially 2000 bhp) of the energy is lost. So where does it go? A small percentage is turned into the distinctive sound of an F1 car. The vast majority, though, must be dissipated as heat from a number of areas: for example, the oil dissipates around 120KW and the water system 160KW. The inefficiencies of the gearbox will mean it has to dissipate around 15KW, while the hydraulics represent a further 3 KW. However, as much as 34% of the remainder is lost through the exhausts as heat, while up to 15% of the available energy can be accounted for in unburnt fuel. Moreover, this energy wasteage provides significant challenges when it comes to controlling temperatures. While the heat exchangers on a racing car are extremely efficient, their ability to cool the engine is a function of the 'air-side capacity' - essentially, how big a mass of air you can make flow through the radiator for a given area. This depends, of course, on generating high air velocities in the radiator intake ducts: however, typically, air velocity in the radiator ducts will only be 10-15% of the car's velocity, so even if the car is travelling at 300 kph, the air in the ducts is probably only at 30-35 kph. Furthermore, temperatures in the oil and water systems vary according to different criteria: water temperature is a function of the average power used around the circuit, while oil temperature is approximately a function of power and also average engine speed around the lap. Given how complicated cooling management is, you need a good reason to tackle so many contradictory problems, and that reason is aerodynamics. Essentially, we must find the correct balance between cooling and aero performance because the more air we channel through the radiators, the less efficient the overall aerodynamics become. In fact, changing between minimum and maximum cooling can reduce downforce by as much as 5%, which translates to a lap-time deficit of around 0.4s on an average circuit. Airflow is controlled by different configurations of radiator outlet, and the R24 has 13 different possible configurations to cope with all manner of conditions. The configuration used at a particular circuit is defined according to the ambient temperatures, 'circuit factors' such as how much full throttle is used, and the temperature limits we can run the engine at. Typically, we will run oil temperatures of over 100°C, while pressurising the water system at up to 3.75 bar allows the boiling point to be delayed until around 120°C: running these higher temperatures means we require less airflow through the radiators, thus improving aerodynamic performance. As ever, though, these choices carry a penalty: each extra 5°C of water temperature we run, allowing the radiator outlets to be smaller, robs the engine of over 1 bhp. However, the importance of aerodynamics in modern F1 means we continue devoting significant resources and wind tunnel time to cooling. This is nowhere better illustrated than by the fact that the penalty in terms of aero efficiency we must accept for a 10°C drop in car temperatures, is 80% smaller than it was just four years ago.

isnt putting washers on the bonnet same as removing the back rubber seal? you are playing with that high pressure void under the hood? ← And this from Volvo.

This is a bit off topic. The specs for an F1 Engine V8 , 2.4 litres, about 750hp, Piston speed 40 metres per second. Uses about 65 litres per 100km. Cooling water temp 115 C Oil temp 100C

Here is some more, http://www.microcarmuseum.com/search/searc...s=Messerschmitt