Is 150,000km too much for Aristo V300?

[Leon]

Interesting reading:

http://www.fomc.co.nz/SpecialInterestVehicle.pdf

Do *not* take that page as gospel. There are mistakes in it. At first glance...

20,000 of that MAKE and MODEL in X year. Not 20,000 of that MAKE, MODEL, and SUBMODEL in X year. So if there are 25k Toyota Aristo's made in X year, then that means the car is not eligible (because you need to meet three from four criteria and as one of the criteria is that it must be manufactured as a coupe or convertible) , even if there are only 4 Toyota Aristo "super ultra special submodel" versions made in X year.

The site repeatedly talks about left hand drive vehicles. The special interest vehicle legislation has nothing in the slightest to do with left hand drive cars. The left hand drive rule has been the same for donkeys years unchanged.

So please treat that pdf as being wrong in details that might well trip you over.

[Crampy]

Cheers guys.
I am currently in the process of getting the black one that was advertised just recently.
Having a few problems with the owner, but wont be parting with my hard earned money until it's all sorted.

[RH9]

Mate we own the TTE thats been mentioned in the thread.......its really just a V300 with some better brakes (TRD), coil over suspension (Toyota/Bilstein/Eibach) combo and the bodykit.

Our cars done ove 120,000kms now with no mechancal issues whatsoever and the trans is holding up very very well and shifting smoothly.

These cars still command high prices in Japan so buying one thats already here is gonna be the best idea. The current model in Japan hasnt taken off like the JZS161 did so the older cars still fetch big dollars and the 2JZGTE is forever popular.

I cant speak highly enough about these cars, although I do feel they are a bit of a whale and need quite firm suspension to make them handle. I've fitted Cusco sway bars to ours but the back end is still too softly sprung to make it a b-road warrior yet.

We run 1.1-1.3 bar dependin on ambient temp - no boost controller but the ECU is aftermarket. The turbo's are original with no noticeable wear. As mentioned by Jared the stock BOV is junk and does cause surge issues so we have fitted an aftermarket one. Car runs so much nicer with this fitted.

Weak points are front lower ball joints so check those before purchase and central locking motors can fail. Being a Lexus based car the parts are horrendously priced so they can burn you. Even a radiator is around $1500+

Dont be fooled into thinking Supra radiators, intercoolers, etc will work because they wont. Th JZS161 is a unique chassis.

Lvely smooth and powerful car, we'e seen 280kph with more to come so the top end is staggering. I believe the RZ Supra clutch master and Altezza pedal box make a manual conversion fairly straight forward with the V161 6spd.

I hope we get more 161 owners on here..........they are a truly awesome car

[Crampy]

Sweet dude, I saw your car heading out towards Whenuapai Village ways the other day. It looks sweet.

I was in my freshly bought Aristo. That's a shame I didn't read this earlier, because it is having a few problems with the central locking. It's really strange problem though. The car will lock fine at night, but during the hot days it refuses to lock the passenger and sometimes even the driver's door. It does seem to be heat related, but will look into it more.
I've pulled one of the door cards off to have a look at the motor, but they're a pain in the ar$e to get to. They seem to be part of the actual door lock mechanism, well at least all on the same mounting bracket anyway.

Anyways, it drives very well and I got back from our first long drive in it last night. Got around 350km to half a tank of gas, so not too bad on gas. I have heard horry stories of these things drinking fuel, but it's not so bad on long trips. That was driving with the air con going the whole time too, plus the seat wamers during the night , Mmmmm toasty bum.

[Crampy]

We run 1.1-1.3 bar dependin on ambient temp - no boost controller but the ECU is aftermarket. The turbo's are original with no noticeable wear. As mentioned by Jared the stock BOV is junk and does cause surge issues so we have fitted an aftermarket one. Car runs so much nicer with this fitted.

Hmmmm, might need to look at changing the BOV then. Are you using a recirc one, or atmospheric?
I've also checked out the build thread of your Aristo. Got any updates for it?

[FLAWLES]

since the vvti 1jz/2jz are afm alot of pple whinge about running vent to atmo bov as it cause's issue's
this is wrong
just have to adjust them correctly

you can get recirc ones ( i beleave, i know you can for the 1jzgte vvtis )

one of the best kits i have seen ( and i now own ) is the sard r2d2 kit its vent to atmo but it works amazing

rhd japan and negun do lots of stuff for the jz vvti series engines

as for andys ( partners i beleave ) aristo, all i have seen is pic's..............and its beautiful

cant wait to take some more pic's of it one the first of feb ( robin you should come for a drive to taupo race track as rh9 " andy " is hosting a trackday )

[RH9]

Yeah please feel free to come down to Taupo on Feb 1st, this our 3rd annual event

Those central locking motors are a known problem mate. At $500 each they are a nightmare and you cant fit aftermarket actuators due to their design. Try talking to Rudy@nst.co.nz for a good deal. Very nice guy who will prob help with sharper prices. We currently get 530kms per tank on the open road and around 450kms in city diving. Im sure when we do a dyno tune and adjust the ECU we can improve this as well as the power and torque curves. Reliable 280kws @ rear wheels is what to expect (speed cut, ECU, 1 bar, exhaust, filter and FMIC) accorinding to Soichi @ ST who has tuned a few of these incl an orange one with HKS 3.4 stroker and T04Z!! The stock auto seems good for 350kws 2 wheels so thats nice to know.

Since I wrote the TTE thread we really havent done that much, some cosmetic changes with new Quest LED tailights,white side markers, TRD speedo, Blitz DD bov and PMU brake pads. I have eyes on a TRD lsd but to be honest this car prob wont ever handle that well unless moon beams are spent on the chassis.........it seems more natural to make the car aggressive looking and enhance its devastating highway ability.









Or you could go crazy like the owner of this one in Japan

[Makaveli]

What is TTE? Isn't it Toyota Team Europe? I didn't know they had Aristos in Germany.

[RH9]

TTE does indeed stand for Toyota Team Europe. I think back in 2000 Toyota Japan thought they would cash in on TTE's success in motorsports in Europe by bringing out TTE badge Altezza's and Aristo's (possibly other models too).

On the Aristo it was TRD brake kit, TTE bodykit (front grille, front lip, rear bumper lip, bootlid lip),TTE/Remus exhaust, TTE/Bilstein coilovers, special dark interior trim, 18x8.5 and 18x10 TTE/Borbet wheels. Just little things to give the Aristo a shot in the arm in terms of giving it a more sporting image.

Pity they didnt do a factory 6 spd V160 but I guess that wouldnt of been a big seller as most Aristo owners in Japan were company executives and the Chaser/Mark II/Cresta were the "sports" models the younger crowd modified more often.

[Crampy]

How much did your intake cost? Does the MAF sensor just bolt into the replacement pipe?

Are you using the stock outlet for the BOV?

[Crampy]

And one more thing.
Why the hell does the ECU box have a duct from behind the radiator going into it? Seems really odd to me.

[sergei]

And one more thing.
Why the hell does the ECU box have a duct from behind the radiator going into it? Seems really odd to me.

My guess (only a guess) is for cold starts to stop condensation on ECU, since ECU now is outside (very stupid idea to start with IMHO).

[RH9]

Think the HKS RS intake was around $650 all up which included the pipes but that was back when exchage rate was .75 odd. Yeah just the stock BOV outlet is used - dont get any compressor surge so it seems big enough to do the job

As Sergei said its prob to stop condensation and to keep the ECU's cool. We run an HKS Fcon which resides in the glovebox next to the stacker - you run the harness from there to the stock E-box. Bit of a mission but it feels safer knowing the Fcon is safely inside the car!

Our TTE was involved in an accident 12 months ago and the E-box was damaged. These cars are so expensive to repair so I hope nobody has to go through what we did.

[Crampy]

Our TTE was involved in an accident 12 months ago and the E-box was damaged. These cars are so expensive to repair so I hope nobody has to go through what we did.

Ouch. Good thing I've got good insurance then. Not that I'm planning on going out and smashing it up, but you never know what might happen.

[RH9]

Mate all we needed to repair ours was bonnet, RF guard, bumper, headlights, AC condensor, radiator and intercooler. Some small extras like the E-box and it came to $16k. Luckily the valuation saved her from the scrap heap.

Even a light frontal can lead to a potential write off in these cars with everything packed tight into the short nose and headlights over $3k each

[Crampy]

Mate all we needed to repair ours was bonnet, RF guard, bumper, headlights, AC condensor, radiator and intercooler. Some small extras like the E-box and it came to $16k. Luckily the valuation saved her from the scrap heap.

Even a light frontal can lead to a potential write off in these cars with everything packed tight into the short nose and headlights over $3k each

Holy crap!!!

[Makaveli]

That's probably Toyota Retail prices. You could always get a custom intercooler and radiator or off another car and modify the cores. Ebox? Maybe you can rewire it to fit inside the cabin. Panels etc. Second hand parts? I almost bought an Aristo for $10,500 once from car fair (TWIN TURBO). So I dont know who would be stupid to fork out $16k on parts for a minor front collision. Maybe even get a Fibre Glass Kit from Japan or something? Buy a Non turbo Donor from Japan? I m sure it would work out cheaper than 16k

Toyota quoted me like $20 something dollars for each bumper plastic clip? But do u think a sane person would pay that???

[2jayzgte]

With Toyota Genuine bits it really helps to have a contact as genuine bits are still very pricey especially during this time of recession and all I would say the difference in pricing has risen by about 40-50%.A good example of this is the TRD Monoblock kit that I bought 2 years ago was then just on $3K with a decent discount and now Toyota RRP is $5500 so I think without the contacts I'd have never thought about it.

Also cars like the Aristo are one of the more expensive Toyota's hence again the costs for parts will be more again.

[RH9]

That's probably Toyota Retail prices. You could always get a custom intercooler and radiator or off another car and modify the cores. Ebox? Maybe you can rewire it to fit inside the cabin. Panels etc. Second hand parts? I almost bought an Aristo for $10,500 once from car fair (TWIN TURBO). So I dont know who would be stupid to fork out $16k on parts for a minor front collision. Maybe even get a Fibre Glass Kit from Japan or something? Buy a Non turbo Donor from Japan? I m sure it would work out cheaper than 16k

Toyota quoted me like $20 something dollars for each bumper plastic clip? But do u think a sane person would pay that???

True they are retail prices but an insurance co doesnt really care - if the quote comes in at x amount which is over their repair budget your a goner. Try finding a 161 in a wreckers yard, most have had frontal damage so you just cant find headlights and radiators. There are ways to fix them and get them on the road considerably cheaper than using Toyota genuine but insurance wont. At the end of the day writing them off means they pay out market value and still get a good price for the dereg'd wrecks at auction.

Not saying your gonna crash your car tho Crampy, just pays to be aware that Aristo's arent cheap cars to maintain even if you buy one for what looks to be a steal

Have you seen the nice white one out Kumeu way with the TE37's and HKS front mount? Another really nicely spec'd one. It was on Trade Me a whle ago. I also have a mate with a nice white one too, Work wheels, Blitz intercooler on Apexi coilovers..........I really do have a soft spot for these cars I'd love to have an RZ Supra next to the GTR in our garage but the 161 is the ultimate safe family car I reckon.

[Crampy]

I certainly hope I don't crash it

I haven't really seen too many of these around. I've seen some stock GS300s recently, but no Aristos (let alone any cool modded ones).
Well, that's a lie. I did see your one heading to Whenuapai Village the other day, Nice!!!