Wildbear's kit up!

Pop by Audio Concepts today for a quick lunch with Teddy since his Wald Sport Line body kit is going up today.

Here's the TRD emblem on the back of his car. Looks very nice! Too bad I don't have anymore space on the rear door.



He did the full works, spoiler, bonet spoiler, G square bonnet garnish, AMS front bumper grill cover, eyelids, etc, etc. Big project!



And of course, how can we miss out Sidney's fierce looking ride. Turbo charged and now with a vented fibreglass bonnet.



Oh.. not to forget the Wilwood front brake upgrade too!



Fierce ah!!

Cheers,

TRD Key ring

Got bored with my current key ring and decided to change to a new one.

Had this TRD keyring for quite sometime, but never borthered to use it. Thought it might be a refreshing change.



I like all the Japanese race tracks engraved at the back.



Maybe I should go for a D.A.D Garson one next. Actually, I'm looking for a better alarm so that might be a better option. All I need is a stylish controller to attach to my carkey. Can't understand why they don't work on the design aspect of the controller. Most of them looks hideous.

Cheers,

TRD Security Sticker

Saw this on the web. TRD Security stickers. Obviously not an official TRD product, but I'm sure it will be popular with many.



Oh. Checkered background for the Carbon Fibre look too!

Cheers,

TRD X WOLF

As they always say "It's the little things that makes the difference.."

Some here are some subtle details on the big black wolf that I noticed recently..

The cap on the fierce, fierce 18" rims have been changed to match the TRD engine oil cap. All carbon fibre style TRD.



And at the third row windscreen, a small, but distinctive TRD sticker. Outstanding!



Maybe the wolf needs a TRD keychain to hang from his keys to add that finishing touch.



Actually, there is talk about a big sticker project. I wonder when is that actually going to happen? Or is the wolf too chicken for that? Hee. Hee.

Cheers,

TRD Sticker for Alvin

Alvin,

Specially for your Aerosports! Nice?



Cheers,

News from TRD

This is the new silhouette sticker design from TRD. Sold in a set of 3 for JPY4500. 2 pieces (48 cm) for the side and 1 piece (30 cm) for the bonnet. Justin... latest one you know.. Only announced in Japan last week.




Anyway, I think we can modify this design slightly for our Wish wagon. Let me see if I have time to work on it.

The new TRD All Parts Catalogue 2006-2007 Vol. 15 is out now.



The table of contents is as follows:

1. What's TRD


2. CAR index


3. EXTERIOR


4. EXHAUST & ENGINE


5. BRACE & SUSPENSION


6. COMPETITION PARTS


7. RUBBER INSULATOR


8. DRIVE TRAIN


9. ENGINE


10. BRAKE


11. DRIVING SUPPORT PARTS


12. TRD Factory


13. WebGarage

The catalogue contains details for all part for all cars, not just for Wish. If I recall correctly, it retails for JPY3000.



The 2007 calendar is also out and available for JPY2100. Limited to 3000 copies, but sadly, you won't see our beloved car in this one. No surprise actually.



Above is the new TRD limited edition transport case. Measures 75 X 35 X 35 cm. Made of ABS and weights only 4 kg. Price at JPY 29400. Not very practical. Like an extended make up case for ladies.

And finally, TRD is now offering cubic printed panels with logo as well. Earlier they offered scuff plates. Seems like TRD is starting to capitalise on the decorative market. Frankly speaking, I don't see why not. Tons of money to be made here.



I like the print offered actually. Nice!

Cheers,

I stickered my Toyota Wish!

Today, I finally put stickers on my car. Or rather, it's the chrome emblems that's been lying around for a while and the new TRD emblem. Justin and Lim help me put them up. Wonder how long they will last on the car before falling off or get ripped off. Anyway, here's one of the new emblems being applied on the car.







Cheers,

TRD Blue brake pad

TRD produces 3 types of brake pads. Black for high performance street racing pad. Red for circuit racing pads. Blue for street performance and comfort. Obviously for Toyota Wish, I'm going to use the blue ones.

Here's a performance spider diagram to how well each of them perform against the stock pads.





As can be seen, TRD Blue brake pads' anti wear and the noise level is same as the stock brake pads. However, it produces less brake dust, is more durable, better control, strong anti fade characteristics and has almost 2 times better braking force.



Got mine installed today!!! Cost JPY 13600. From TRD Japan.

Cheers,

New TRD emblem

TRD has a new emblem out. Will be available from December 2006. Cost 4935 JPY. Nice!!! And much cheaper than the previous TRD emblem.



Interesting to see that TRD is also starting to make decorative accessories like the scuff plates. This set goes for 31500 JPY. Not cheap. Available from Nov 2006, but not for Toyota Wish at the moment.

Cheers,

Feedback on new suspension set

So far, the cornering improved and stability is much better with the new TRD Sportivo Suspenson set. However, the bumps on the roads are much more obivious now and you can really feel the road condition. Some like it, I'm still getting used to it. Here's a picture of the ride that slightly lowered. Not too obvious.

One other thing that's not related to the handling is the road noise. Somehow, the road noise is now very much more pronounced. Now this is a real killer for me. Lim did warn me earlier about the road noise being unable to escape from the wheel arch after the car is lowered. I didn't take him too seriously as I thought he's pretty insensitive to these thing. Obviously Mr. No Feeling can feel much more than we were led to believe. Anyway, let's see how it goes.

Cheers,

TRD Sportivo Suspension (Con't)

More pictures!!!

So here are the coil springs. All in white. I'm sure they will be horribly dirty rather quickly. Good thing that I have thick spokes on my rims to hide them from view.



This are the shock absorbers. The small one is the rear shock absorber. The rear coil springs are smaller too.



Next is the stabilizer bars. TRD has a set of 2 bars developed specially for the Toyota Wish. The rear bar is also available separately for those who just want the rear bar only. That will cost about S$320 to S$340.



The front stablizer bar is not too common in the market as it's a bit difficult to replicate. The stablizer bars are full replacement of the stock set. They are not hollow and therefore heavier. This add strength to the bars during high speed cornering and it avoid body sway too. Here's what the actual bar looks like compared to the stock version. C ONE Motorsports actually has the front bar too, but strangely, I can't find it on their website. They do not make the rear bar. So might as well get the set from TRD.



This is what it looks like when fully installed. The bar is install at four points, at the two ends and at the two bushing. As such, the car has to be jacked up. That's why it's best to do all the suspension together. Less hassle.



Since I ordered the complete set, I swapped out the blue TRD rear bar as well. Now All the bars and springs are in white color. This is what the rear set up looks like when fully installed with springs, shock absorbers and stabilizer bar. Here's a close up of the bar. It says TRD sportivo instead of TRD on the blue bar. There's too many replica blue bars on the market anyway.

Okay. End of installation report. Will test out the ride the next few days and see how it goes. The car is also now lower than before due the the coil springs. Will try to get a picture.

Cheers,

TRD Sportivo Suspension installed!!

Had time today so sent the car in again for the long overdued installation.



The complete TRD Sportivo Suspension setup consist of 3 components. The 2 piece stabilizer set, the coil spring set and the shock absorber set. All sold separately.



The front and rear stabilizer set are quite long so they are packed in the big long box. The coil springs are pack in the brown box and the shock absorbers are in the white box. These 2 items alone are about 20 kg.

Anyway, more details later!

Cheers,

TRD Autum/Winter Collection out

TRD announce the launch of their Autum/Winter collection.

List of new TRD Autum/Winter items.

Complete Catalogue here - Yet to be fully updated

Not a lot of new stuff. Mostly motorsports fashion items and some were actually available from a few months ago. But I'm sure this push start switch replacement kit will be of interest to Raymond...



Available many makes of Toyota vehicles like Camry, Estima, RAV4, Ractis, etc, etc....except Wish. As usual.

And for Justin, here are some design references for the upcoming sticker project. Go for it!!




Cheers,

TRD emblem

I'm a sucker for emblems. And this one from TRD looks really nice! Made of ABS, it measures 24 mm X 171 mm. At S$170 a piece, I doubt we will ever see it on our shores. Oh well...

Cheers,

TRD Spark Plugs

Considering changing my spark plug at 10,000 km. Heard that iridium plugs from Denso are good. TRD spark plugs are also from Denso, albeit at 3 times the price...

According to TRD..

High-output, high-rev sports car engines require a spark plug that is able to withstand the loads generated by such high power, and that can guarantee reliable ignition. TRD employs a new iridium alloy as the precious metal for the center electrode, to achieve a super-fine tip diameter of 0.4 mm, compared to platinum's 0.7-mm diameter. This greatly improves ignitability over platinum by decreasing the voltage required to spark, and allows you to maximize the response of high-performance engines.

Tempting indeed. So for Toyota Wish, we will need the IK-16 four piece set. Seems like it's a discontinued items too... strange..

Anyway, we'll see.

Cheers,

TRD launchs new Fuel cap cover

Seems like TRD Japan just launched a new fuel cap cover last month. Expected to go on sale by the end of this month.

Priced at JPY3990, the new model includes a safety catch that prevents the cap from dropping. neat! Previously, the safety catch had to be purchased separately. Anyway, the part number is 77315-SP010 for those interested. This version will be good for those with the clear fuel tank cover.

Cheers,

TRD Brake Hose

Yup. TRD does have the original brake hose for Toyota Wish. They call it the direct brake line instead. At a bloody princely sum of JPY 33,600 too!!

This is the one for the ZNE10G with rear disc brakes.





Original part number: 47031 ZE100

Cheers,