“A bum-dragger? Totally un-Australian, mate” declared a broad-accented bloke out front of the Brewarrina pub, between mouthfuls of a hearty fried breakfast.
There’s no question that the Aurion is built here, so on one level at least it’s every bit as Australian-made as the Falcon and Commodore. But where the latter pair boast decades of local model development between them, the Aurion is a Johnny-come-lately to the big-six scene.
It is, in fact, a 3.5-litre dohc V6 version of the also Australian-built Camry, meaning it was largely engineered in Japan. But for the pragmatists, that V6, with superior power, pace, refinement and fuel economy than its rivals, is reason enough to welcome this late bloomer with open arms, and cheque books.
And, as we discovered over 2000km, even our patriotic, bacon-and-egg eating mate would have to agree the Aurion does a fair job of taming this wide brown land.
The Prodigy looked competitive before we even turned a wheel, its six airbags, ESP, standard leather and 200kW/336Nm V6 mated to a six-speed auto ticking plenty of boxes. And within the first 500km it was clear the Toyota had the drivetrain contest all but wrapped up.
The syrupy V6 burbles along at cruising speeds, while the auto shifts with near seamless precision. But bury the loud pedal and the V6 responds with urgent vigour, pulling hard and strong to redline, while emitting a near sports-car-like howl. The transmission, too, rises to the challenge, snapping home crisp,
full- throttle changes.
No surprise, then, that the Toyota took gold at the dragstrip; its 6.8sec 0-100km/h sprint out-pointing the Falcon (7.1sec) and leaving the Berlina (8.4sec) sucking dust. Remarkably, given this performance advantage, the Aurion also slurped the least petrol, recording an overall average of 10.7L/100km.
Yes, it’s an outstanding drivetrain package, but the gap soon closes when other aspects of the driving experience are taken into account.
First among these is suspension, where the Prodigy’s soft springs and dampers prove both jittery at low speeds, and lacking in effective rebound at higher speeds. Sailing over humped floodways at 110km/h, for instance, the nose bobs and wallows excessively on rebound.
In moderate driving conditions the Toyota remains relatively benign, but press beyond six-tenths and understeer is the only trick in the book. The slow-geared steering (3.2 turns lock-to-lock) feels resolutely disconnected for the most part.
But if you’re considering buying a Toyota, then scalpel-sharp dynamics are probably not a priority. What should be a priority for most, however, is a seamlessly effective ESP system, and here the Aurion also fails. Regardless of the surface, when the electronic brain decides you are out of control (and it doesn’t take much convincing) the ESP cuts in with unnerving violence. Subtle it ain’t.
The Aurion claws back some valuable yards when it comes to refinement, with just a slight rustle of wind and faint monotone thrum on coarse-chip to break the silence.
For some, the Aurion’s strong value and drivetrain superiority will mark it a winner. But here, the lack of chassis composure, blunt ESP and disconnected steering place it a close, but clear, third.