the payoff - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

BonzoGonzo · 10-09-2011, 12:47 AM

hit i-70... 172 miles across illinois, on across the river on i-64w, i-170n, exit at olive, go east about a mile and i'm at lulu - my favorite dim sum restaurant, in st louis. (university city, if u wanna b technical...) yum!

all the way there runnin' 71 mph on the cruise, dead quiet in the cab and the car is boored, with going that slow... not exactly smooth as silk 'cause the avvy gives great road feel, including bumps, bot no shimmy anywhere, now. curves marked for 35 mph? take 'em at 60. we're in the avvy. no strain, no pain.

out of lulu, back across the river to exit 6 - hwy 111 n - alias the great river road. up through alton, across the ferry onto il 108, then head east. comin' up outta the river some dufus pulls a skid test in front of the jeep, ahead of me. horns honk. birds fly. seems the jeep was a little too close. done that myself, from time to time. the dufus is runnin' 54 mph.

a chinese gang bang ensues, wherein everybody is tryin' to collect the license plate off the car ahead of them, speeding up and slowing down. the dufus has the cruise set - 54 mph.

i'm the third car. i was havin' SUCH a nice day... no shortage of oncoming traffic. finally i see a little daylight. a little is all i need. half way down and she hits second gear, before i can move the lever. i'm backin' out of it as i pull even with the jeep; movin' the lever, back into drive. when i get back in the right lane i'm runnin' 87 mph. i can just hear those dewds in that jeep: "... that was a TOYOTA?" roflmao

50 miles down the road i stop at a casey's to get a coke. that jeep is waiting on me as i walk out. 4 great big hunter dewds. what in the (!) did you DO to that car? nothin'. really. i just got it running right. almost stock. but this is not your regular toyota. it's an avalon...

been over a year and $10,000 - $3000 to buy it and the rest, in parts. lots of work and even a little blood, here and there. now comes the payoff. i knew what this car was... and COULD BE AGAIN.

yours can, too...

pmesfun · 10-09-2011, 04:24 AM

What year is you avy? I know mine has a nice pull at WOT it downshifts back into first. If you want to talk about fast, the 07 is a beast, 0-60 in 6 seconds I would say.

BonzoGonzo · 10-09-2011, 08:19 AM

mine's a '97. '07 is not something i can afford. i never borrow money. it's hilarious. all the people that LOOK rich are in negative territory... and then there's me, in my jeans...

i'm not too familiar with the new stuff. do you know what an '07 would be faster than... a '11? interesting...

pmesfun · 10-09-2011, 10:38 AM

What adjustments did you do make it run faster? I'm going to be trying 0w-40 oil next OCI.

05-11 use the same engine so they're all the same. I wasn't trying to say anything negative, just noting how fast it is for a Toyota.

adu1982 · 10-09-2011, 02:54 PM

yup the avy isn't bad at all, i don't even take care of it as I should (or as I do to my wife's concorde), it's at 29 k now, and still amazes me that without even trying to speed i get to 45-50 before most cars, unless some fool who steps on acceleration all the way down, which i do not do to the avy anymore .... i feel that for the 250k miles i should be at least gentle to it.......

I do promise to have replace my (both) valve cover gasket, my struts ...and I think some sway bar bushings, or tie rods ...but since I wanna do this work myself, and not kill my budget....it will still have to wait some......but the again that is why I love the avy.....is resilient....

BonzoGonzo · 10-09-2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmesfun

What adjustments did you do make it run faster? I'm going to be trying 0w-40 oil next OCI.

05-11 use the same engine so they're all the same. I wasn't trying to say anything negative, just noting how fast it is for a Toyota.

not at all -just wondered if there was something different about the '07, in particular. now i think they are a camry, with a trim package. at least that's the way they look to me?