auris city

Firstly, I would like to thank the great people at Auris City for setting up the competitions and allowing me to attend the Auris Launch party in Johannesburg.

After winning week 4 of the AurisCity competition, my name was to be entered into the live draw for the all new Toyota Auris. To be eligible to win the Auris, entrants were required to be present for the draw, seeing that I reside in Port Elizabeth, I had the small issue of getting to the draw in Johannesburg.

Thanks to the help of Dov Stern of AurisCity and Toyota, flight to Johannesburg and accommodation was arranged for my girlfriend and I. We were flown to Johannesburg first class and booked into a room overlooking the pool at the magnificent Palazzo Hotel at Monte Casino.

After checking into the hotel, we hastily made our way to the penthouse of the Palazzo Hotel to enter into the Toyota Auris competition for the draw, receiving our special Auris swipe cards for the evening’s live draw at Tokyo Sky. Light meals and snacks were available in the penthouse for us to enjoy, but we were too anxious to get back downstairs to the Auris Team who were waiting for us, so I then filled in a few forms and made my way down to the entrance of the Palazzo Hotel where the Auris Team handed me the keys to a brand new silver Toyota Auris 2.0 Diesel to drive for the day.

After receiving the keys to the Auris, we were taken for a quick trip around Monte Casino with a member of the Auris Team to familiarise us with the controls and features of the all new Auris. One of the big features I liked is the fact that the Auris has keyless entry, you have a remote that can manually lock and unlock the vehicle. Once locked, and you are next to the vehicle with the remote in your pocket, the door automatically unlocks for you. Once inside the Auris, there’s a push button engine start that only works if the remote is in the vehicle. A nice touch is that if the steering wheel is slightly off centre when you start the engine, it is corrected automatically. The instrumentation looks really good and the orange display stands out well during the day. I am not a fan of orange lights for instrumentation, but the way Toyota implemented it, it looks really great.

The centre console that stretches down in between the front seats, hosts the gear lever and handbrake. The gear lever is placed high, and from photos, I thought this would be uncomfortable. To my surprise, this positioning of the gear lever is actually quite comfortable and keeps your hands close to the steering wheel. The Auris is well a rounded off car in typical reliable Toyota fashion.

Now that we were set for our drive and accustomed to the Auris’ workings, we took off for a drive around Fourways. Driving the Auris does make one feel pretty special and exclusive, considering
the limited number of Auris’ currently in South Africa. There are probably more Ferraris on our roads currently than there are Auris’. Pulling up to robots and stop streets, we received attention from quite a few people not yet familiar with the shape of Toyota’s newest offering. I remember a particular gentleman and his lady friend driving a certain luxury German branded vehicle that did take an extended look at our Auris. The Auris is such a comfortable and smooth driving vehicle that I am sure it is more enjoyable to drive than the German saloon next to us.

The 2.0 diesel that we drove is the top of the range model and is a definite must. With 300nm of torque, this model is a joy in city driving, quick and responsive. When I say it is quick, I am talking from experience. At one point, I had to quickly accelerate to get into traffic, and upon shifting into 2nd gear, I could hear the tyres screaming for help, purely unintentional. That’s just how much power the 2.0 diesel has. Amazing.

Okay, it's the moment we've all been waiting for and I'm glad to say the wait is finally over because the suspense was killing me! News on the street is that the Auris, the car
of my dreams, is making its way to dealerships all round the country this week.

That means for the avid fans out there that you can now get behind the wheel of a brand spanking new Toyota Auris this week!

I'm a little sad that my gaming days are soon over with the announcement of Week 4's Auris City ultimate gamer, J Bosch! Congratulations to you and all the other winners too: Pule Legae, Noma-Africa Mkwanazi, Kelly Mcmillan, Andrew Grant Farrow, Chris Deacon, JT Bosch, Rashida Mkwanazi, Kevin Yong and Emily Legae. You guys have all been real sports and you have to admit, the past four weeks have been an absolute blast with all the action that went down in Auris City.

I hope you know that the fun doesn't stop here because we've still got the Spy Pics Competition and the Auris Launch Ticket Giveaways happening right here on the blog! So if you want a piece of the action then start sending through your entries with your name and email address so we can contact you if you win.

Remember too that just like the Auris, Toyota has designed Auris City just for you, so be sure to head over there and check out the latest news and info on the awe-inspiring Toyota Auris. You'll even be able to compare the new generation specs, while you pick out your favourite colour and customise your desktop to reflect the Auris' impeccable image. Visit the AurisCity bank and find out about finance or stop by the Art Gallery to see what style really looks like.

It's been a few days since you heard from me I know, I've been out of action due to a nasty flu bug, but it's all good because I got to build some game time on the Auris Cafe competition this week.

Those of you who are avid Auris car fans have been sending mails and leaving comments on the blog left rigt and centre and I thank you for your enthusiasm! it really keeps the spirits up when you have something to look forward to with word spreading of the imminent nationwide launch of the Auris only days away now! 

I'm so excited about this car as I'm sure you all are so please please send though your stories which we will publishing on the blog to showcase the passion that has been rallied behind the Toyota Auris.

Just remember to qualify for tickets to the launch of the Auris and to stand a chance to win a fabulous new Auris at this launch, you absolutely have to email your 'stand out' story, your name and contact details to editor@aurisblog.com! 

Now word on the street is that there's secret gaps in the Auris Cafe game that allows you to sneak past streets to get to the final destination, which is the Art Gallery! So be on the lookout for open boomgates and other little shortcuts.

"Head on down to the Art Gallery where 10 of Auris City’s most accomplished chefs have created edible replicas of 10 Auris Citylandmark sculptures.

Be there to marvel at the intricate details and then join in as the “art” is truly deconstructed… and savoured at this cocktail party with a twist. Truly one step ahead."
 

If you cut your driving around time in half and manage to deconstruct the artworks in time, you'll definitely be able to beat the reigning score of 12secs! Good luck and if you're into good looking artworks, your should head to the free gallery showcase of downloadable screensavers at Auris City. Be sure to check out the optitron dashboard image, that's my favourite one at the moment.

The gamers in Auris City seem to be full steam ahead this week with their unbelievable race times and superfast gameplay!

I have to say a big shout out and congratulations to last week's Music Store game winner, Oliver Hager, who walked away with that stunning Apple 30Gb Ipod Video and the overall winners who all won Musica music vouchers for their hard-earned efforts on the Auris City game, and they are: Andrew Grant Farrow, Mario Anamourlis,Brandon Banyard, Chris Deacon, Werner Hubsch, Lisa Williams, Jay Subban, Jobby Job and Jeffrey Lu.

This week, Auris City has an extra special treat in store for you with the Electronics game so head on over to www.auriscity.co.za if you want to try your luck out and stand a chance at winning the awesome Sony PlayStation 3! The hint in the game reminders that I received via email today, spoke of "indulging one's gadget obsession", so I think you need to put on your thinking caps, and get the Electronics Store in order.

I don't know about you but I'm a huge PS2 fan and the chance to own a PS3 gaming console would be more than just a step up for my gaming pleasure.

The most anticipated game launches are Resident Evil 5, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and lastly the ever popular Grand Theft Auto series with its lastest offering being GTA IV, which releases in October 2007. You can check out the latest PS3 game offering on here.

Speaking of being in tune with technology, take a look at the sneak pics we managed to scoop up last week! A friend of mine managed to grab some quick shots of the Auris car as it was heading to a venue in Jozi and news on the street is that the Auris is getting ready to take over Jozi and other parts of South Africa too. So if you're keen to be part of the scene, I'd suggest you get those cameras out and start doing some undercover work for us because we're looking for pictures of the Auris in motion and of this outstanding car gracing our streets so that we can all share our experience.

Toyota South Africa is set to launch the car publicly in the month of August so be on the lookout for the beautiful Auris, and if you get the chance, be sure snap her up! You could stand a chance of wining a 2Gb Ipod Nano or a digital camera for your troubles.

Gamers stop revving your engines for a minute and take some time to size up your opponents. That's the advice I've been given by the makers of the highly addictive Auris City game.

This week's competition scores are just as competitive as last week's Drive-In game with the fastest gameplay session currently sitting at 19 sec! I'm glad to see that there's a few ladies like Lisa Williams representing on the leaderboard too, you go girls!

The weekend is just around the corner and that signals the last few days to get your fingers to the pedal and start wracking up some points in Auris City. This week's Music Store competitions ends on Sunday night. On that note here is the nifty hint that I happened to squeeze out of one of the game's developers and he says, "Instead of trying to get above the rest, gamers at Auris City need to suss out their competition first, and take their time to play because the person who's in lead isn't the one to beat, it's you!"

Now 'Mr. Auris City developer', I'm not so sure what that's supposed to mean, but if you consider that it's not a racing game then once you've got top spot, all you would have to do is sit back and wait until someone else gets an even lower score than yours, and then try to topple them - otherwise you'd, technically, just be beating your lowest score. So there could be some truth to what 'he who must not be named' had to say, and I'm not talking about Voldemort here :-)

Anyway if any of you have further hints, please send them on to editor@aurisblog.co.za or just use the Comments field on the blog.

I've also tried the game many times this week and a helpful hint from me is to try and be as quick as you can in putting your order of music-related stuff together, that way you don't waste time getting around the rest of the game.

Good Luck!

Pssst... For those of you who are having trouble returning to the Auris City site to play your new favourite game, don't stress. Check the email that is sent to you with your license number, and use this as your password to log in to the site.

Please note that is the login for the Auris City site and not for our Auris Blog. To become a member here, you can register anytime, anywhere and feel free to poke around as much as you want. This blog is just for you!

We've had an awesome launch and a riveting first week at the Auris Blog. Those of you out there that are getting in on the action that's heating up on Auris City are sure to be in for a real treat with this week's competition.

This week is all about the Music! So if you're a car lover and think you've got the skills as a music aficianado then put on your dancing shoes and head to the Auris City parking lot to get ready for some musical fun that just might see you win that Apple 30Gb iPod Video that's up for grabs.

I wonder who's going to be this week's Auris All Star?

All I know right now is that if you wanna be the hot shot in Auris City then you're gonna have to be fast when you navigate your way around those corners and be on the ball in this week's Music quizz!

With Week One's gameplay behind us, it's time to congratulate Gareth Richards who snuck up behind Vickar Indurjith to win that fabulous 32 inch LCD HD TV! Well done!

The rest of the contenders didn't walk away empty-handed as they each picked up movie vouchers.

So I'm off to try my hand at the game again, about the 18th time today that I've had a chance to cut those corners, and I must say, I'm, getting addicted too :-)

PS- For all those spy pic enthusiasts, the making of the Auris TV commercial is happening sometime this week so keep your eyes peeled for the lovely Auris in our midst.