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ToyotaSeraWikicars

ToyotaSera
Wikicars,aplacetoshareyourautomotiveknowledge
TheToyotaSerawasasmallcarbuiltbyToyotasolelyfortheJapanesemarketintheearly1990s,
althoughenthusiastsinNewZealand,India,Ireland,Australia,Canada,andtheUKhavesinceimporteda
handfulofthem.ItwasinitiallyrevealedastheToyotaAXVIIconceptcarin1988,andwasshownin
almostproductionreadyform.
TheSerawasavailablewitha1.5Linline4engine.Itcamewitheither4speedautomaticora5speed
manualtransmission.
ThecarisrelatedtotheToyotaPaseo,andsharessimilarfloorpans,suspension,steeringandbrakes.
Theengineisthe5EFHEdeveloping110ps(108bhp),andthisisthelargestcapacityderivationoftheE
seriesengines,andthemostpowerfulofthenormallyaspiratedversions.TheToyotaStarletGTTurboor
Glanzaengine,codename4EFTE,develops135ps(133bhp)asstandardandhasbeensuccessfully
transplantedinanumberofSerasinJapan,AustraliaandtheUK.
Itsmostdistinctivefeatureisitsbutterflydoors,whichopenforwardandupfromthebottomandtopofthe
Apillar(similartotheMcLarenF1).Theweightofthedoorissupportedbyathickgasstrut,butthereisa
balancesystemtohelptakeintoaccountchangesintemperatureinsidethedoor.Thedoorcanbeopened
fullyinafairlyconfinedspace43cmclearanceoneithersideofthecar,unliketheconventionaldoorson
mostcars.
TheSeracamewithanoptional'Live'surroundsoundsystemthatincludedapairofcomponentspeakerson
therearparceltray,mountedinatubethatcouldrotatetowardsthepassengersortheglasshatch.This
premiumsoundpackagealsoincludedasmallsubwooferaswellasacentrespeakerinthedashandis
usuallyidentifiedas"SuperLiveSurroundSound"orSLSS.
Onedrawbackofthecaristhelargeamountofglassthatcancreateasolarloadgreenhouseeffectinside
thecarcausinginteriortemperaturestosoar.AllSerascameasstandardwithairconditioningtooffsetthis
problem,andtheadvantageofthedesignisthattheotherwisecrampedrearpassengersenjoyincredible
visibilitytothefrontandsides(andabove!)comparedtomostsmallcoupes.Duetotheoverwhelming
amountofglassthebodyisnotveryrigid.Thislackofrigidityaffectsthehandlingcharacteristicswith
bodyroll(althoughsomeofthisbehaviourcanoftenbeattributedtotheageofthecarssincenewgenuine
suspensionisactuallyquitecompetent,althoughstillsomewhatatoddswiththesportingimagethecarhas
acquiredoutsideofJapan).Anotherdisappointingfeatureisthesmallopeningfortherearcargoarea
measuringonly52cmby82cm.Thisboot(trunk)spaceislargeenoughtofitasmallsuitcase,buttherear
seatsfolddowntoincreasestorageareatoanacceptablelevel,andthedivisionbetweentherearseatsand
luggageareaisremoveable.UltimatelytheSeraisanincrediblypracticaldesigngivenitscompactsize.
TheToyotaSerawasproducedinthreedistinctversions,eachavailablewitheithermanualorautomatic
transmissions,standard(2speakers,fittedtothedoors)orSLSSaudio,andawiderangeofoptions.The
initialbuild(Phase1)featuresbeige/taninteriororgreyishbluedependingonexteriorcolour,abayonet
fuelfillercap,andaribbedwovenseatmaterialthatisveryhardwearing.Mostoftheproductionwas
completedinthisphase,around12,000ofthetotal16,000orsocarsproduced,fromlaunchin1990toMay
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1991.FromMay1991toJune1992,PhaseIIwasproduced,identifiablebydifferentseatmaterials
featuringapastelpatterninthemainsectionswithtan/greyishbolstersdependingoninteriorcolour,anda
screwtypefuelfillercap.Around2,300PhaseIIcarswereproduced.
ThefinalversionoftheSera(PhaseIII)featuresagreyinteriorwithseatfabricsthathaveasecondary
colourtocomplementtheexteriorcolour,someenginecomponentrevisions,sideimpactbeamsinthe
doors,optionalairbags(whichmayhavebeenaccompaniedbyABSanoptiononallSerasandthree
pointrearseatbelts),strongerdoorstrutstocompensateforthesideimpactbeams,andtheonlyexternal
changetotheSeraasolidplasticspoilerwithLEDhighlevelbrakelightincorporated.
ThePhaseIIISeraalsofeaturedalimitededitionmodel,theAmlux.
OptionalaccessoriesfortheSeraatlaunchincludedanincarfax,"fragrancesynthesizer",CleanACEcabin
filter(relativelycommonforanaccessory.Manyaccessoriesareextremelyrare),parkingsensors,ski
rackswhichattachedtothedoors,andadifferentsetofseatcoversandmatsinastrikingcolour
combination.
TheSera/AXVIIwasoneofthefirstcarstofeatureprojectorheadlights(theAXVIIconceptfeatured
conventionallights).TheAlfaRomeoStradaleisbelievedtobethefirstcartofeaturedihedraldoors,which
liketheSera,featureswindowsthatcurveupwardintothe'roof'sectionofthevehicle.
TheSeraisstillverywellsupportedbyToyotaforspares,andmanyUKdealersarehappytoorderparts
andservicethecar.
InAustralia,mostSeraswillhaverequiredthreepointseatbeltsandsideimpactbeamstobefittedfor
compliance.Theremaybebenefitstoimportingalatermodeltoavoidthisthirdpartywork.

Externallinks
UKToyotaSeraRegistryandOwnersClub(http://www.toyotasera.co.uk)
Japanoid,acompanyinVancouver,CanadathatimportstheSera(http://www.japanoid.com)
ToyotaSeraSpecs(http://specs.amayama.com/toyota/sera)ToyotaSeraSpecificationguide

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(http://www.toyota.com/)

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