RE: PH Carpool: Toyota Sera
Discussion
Very cool. I sometimes see one around the West Dulwich area of south London, and it looks great.
The doors provided a design solution for the McLaren F1 didn't they?? I seem to remember reading somewhere that Peter Stevens and Gordon Murray were struggling how to get the F1 doors to work, and then someone pointed out the Sera's arrangement.
The doors provided a design solution for the McLaren F1 didn't they?? I seem to remember reading somewhere that Peter Stevens and Gordon Murray were struggling how to get the F1 doors to work, and then someone pointed out the Sera's arrangement.
There were a few of them running around in Oz...I have a photo somewhere of my SVX parked behind one (the windows are the same layout).
Come to think of it, so are the McF1's, EB110 etc.
A twin turbo Subaru SVX with a manual gearbox and with SERA type doors.....you can keep your Veyron's :-)
Come to think of it, so are the McF1's, EB110 etc.
A twin turbo Subaru SVX with a manual gearbox and with SERA type doors.....you can keep your Veyron's :-)
The doors actually work as well - if you parked in a normal car parking space at the supermarket or in a multi storey you can open the doors fully with only 18 inches of room either side. You can't do that with most cars with normal doors and have to slide yourself in an inelegant manner.
Fun fact, I remember reading in old magazine articles that the original AXV-II concept car on which the Sera production version was based was basically designed from focus groups trying to figure out what young professional Japanese women wanted in a car (probably the first time anyone in Japan had even thought of consulting women about cars!). They found women wanted basically a reliable, easy to drive normal car, but with more eye catching styling, the doors to grab attention and make exiting the car easier and better visibility and luggage space etc. If you read the painful PR copy in the brochure it does read like something they obtained from focus groups of what young women want in a car...
This is why it's got such innovative styling but yet fairly ordinary mechanical underpinnings. It's actually pretty amazing they never made a factory turbo version considering just about every other JDM car of the era seems to have a turbo version somewhere in it's lineup and the Starlet GT engine goes right in!
This is why it's got such innovative styling but yet fairly ordinary mechanical underpinnings. It's actually pretty amazing they never made a factory turbo version considering just about every other JDM car of the era seems to have a turbo version somewhere in it's lineup and the Starlet GT engine goes right in!
The Sera club managed to track down the head of design (who at that point still had a Sera)
They said there were plans for a higher performance model and one with removable roof glass panels (making a sort of T-Bar).
So my interpretation of the higher performance model would have been the Starlet Turbo drivetrain, and when I did it on my own car as an experiment I found it to be pretty straightforward - the ECU was almost plug and play barring half a dozen easy wiring mods.
They said there were plans for a higher performance model and one with removable roof glass panels (making a sort of T-Bar).
So my interpretation of the higher performance model would have been the Starlet Turbo drivetrain, and when I did it on my own car as an experiment I found it to be pretty straightforward - the ECU was almost plug and play barring half a dozen easy wiring mods.
SleeperCell said:
Fun fact, I remember reading in old magazine articles that the original AXV-II concept car on which the Sera production version was based was basically designed from focus groups trying to figure out what young professional Japanese women wanted in a car (probably the first time anyone in Japan had even thought of consulting women about cars!). They found women wanted basically a reliable, easy to drive normal car, but with more eye catching styling, the doors to grab attention and make exiting the car easier and better visibility and luggage space etc. If you read the painful PR copy in the brochure it does read like something they obtained from focus groups of what young women want in a car...
This is why it's got such innovative styling but yet fairly ordinary mechanical underpinnings. It's actually pretty amazing they never made a factory turbo version considering just about every other JDM car of the era seems to have a turbo version somewhere in it's lineup and the Starlet GT engine goes right in!
I think you'll find that focus groups have asked women what they want in a car, long before the Sera. Also, you claim "just about every other JDM car of that era seems to have a turbo version somewhere". Again, this is incorrect, the just a dull Toyota Paseo, of the same era also had no performance model.This is why it's got such innovative styling but yet fairly ordinary mechanical underpinnings. It's actually pretty amazing they never made a factory turbo version considering just about every other JDM car of the era seems to have a turbo version somewhere in it's lineup and the Starlet GT engine goes right in!
funky car, lovely looking white turbo on ebay at the minute but it's a little pricey, I remember a few years ago finding out about these cars and a manual 1.5 could be picked up for under £1k easily. I would fancy one but bet they are near impossible to sell on, not many people will even know they exist!
carl_green said:
Thanks for all your comments 
i understand its not for some people, its kinda like a marmite car, i dont think there is an inbetween with it. you love it or you hate it, and i love it
I don't hate it but if Ford made a Fiesta with gullwing doors would people like that or see that it's a very ordinary car with one unusual feature. i understand its not for some people, its kinda like a marmite car, i dont think there is an inbetween with it. you love it or you hate it, and i love it The only people who'd buy it would be fashion victims.
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