Toyota Brevis

The Toyota Brevis is a former mid-size luxury sedan introduced in May 2001, that was sold only in Japan.

Sales started in June 2001. The Brevis was produced for six years before being discontinued in 2007. The Brevis was exclusive to Toyota Japan dealerships ''Toyota Store'', while its twin the Toyota Progrès was exclusive to ''Toyopet Store'' locations.

The word "brevis" is Latin for "brief, a short amount of time or duration".

Marketing

The marketing approach used for the Brevis was shared with a ''Toyota Vista Store'' sedan, called the Toyota Verossa, which used a different platform. The Brevis represented the market segment previously served in Japan by the Toyota Carina ED. The width and engine displacement exceed Japanese Government regulations concerning exterior dimensions and engine displacement, and therefore it classified in the larger "passenger car" tax bracket. Two engine sizes were offered to allow Japanese buyers which annual road tax they were willing to pay. The larger engine did offer higher levels of standard equipment and luxury features.

Description

The Toyota Brevis is a twin of the Progrès, which was launched half a year before the Altezza/Lexus IS with a similar platform. Brevis was made with the concept of "Mini LS430". Unlike the Progrès, the Brevis aimed at younger customers, with Toyota saying it is intended to compete directly with imports like the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class. The Brevis has many styling cues from the Lexus LS 430, and was introduced at the same time as the Toyota Allion. Had this car been sold in markets other than Japan, it would likely have been sold as a model in the Lexus lineup. The price range would have been between the IS and the GS, which puts it in the US$30,000-$45,000 range at that time.

The chassis and powertrain is similar to the Progrès and the Lexus IS, with altered exterior styling and a differently trimmed interior. The headlamps consist of three round type beams. The center console houses an LCD monitor and an alloy-effect sound system which consists of an on-dash CD changer, DVD and MD playback, with seven speakers on the top model.

The Brevis is based on the same rear-drive platform as the Lexus IS, using a double wishbone suspension at all four wheels, with the wheelbase extended to . In terms of size and weight, it stands between the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series. However, dynamically speaking it can hardly match the European rivals (in Toyota's brand images, that role is left for Lexus to fulfil), even though it rides on double-wishbone suspension. The suspension is set softer than the Lexus, steering is less direct, and its kerb weight also harmed handling agility.

Options

There are two choices of power plants: 2.5 litre or 3.0 litre straight-six (Toyota JZ engine), both front mounted, producing and respectively. Both are equipped with VVT-i and D-4 direct injection. It comes with 5-speed automatic (2WD car) or 4-speed automatic (4WD car) gearbox options, in which the 4WD option is only available for the 2.5 litre model.

Other options include a power-adjustable pedal, in which pedal positions can be adjusted to suit the driver's driving posture and the position of the pedals, steering wheel and driver's seat are memorized. There is also an electric rear sunshade and a radar cruise control system to ensure a safe following distance to the car ahead in correspondence to the traveling speed. All these are standard equipment. Also included are the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system, ABS, and high intensity discharge HID headlamps.

Model changes

The Brevis was changed in April 2004 as the mesh grille design was adopted for the front grille. Models after December 2005 come with EMV (with color backing guide monitor & window shade corner monitor) and also a DVD voice navigation system for G-BOOK and NAVI.AI-SHIFT (not applicable for 4WD models.)

References

{{Toyota cars

Brevis
Cars introduced in 2001
Cars discontinued in 2007
Luxury vehicles
Sedans