TOYOTA - Tercel Station Wagon 4x4

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The Tercel is a subcompact manufactured from 1978 to 1999 across five generations, in five body configurations — sized between the Corolla and the Starlet. Manufactured at the Takaoka Plant in Toyota City, Japan.

Toyota redesigned the Tercel for 1983 and renamed the car simply "Tercel". The second generation Tercel was available in three- or five-door hatchback models or a four-door station wagon. The station wagon, known in Japan as the Sprinter Caribbean (Japanese: Toyota Sprinter Caribbean (Carib)), was also available with either front- or four-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive model could be equipped with six-speed manual transmission, and could be shifted from two- to four-wheel drive without coming to a stop. The sixth gear it carried was an "Extra Low" (EL) first gear, a standard transmission gear with a very low (4.71:1) gear-ratio. The EL gear generated a 17.6:1 final drive ratio, giving the driver the torque needed to extract the vehicle from conditions which otherwise may have trapped it. Because of its low gear-ratio, it was suitable only for very low-speed use on loose or slippery road surfaces (such as snow, gravel, or sand.) Also included with the four-wheel drive model is a inclinometer above the radio and air conditioner that measures the tilt of the car. Standard front-wheel drive vehicles (and four-wheel drive wagons not equipped with the six-speed manual transmission) came with either a three-speed automatic or a five-speed manual transmission. The least expensive model, the base three-door, was available with a four-speed manual only.

The new Tercel 4WD was built from existing pieces in the Toyota inventory. The engine, transaxle and front wheel drive system was from the existing Tercel. The coil-sprung rear axle was taken from the Corolla. The only part specifically designed for the new Tercel 4WD was the transfer case, built into the transmission. This gave the driver greater versatility than was possible on a purely front-wheel drive vehicle, as it provided three different power arrangements. Normally, the car would be operated with front-wheel drive. When the driver pulled the 4WD selector lever back into four-wheel drive, or pressed a button on the gear selector for the automatic transmission, the power was split 50/50 between the front and rear axles via a direct mechanical coupling. There is no conventional center differential, so the four-wheel drive system could be used only on loose or slippery surfaces; otherwise the drivetrain would experience severe wear, and handling would be compromised. The third power option (which was only available on the six-speed manual) was low range. This isn't the same as the low-range power option found in a truck or conventional SUV, as the Tercel lacked a high-range/low-range transfer case. When the lever was placed in four-wheel drive mode it became possible to downshift the vehicle from first to EL.

1985 saw minor changes to gear ratios and to the grille design, and the interior was updated in 1986. The Tercel wagon continued the same design until 1988 (when it was replaced by a Corolla Sprinter based design), while the coupe, sedan and hatchbacks moved on to the newer design.

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