ACM15 2.0 4WD (1AZ-FSE)

STORY

The Gaia reached Japanese showrooms on 29 May 1998 as a more upmarket version of the first Ipsum, sharing its width, wheelbase and track but stretched 90 mm in length and standing taller, and sold through Toyota Store, with Osaka Toyopet handling the Osaka area. Power was a 1,998 cc 3S-FE of 135 PS, or on two-wheel-drive cars a 2,184 cc 3C-TE turbodiesel of 94 PS; the alternative to front drive was the then new Active Torque Control four-wheel-drive system, and the only gearbox was a four-speed ECT automatic. Six and seven-seat interiors were offered. Bodies came from Motomachi until March 2000 and from Toyota Auto Body's Fujimatsu plant after April 2000. The April 2001 facelift gave front-drive cars a 152 PS direct-injection petrol engine, and the line closed in September 2004 as the Isis took its place.