The , the plural Italian word for "door", is a
mini MPV
Mini MPV—an abbreviation for mini multi-purpose vehicle—is a vehicle size class for the smallest size of minivans/MPVs. The mini MPV size class sits below the compact MPV size class and the vehicles are often built on the platforms of B-segm ...
produced by the Japanese automaker
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
from 2004 to 2020 that features an electric-powered
sliding door
A sliding door is a type of door which opens horizontally by sliding, usually parallel to (and sometimes within) a wall. Sliding doors can be mounted either on top of a track below or be suspended from a track above. Some types slide into a ...
on the passenger side, similar in approach to the
Isis
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
. The driver's door is of the conventional swing-open type.
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First generation (AP10; 2004)
The Porte was introduced in July 2004, but is only available in Japan, so it is only produced with
right-hand drive
Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes called the ...
. The Porte is based on the
first generation Vitz subcompact car
Subcompact car is a North American Car classification, classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications.
According to the Unite ...
and is made in 4-seater and 5-seater versions.
It comes with either a 1.3-litre or 1.5-litre
gasoline
Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...
engine, with
automatic transmission
An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions.
The 1904 ...
only, and with either
front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...
or
four-wheel drive
A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pr ...
. It is similar in concept to the 2002 Peugeot Sésame concept and the slightly smaller
Peugeot 1007 which have electric-powered sliding doors on both sides. However, there is only a sliding door on the left, passenger side of the Porte.
2004 Toyota Porte (rear).jpg, Rear view
Second generation (XP140; 2012)
In July 2012, the Porte was redesigned and for this generation, it introduced the twin model, which sported a different front and rear design, as well as a slightly different interior colour. The second generation Porte is sold at ''
Toyota Store
Toyota vehicles in Japan are distributed to numerous dealership chains throughout the country. Up to May 2020, each dealership chain had a different product offering, with some models restricted to one chain to maintain exclusivity. Since May 2020 ...
'' and ''Toyopet Store'' dealerships while the Spade is sold at ''Corolla Store'' and ''Netz'' dealerships across Japan. Beginning in August 2015 the Spade was also exported to Hong Kong and Macau.
While the Spade's name is transliterated the same way as is
the suit of cards, and the badging includes an image of the spades symbol, the name is actually slightly different in Japanese: rather than . This is because the name in
katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji).
The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...
is actually a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of the English words "space" and "wide".
Although, it still comes with the 1.3-litre ''
1NR-FE'' engine or an improved 1.5-litre ''
1NZ-FE'' engine, mated with the Super CVT-i (Continuously Variable Transmission-intelligent) automatic transmission, an available
Smart Stop feature for the 1.5-litre variants has a
fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical energy, chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or Mechanical work, w ...
of under the
JC08 test cycle (equivalent to of emissions) of the Japanese
(MLIT). The two different engine sizes gave Japanese drivers a choice as to which annual
road tax
Road tax, known by various names around the world, is a tax which has to be paid on, or included with, a motorised vehicle to use it on a public road.
National implementations Australia
All states and territories require an annual vehicle regist ...
obligation they were willing to pay; vehicles with the larger engine were equipped at a higher level than the lower trim level in compensation.
In July 2015, the 1.3-litre engine option was dropped and a newer 1.5-litre ''
2NR-FKE'' engine was used for front-wheel drive models. This version has a fuel efficiency of under the JC08 test cycle.
Toyota stopped the production of the Porte and Spade in December 2020.
Sales
References
External links
* (Porte)
* (Spade)
{{Toyota road cars timeline, 2010–present
Porte
Cars introduced in 2004
Cars discontinued in 2020
2010s cars
2020s cars
Mini MPVs
Hatchbacks
Front-wheel-drive vehicles
All-wheel-drive vehicles
Vehicles with CVT transmission