Toyota teased this “Ultimate Utility Vehicle” in June, and we’re finally seeing it at SEMA in the flesh.
A mix between a minivan and a modified SUV may just be the ultimate personal means of transportation, and this Sienna proves it. It’s no wonder why Toyota classified it as an ultimate utility vehicle.
Built along with eight other cars to join the Ever-Better Expedition – a global initiative designed to support and unite Toyota’s 330,000 team members worldwide in their mission to deliver ever-better vehicles – the Sienna is the “command center” for the North American leg of the journey and will be driven over 16,500 miles through the continent’s most extreme driving conditions.
The project UUV uses a Sienna body because Toyota thought it offers the most interior space to house the plethora of electronic equipment needed for the journey. In fact, the vehicle is equipped with a TracVision mobile satellite television receiver, Wi-Fi, Internet access, multiple USB ports, 17-inch monitor, 60-inch Sony LED TV, 2,500-watt JBL audio system, and a Flir M-324xp night vision camera system with high-definition recording capability (among other cool stuff).
Moreover, from the “captain’s chair” in the back of the Ultimate Utility Vehicle, Toyota says its engineers can monitor driving data from each one of the convoy-vehicles in real time, and report the information back to Toyota’s headquarters
But a regular stock minivan wouldn’t have coped in “extreme driving conditions” and that’s why Toyota mated the Sienna body to a Toyota Tacoma 4×4 frame. This way, the vehicle can take part to the challenging off-road adventures, as its engaged four-link long-travel suspension that gives a four-inch lift in ride height, 33×22 Nitto Mud Grappler tires mounted on 22×12-inch Monster Energy 539B off-road wheels and 15.75 inches of wheel travel makes it a very capable machine that can take on anything.
Toyota says the Sienna drives just like the stock variant from behind the wheel, but while its levers and buttons appear to be the same as the OEM equipment, they’re actually linked to the Tacoma’s functions, on which the vehicle is based.
After showing-off at SEMA, the Sienna will continue its adventure throughout Canada and Alaska.
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2015 SEMA: Toyota's Ultimate Utility Vehicle Concept2015 SEMA: Toyota's Ultimate Utility Vehicle ConceptPosted by Carscoops on Wednesday, November 4, 2015