Toyota->ke88 has brought five vehicles that have been customized by Toyota Racing Development (TRD) to SEMA->ke216 this year in Las Vegas. All five vehicles represent Toyota’s most popular vehicles with a twist just for SEMA. One such vehicle is the Toyota Avalon – the automakers flagship, midsize sedan. This year the Avalon,->ke350 like all of the other SEMA-edition vehicles, was built to fuel the imagination of consumers and industry professionals, while allowing Toyota to gain feedback on what people generally think of the modifications and accessories.

As a production model, the Avalon has always had a sporty exterior design, reasonable performance and has always carried the best technology Toyota has to offer. This year, Toyota’s midsize sedan comes to SEMA in XLE Touring trim, with exclusive modifications from TRD that include updates to the exterior, suspension, and even a few performance upgrades.

At first glance, the 2015 Avalon doesn’t look too extreme. But, that doesn’t mean we won’t be surprised once we get a full look at this machine in the metal. If you remember correctly, back in 2013, the TRD had its hand in modifying the 2012 Avalon for SEMA, and it did a fine job. So, did TRD and Toyota do as good of a job on this model? Read on to find out for yourself.

Continue reading to learn more about the Toyota TRD Avalon SEMA Edition.

toyota-trd-avalon-sema-edition

Specifications
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  • Model: toyota-trd-avalon-sema-edition
Pros
Cons

2015 Toyota TRD Avalon SEMA Edition

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2015 Toyota TRD Avalon SEMA Edition
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array
Pros
Cons

Exterior

Like the other TRD models brought to SEMA this year, the TRD Avalon has special edition Silver Pearl paint. Outside of the special edition paint, the Avalon received a custom, chin spoiler up front that accents the large, lower grille, and – based on its design – might provide a tiny bit of downforce to the front. Below the doors, the rocker panels have been garnished with aero-inspired side skirts that really add to the already sporty look of the body. The most remarkable part of the body kit is the rear diffuser that is partially painted Silver Pearl, with the lower portion painted flat black. The lower fins on the rear diffuser accent the dual-tipped exhaust pipes that exit from the corners of the rear fascia.

Outside of this mild body kit and the special paint, there are no other modifications to the body itself. The car did receive TRD performance tuned struts on all four corners and TRD lowering springs that drop the overall ride height by 1.5-inches in the front and rear. To tie the whole package together, the car rides on 19-by-9-inch TRD performance wheels that are painted bronze and fitted with 255-series, 19-inch tires.

Interior

Inside, the TRD Avalon is widely untouched. The car is equipped with black leather seats that have the TRD logo embroidered on them. Otherwise, it has the same center console, instrument cluster and entertainment system found in the production model 2015 Toyota Avalon XLE Touring. Granted, TRD is primarily about performance, but I expected to see more than a TRD embroidered logo on the seats.

Drivetrain

Given TRD had its hands all over this Avalon, I expected to see a press release boasting lots of performance upgrades. That isn’t the case, however, as the only drivetrain performance upgrade we know of for sure is a performance, cat-back dual-exhaust system. Given the upgrades that were added to the 2012 TRD Avalon at SEMA back in 2013, I suspect the engine has at least been fitted with a supercharger. A performance intake and special tuning of the computer would certainly push the 3.5-liter V-6 well past the 268 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque found from production models. With those modifications, top speed would be pushed into the 140 mph range, while the 0-to-60 time should hit at least 6-seconds flat, if not a little better.

Conclusion

So far, this TRD Avalon appears to be extremely mild compared to what I expected to see. I didn’t expect any wild body modifications really, but I did expect to hear more about engine upgrades and some increased performance numbers. Even the 2012 TRD Avalon was supercharged, so I’m really hoping they followed suit with this model and forgot to mention it. The body kit and suspension are certainly a nice touch, and I really like the look of the bronze wheels with the Silver Pearl paint. It is hard to believe that the most extreme upgrade to the TRD Avalon is a performance suspension system and a cat-back exhaust system.