Replacing the Avalon in Toyota's passenger-car lineup is the all-new Crown. For several decades, new-car buyers have been trading in their sedans for crossovers and SUVs, and the slightly elevated driving position, easier ingress and egress, cargo versatility, and all-weather capability of 4-wheel drive (4WD) and all-wheel drive (AWD) they offer. So, with sedan sales hovering in the 20 to 25 percent range, Toyota has decided to try something out of the ordinary, rejiggering the sedan-scape to offer a 4-door car with SUV-like attributes.
The 2023 Crown breaks the 4-door sedan norm with premium content, a lifted stance, a tall roof, and standard AWD. The Crown has no direct competitors in a white space all its own. The Acura TLX, Kia Stinger, and Nissan Maxima sedans come close in price and equipment but lack the elevated seating position. The Subaru Outback offers the same raised hip point and easy ingress and egress as the Crown but conveys a more rugged look and is available only in a wagon body style. The closest competitor to the Crown in recent memory is the now-discontinued Honda Crosstour. That tallish Honda was, however, a hatchback body style, whereas the Crown is a sedan with a traditional trunk.
Meanwhile, the all-new Crown sedan has a caught-you-looking exterior shape that looks like nothing else on the road. Add in the optional arresting bi-tone paint scheme and the top trim level's dubbed-out 21-inch wheels—a size usually reserved for tall-riding, large SUVs—and there's much about which to talk.
Toyota will sell the all-new 2023 Crown sedan in three well-equipped trims, all hybrid-powered and featuring standard AWD. Including the $1,095 destination charge, Toyota Crown pricing is as follows:
The 2023 Toyota Crown goes on sale in the first quarter of calendar-year 2023.
Notable standard features of the Crown XLE consist of the following:
Crown Limited upgrades to standard:
Crown Platinum gains standard:
I drove a range-topping Crown Platinum with the 340-hp Hybrid Max performance powertrain and optional premium Supersonic Red paint. Including the $1,095 destination charge, the manufacturer's suggested retail price was $53,870.
Photo: Ron Sessions
The new Toyota Crown doesn't look like other sedans because its near 6 inches of ground clearance, tall roof (about 4 inches taller than that of the 2023 Camry or outgoing 2022 Avalon sedan), and large wheel openings are more suggestive of that found in midsize or large crossover SUVs. Toyota stuffs those wheel openings with plus-size 19-inch (or, in the case of the Platinum trim, 21-inch) wheels that are the largest ever to roll on a Toyota sedan. Attention-grabbing bi-tone paint schemes are available only on the Platinum trim with the hood, nose, roof, and trunk lid decked out with large, high-contrast black accent sections that evoke a Hamburglar/Incredibles/Lone Ranger look.
The big wheels and swoopy sheet metal give the Crown a premium midsize sedan look. That said, the cabin of the new Crown is roomy but nothing fancy or leading edge. While not Lexus quality, materials have a look and feel of durable goods. Toyota logically arranged the switchgear, and it feels sturdy to the touch.
Inside, the Crown is a spacious retreat for five passengers. Headroom and legroom are generous, and the seats offer plenty of comfort and spread-out space. In-car storage is plus-sized, with plenty of stash space in the center console, glovebox, and door pockets.
The tall rear deck enables a spacious, full-size sedan-like 15.2 cubic-foot trunk. That space easily doubles when you fold the 60/40 rear bench seat, giving generous pass-through space for longer or larger cargo. So, even though the Crown isn't a crossover SUV, it offers most of the cargo versatility of one while still presenting the somewhat traditional profile of a sedan, albeit a tall one/one on stilts.
Photo: Ron Sessions
As with all newly introduced Toyota products, the automaker equips the Crown with its next-generation Audio Multimedia infotainment system. Elements include:
Toyota's Audio Multimedia infotainment system is easy with which to learn and live. Access is via clearly defined touchscreen tiles, or voice prompts. Merely tap the steering-wheel voice control button or say "Hey Toyota" or a similar wakeup phrase, wait for the response via audio and the center display, and make your request. Simple tasks like adjusting the audio system's volume are handled by steering-wheel control or by a time-honored analog rotary knob below the infotainment screen.
The Crown also debuts with the brand's latest Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 (TSS 3.0) array of advanced driver assistance systems. These include:
Also included as standard in the Crown but not part of TSS 3.0 are the following standard systems:
Platinum trim also comes with the following:
The active parking assistance system provides steering, braking, shifting, and accelerating for hands-free parallel or perpendicular parking. I used the system to successfully pull into a perpendicular parking spot after driving past the available spot and pushing the console-mounted Advanced Park System button. After receiving a message on the center screen that a space was open, I simply followed the prompts, and the Crown did the rest of the work.
Photo: Ron Sessions
As Toyota has done recently with the Venza crossover and Sienna minivan, the new Crown is available exclusively with gas/electric hybrid propulsion. Two hybrid powertrains are available: a conventional Toyota Hybrid system with a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine and 236 net hp for XLE and Limited trims and a performance Hybrid Max system with a turbocharged 2.4-liter 4-cylinder and 340 net hp in the Platinum trim.
The conventional Toyota Hybrid system uses the usual CVT, a pair of electric motors, and an on-demand AWD system that only brings the rear-axle electric motor into play when needed for maintaining traction. With this system, torque from the AWD system varies from 100-percent front/zero-percent rear to 20-percent front/80-percent rear. So equipped, Toyota says the Crown can accelerate from zero-to-60 mph in a Prius-beating 7.6 seconds and is EPA-rated at 41 mpg in combined city/highway driving.
I spent most of the afternoon driving a Crown Platinum with the Hybrid Max system, which works through a 6-speed step-shift automatic transmission, a different pair of electric motors, and a full-time AWD system with a liquid-cooled rear e-axle. The Hybrid Max 6-speed automatic features a wet-start clutch that replaces the traditional torque converter for enhanced performance and initial response. The AWD system in the Hybrid Max is constantly powering the rear wheels, varying drive torque between 70-percent front/30-percent rear and 20-percent front/80-percent rear. According to Toyota, this Crown can hustle from zero-to-60 mph in 5.7 seconds and nets an EPA-estimated 30 mpg in combined driving.
The automaker bases the new Crown on Toyota's Global K (TNGA-K) platform, which also forms the basis of the brand's other midsize sedans and crossovers. But for the Crown, Toyota redid the structure and underpinnings from the front seatbacks rearward. The Crown gets a new multi-link rear suspension with geometry designed to maintain sedan-worthy ride comfort and handling at a more elevated ride height associated with SUVs and crossovers.
It's impressive how well the Crown executes its premium sedan mission despite the large wheels with abbreviated sidewalls, which in other vehicles tend to suffer from impact harshness due to the small air cushion. In the Crown Platinum with its standard 21-inch wheels, that trim's standard variable adaptive damping system gets some of the credit for taking the edge off sharp road impacts. However, Toyota also says their engineers worked with suppliers Bridgestone and Michelin to develop tire construction that helped deliver a smooth ride despite the aggressive appearance.
All Crown trims offer driver-selectable driving modes. In the Platinum, Sport mode remaps the power curve for a quicker response out of corners, and Sport+ firms up the suspension and reduces body roll in tight corners using the variable damping system.
The Crown Platinum with the Hybrid Max powertrain offers satisfying performance, although not with the head-snapping instant torque of many electric cars. Also satisfying is the Crown's direct-mounted electric steering that's precise, reasonably quick off-center, and nicely weighted. The Crown's generously sized 4-wheel disc brakes are notable for their crisp, predictable top-of-pedal response and ability to haul the 2-ton-plus sedan down from speed without drama.
The all-new 2023 Toyota Crown provides the slightly lifted stance and easy ingress/egress of a crossover SUV for buyers who prefer the style of a sedan and the privacy of a formal trunk and don't necessarily want to drive around in a mobile storage locker. This bold design may not be for everyone, especially when optioned with attention-grabbing bi-tone paint. It does, however, make an honest effort to offer something genuinely new and innovative in the sedan space while delivering a roomy and comfortable 5-passenger 4-door packed with value, the latest in Toyota's infotainment and advanced driving-assistance tech, and good fuel economy resulting from more than two decades of hybrid gas/electric leadership. There really is something new under the Toyota sun.
Ron Sessions is a seasoned vehicle evaluator with more than three decades of experience. He has penned hundreds of road tests for automotive and consumer websites, enthusiast magazines, newsletters, technical journals, and newspapers.
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