Featured Coming to America, the Toyota Crown

Hmm, maybe I'll wait for gas to go down a little then ....

 

I was just wondering how the copyeditor had missed "maximize fuel consumption".

I'm thinking that's really not what they meant.

 

What copy editor?

Anyway it reads like a great car. A Limited without the advanced package & a macadamia interior would probably be right up my alley.

 

If you are going to pay for the power hybrid, why baby it?
Has anyone hypermiled the new Tundra hybrid yet? That would give an idea of what this system could achieve.
It's a big power boost over the V6 Avalon, which is a bigger point for buyers than the 2mpg improvement.

Gerdes was at the event in Texas. Has pics and video.
https://www.cleanmpg.com/community/index.php?threads/56908/

 

My wife traded her V6 Avalon for a 2.5L hybrid Avalon. Her '21 hybrid 13K+ miles MPG is north of 43 MPG. And much of that is 70 MPH Interstate driven like NC to Lake Erie through the WVA mountains. Mixed cruise control and not.

Does she drive it like a hybrid, heck no. Has she remarked about any loss of power, not ever.

I fail to see the improvement.

 

i especially love the cow pusher maw

 

I stopped here: " ... a manufacturer-estimated 28 MPG combined city/highway fuel economy rating."

Bob Wilson

 

Toyota seems to be doing a great job on these cars - saw an advertisement on TV of a Camry Hybrid model with an estimated 53 mpg.

 

For many buyers, the standard AWD will be a big improvement. First note from the Cleanmpg first look is that has more head room and rear leg room

Toyota must be under reporting with the 38mpg estimate. This car sounds like it is around the size of the Camry and Avalon. The Crown might have a larger frontal area, but I don't see that and the AWD being that big of a penalty. The 2020 Avalon hybrid is EPA 43 to 44 mpg combined.

There is two different hybrid systems being offered.

The first is 2.5L power-split like what most of us here are familiar with from Toyota. That is 38mpg by this release.

The other is 2.4L turbo parallel system with six speed transmission akin to the one in the Tundra. It is a replacement for the V6 in the Camry/Avalon. It may not have much improvement in fuel economy over the V6, but it does produce 40 to 60 more ponies. With the fancier AWD, the people buying it don't have fuel efficiency high on their priority list.

 

I am sure that it was originally written or at least thought in Japanese, then translated to English. I was fortunate to have an excellent marketing communication team behind me when I was a product manager that caught these mistakes.

I'm sure it should have been modified to maximize fuel efficiency or power.

Comments on the crown replacing the avalon. I don't think it does, the avalon really is dropped with the similar lexus ES being the alternative. This type of large sedan really has dropped in popularity compared to midsize or crossovers and suvs.

Is the 28 mpg bad? No. It likely has better acceleration than the outgoing avalon V6 which gets 26 mpg. It has 21" wheels versus the avalon's 19" and is 4" taller so less aerodynamic.

I'm not really sure who this is for in the US. Toyota was likely smart to cut their losses instead of producing the avalon and lexus ES. They are making them for japan, so it doesn't really cost much to make it for american roads. The lower powered hybrid seems even less desirable compared to the rav4 or highlander hybrids or rav4 prime or or camry hybrid. The crown at least clicks some of the crossover boxes and many of the luxury ones.

 

I'm sure that explains most of the weird things occasionally seen in Toyota's literature and manuals.

All the same, I'd bet that particular goof would still have been caught by most of their ja-to-en translators, most days.

 

Lol, "Bi-polar NiMH battery" sounds more like a mental health disease then an innovation. And a hybrid car that doesn't get more than 30mpg is insulting, unless of course you're Toyota executives trying to lure out-of-control price gouging oil industry investors to invest your car company.

 

I'm curious about the adjustable suspension.

They claim it's a high-riding car, easy entry & exit. But that's usually bad for fuel mileage.

Does it look to anyone else like they wanted a car that could rise up to park and drop down for the cruise, but that feature just didn't pan out? If it really worked right I'd expect it to be the signature standard feature of the car. Instead it's just a vague premium add-on to the top trim model where you can get any jerk to pay for it without understanding it.

 

I read somewhere that the Crown will be "38 MPG combined". Yuck... Now both the Corolla Cross and the Crown have underwhelming MPG... Heck, I just got 35MPG in my fully loaded 2012 ICE Sonata on a recent road trip.

Honestly...why not get a Hybrid Camry instead?

 

What is it? Sedan? SUV? Crossover? One YouTuber is calling it a sedanover....I'd have to agree. The 4-inch lift would be great in snowy areas and those huge wheels are nice.
I couldn't find MSRP but from the looks of it I wouldn't be surprised at lower trims starting in the 40's and going to the upper 50's for all the bells and whistles.
Can't wait to check one out at my dealership!! Is Toyota leading or following? Yes and yes

 

38mpg is only on the more expensive ones, 28 mpg is the standard... Basically everything in a car an oil company wants... As in to drive this car for 200K miles at 28mpg you'd need 7,142 gallons of gas and at $5 a gallon that ensures Toyota makes $35,714 in revenue for the oil companies for every car sold, while also destroying the planet in the process.

Is it any wonder everyone is saving their money and waiting for the price of more electric cars to drop down into the $35K range? Toyota is clearly on the wrong side of history and is going to have a massive decline in new car sales as gas prices keep going higher. I mean what part of Gen2 Prius selling on west coast for $10K and Gen3 Prius selling for $20K don't they understand?

But who knows, maybe all the campaign donations that made Toyota the #1 corporate donor to members of the US congress who are soon going to be indicted for overthrowing the government is the secret sauce that makes all their greediest dreams come true?

 

The lower priced ones are the more traditional ones with a modified awd hybrid system from the rav4 hybrid (it has slightly more hp and battery likely has more power to provide it). The expensive one has 21" wheels and a turbo 2.4L engine with with a motor between it and a more traditional automatic transmission. Its hybrid system is more powerful
and more expensive. 28 mpg is not bad for that 340 hp system, but why not use a bigger lithium battery and more efficient ice to make that hp like in the rav4 prime? The answer is likely that it was designed for the Japanese market and there hybrids sell better than phevs unlike america, europe, etc.

 

It's the other way around. You pay extra for the power, just as it was with the V6. In order to get that power, you have to pay for the Platinum trim. The XLE and Limited get the fuel efficient drive train.

The crossover type's tallness might lure some Americans back to sedans. Toyota is planning other types for the home market; a sport, sedan, and wagon.