AT THE WHEEL
JAPANESE JEWEL
Mat Ranasinghe beholds the current generation Toyota Crown as a beaut
The current generation of the second longest running Japanese model is the Toyota Crown. The first was also a Toyota – the legendary Land Cruiser. Crown is a name known to most of us since childhood.
It was the ultimate Toyota in the eyes of many, except for the flagship Century, which many wouldn’t know as it was produced only for the Japanese domestic market but is slowly making its way into collectors’ garages.
We managed to score drives in two out of the four variants – crossover and sport – but will focus on the sport, which is a thing of beauty, possessing perfect proportions, attractive curves, bulges in the right places and a balance of power and grace.
The Crown is clearly reinventing itself while holding on to a name steeped in history, tradition and craftsmanship. Why? To break the mould of being a big old barge for geriatrics!
Its design will certainly attract younger buyers while other variants of the new Crown will appeal to the wider demographic of SUV/crossover buyers. The front end treatment has been compared to the face of a hammerhead shark. And Toyota has created a masterpiece. Our test unit’s special order colour (Emotional Red 3) certainly boosts its sporty appeal.
The spacious cabin has plenty of legroom in the front and back. However, rear headroom may not be ideal for occupants over six feet tall due to the hatchback’s sloping roof. There are dual 12.3 inch displays for both the driver information and centre mounted infotainment systems.
A basic audio setup comes with six speakers while the higher trims feature a JBL sound system with 11 speakers. But the performance of the JBL sound system is underwhelming compared to the Marc Levinson systems found in some of Toyota’s other models.
The infotainment system integrates well with Toyota’s own software, and is equipped with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so drivers need not fumble around with messy wires while driving.
In typical Toyota fashion, the layout of the dash is sensible and everything is within easy reach of the driver but it’s also old school and boring. For example, the display screens haven’t been presented as design elements and have instead been placed for strictly functional appeal. It’s a similar case with the block shaped steering wheel, which is predictably functional but lacking in design flare.
The driver alertness monitoring system is no exception and is placed above the steering column, resembling a UFO that’s landed atop a mountain. Again, it’s Japanese functionality over form! If we had to pick some positives on the interior, it would be the design of the air vents on the dash and the two-tone cabin finished in premium materials.
On a straight line, it accelerated rapidly to 100 kmph and stopping distances were equally impressive. We noted the ride quali-ty is biased towards comfort, which means it’s not a cornering legend as suggested by the design language – so let’s stick to spirited cruising instead, shall we?
Crowns traditionally had soft suspension meant for gentle wafting – but we noted that the engineers had stiffened it to ref-lect its intended renewed purpose. To that end, the high spec model is equipped with adjustable suspension. It comes with full featured driver assistance, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and even automatic lane centring.
But in a country where only a few drivers observe lane discipline or indicate before changing lanes, we doubt this feature would be useful and it could possibly even be intrusive.
Now, to the question of the day: to be or not to be an owner of the Crown Sport? We would definitely recommend it – to stand out from the crowd, to have all the creature comforts along with Japanese reliability, to boldly go… well, where others have already been but do so in style!
Don’t consider it if you are a short-term flipper who uses a car for a few months before selling it for a profit. These are not mass-market cars like the Axio, Aqua or Prius – so you may be disappointed. Do consider the right Crown for the tasks you will be throwing at it and you will be plea-santly rewarded.
TOYOTA CROWN SPORT
MODEL
The current 16th generation Toyota Crown has morphed into several cars – sedan, crossover, wagon and sports hatchback.
POWER PLANTS
Power comes from a 2.5 litre gasoline hybrid power plant with three electric motors, mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) on low to ‘mid spec’ versions. The highest trim level is equipped with a 2.4 litre turbocharged Hybrid MAX system. The Japanese domestic market gets a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with a larger battery and an electric vehicle (EV)
range of about 90 km.
OUTPUT
236 hp on the low and mid spec variants while the Hybrid MAX manages to put out 340 hp. The PHEV is rated at 302 hp. The 0-100 kmph sprint takes 7.2 seconds in the 2.5 litre and 5.1 seconds in the 2.4 litre turbocharged Hybrid MAX.
DRIVE
All-wheel drive is standard across all trims.
VERDICT
This thing of beauty is definitely a winner as a sporty luxurious cruiser but certainly not as a track day bruiser that’s built to finely carve out its path and leave your bones rattling for a week.