2023 Toyota Crown First Test: A Quiet Place
While not the sportiest, the Platinum grade of Toyota’s new big hybrid sedan has plenty to like.
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Pros
- Good fuel economy
- More output than the base Crown
- Quiet and refined ride
Cons
- Not exactly sporty
- Small trunk
- Unusual high-riding sedan look
After disappearing from the U.S. market for decades, the Toyota Crown nameplate—now affixed to a big hybrid sedan—is back and positioned as an SUV fighter. Lifted and with a sleeker body, does the turbocharged Platinum trim of the new car pull off the trifecta of sporty, upscale, and practical? Let's find out.
How Quick Is the Crown?
The Platinum model is billed as the performance variant of the lineup because it makes more power, gets a six-speed automatic transmission instead of the CVT, and comes standard with a trim-specific adaptive suspension. Every Crown is hybrid with all-wheel drive, but only this top trim comes with the 2.4-liter turbo Hybrid Max setup, which produces 104 hp more than the 236-hp base powertrain.
A more svelte rival like the Volkswagen Arteon SEL Premium AWD is quicker even though it makes less power with its non-hybrid 300-hp 2.0-liter turbo-four. At 409 pounds lighter, the VW needs 0.7 second less—or 5.0 seconds flat—to reach 60 mph from a standstill despite the Toyota's 40-hp and 105-lb-ft advantage. And the gap grows to 0.8 second by the quarter mile.
Indeed, the Crown Platinum trailed in every test when compared to the Arteon. The Volkswagen held on for longer in our lateral acceleration and "racetrack-in-a-bottle" figure-eight evaluations and stopped from 60 mph in just 125 feet, 2 feet shorter than the Toyota. We did find the Crown was 0.3 second quicker to 60 mph than the last gas Avalon we tested, for anyone believing this big sedan to be a successor, but that outdated V-6 car is significantly down on power compared to this hybrid.
Does that make the Crown slow to drive? Most won't think so. It feels strong off the line and pulls decently through the quarter mile. It's not shattering speed records, but itisgiving you more than enough beans for everyday driving. Switch into Sport+ mode, and the suspension gets unexpectedly self-assured: Road test editor Chris Walton noted how turn-in is confident, and the car exhibits an extremely neutral attitude in testing. And that's no joke—through every turn, the Crown was one of the flattest cars we've driven in some time.
But that neutrality shows up in other weird ways, too. Specifically, we can't characterize the driving experience as particularly athletic. Comfort-oriented, sure, responsive, absolutely—but sporty? In most settings and driving circumstances, this big, tall car is a big, quiet softie. It's not a question of capability. It's a question of excitement, and the Crown Platinum's behavior doesn't bring much of it.
It's also worth noting that at one point, the car's throttle became non-responsive to inputs during handling tests. In those moments at the limits, the Crown seemed to experience some powertrain or drivetrain confusion—probably another sign this thing wasn't engineered to be flogged too hard.
Braking assessments revealed one further drivetrain weak link: tires with little bite. Every 2023 Crown comes on 225-width rubber, but the Platinum features a larger-diameter 21-inch wheel and lower sidewall compared to other trims. For a vehicle that tips the scales north of two tons, wider meats seem like they could help the car unlock better performance.
Crowning Achievement: Fuel Efficiency
That warm and fuzzy feeling after buying a hybrid comes from knowing you'll be saving a ton on fuel costs in the future. But if you want the more efficient Crown, the Platinum model isn't it. Trims with the non-turbo 2.5-liter powertrain see markedly better ratings, 42/41 mpg city/highway, and another 159 miles of range even though both sedans come with the same 14.5-gallon tank.
That said, most cars in the Crown's segment don't have a hybrid version. The 2023 Platinum model and same-year Arteon AWD offer identical ranges only because the VW comes with a reservoir that's 2.9 gallons bigger than the Toyota's. The latter gets poorer fuel economy estimates of 22/31 mpg city/highway, which coincidentally is exactly what the last gas 2022 Avalon was getting. Even with the less efficient turbo hybrid powertrain, the Crown leads the class in fuel efficiency.
Is the Crown Spacious?
It has a sizable footprint—4.6 inches longer than the Arteon—and a roof that's 3.7 inches higher. (It's also 4.1 inches taller than the Avalon.) No one should be surprised, then, that there's more headroom and front legroom inside than in the VW sedan—0.3 and 0.4 inch more front and rear headroom, respectively, as well as 0.9 inch more forward legroom.
For being bigger, though, the Crown offers no advantage in trunk volume. Its 15.2 cubic feet of space is much less than the 2024 Honda Accord Hybrid's 16.7 cubes. Even the last Avalon came with more room in its trunk, 16.1 cubic feet.
What's the Crown Platinum Like to Live With?
We were struck initially by the high front seating positions and how easy it is to get in and out of the vehicle. Once inside, the front seats seem snug for a full-size sedan, and you're hemmed in on three sides by lots of plastic. But none of the interior materials was offensive to look at or touch (the Platinum trim is standard with leather), and the hardest plastics were pushed down below sightlines on the doors and lower dash. Outward visibility is also quite good.
For day-to-day use, the sedan is a pleasant, capable conveyance. Along with the refined ride, standard acoustic front glass and the noise-absorbing mat lining the firewall contribute to a library-quiet cabin.
The 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and central touchscreen are sized right for this interior, but an infotainment screen tilted toward the driver would be appreciated. One feature the designers did nail was the vertical phone charger in the center console, which takes up less room than traditional wireless chargers where you lay the device down flat—it's like a cupholder for your phone. Platinum models are additionally standard with a heated steering wheel and rear seats, heated and ventilated front seats, and an 11-speaker JBL premium sound system.
Our Crown Platinum was also equipped with optional ($463) rubber mats for the interior and trunk, and although they make tons of sense for being an easy way to keep the car's floors clean, they look rental-car chintzy. We also got the available puddle lights, premium two-tone exterior paint, and a key glove, each adding a little class to our mainstream sedan.
Is the Crown Platinum Worth It?
The combination of a big four-door sedan with a hybrid powertrain and AWD is unusual these days unless you're talking about luxury cars. And the class is shrinking, with offerings like the Kia Stinger and Chrysler 300 not long for this world.
But the reason the segment is shrinking is because of SUVs and the compelling value they bring. Even without the $2,173 in options, our 2023 Crown Platinum comes with an MSRP of $55,618, which is Lexus ES territory—except our Toyota is not nearly as luxurious. It's also $4,148 more than a base 2023 Arteon SEL Premium R-Line AWD. With the same money, you can get a more spacious and capable SUV, or even a hybrid that gets better fuel economy, like the Highlander Hybrid.
The Crown has its charms. Its lifted four-door look is distinctive, and sitting in the front of one kind of feels like sitting in a crossover, because that's who Toyota wants to buy these things—SUV shoppers looking for something different. But it's also practical and composed, and there's no compromise in quality or everyday performance. Plus the lower trims start at a more sensible $41,045.
We get why someone would eschew a traditional SUV for the Crown. These are the kinds of cars Toyota does well. The real question might be: Are there enough sedan fans (or SUV defectors) left to buy them?
My dad was a do-it-yourselfer, which is where my interest in cars began. To save money, he used to service his own vehicles, and I often got sent to the garage to hold a flashlight or fetch a tool for him while he was on his back under a car. Those formative experiences activated and fostered a curiosity in Japanese automobiles because that’s all my Mexican immigrant folks owned then. For as far back as I can remember, my family always had Hondas and Toyotas. There was a Mazda and a Subaru in there, too, a Datsun as well. My dad loved their fuel efficiency and build quality, so that’s how he spent and still chooses to spend his vehicle budget. Then, like a lot of young men in Southern California, fast modified cars entered the picture in my late teens and early 20s. Back then my best bud and I occasionally got into inadvisable high-speed shenanigans in his Honda. Coincidentally, that same dear friend got me my first job in publishing, where I wrote and copy edited for action sports lifestyle magazines. It was my first “real job” post college, and it gave me the experience to move just a couple years later to Auto Sound & Security magazine, my first gig in the car enthusiast space. From there, I was extremely fortunate to land staff positions at some highly regarded tuner media brands: Honda Tuning, UrbanRacer.com, and Super Street. I see myself as a Honda guy, and that’s mostly what I’ve owned, though not that many—I’ve had one each Civic, Accord, and, currently, an Acura RSX Type S. I also had a fourth-gen Toyota pickup when I met my wife, with its bulletproof single-cam 22R inline-four, way before the brand started calling its trucks Tacoma and Tundra. I’m seriously in lust with the motorsport of drifting, partly because it reminds me of my boarding and BMX days, partly because it’s uncorked vehicle performance, and partly because it has Japanese roots. I’ve never been much of a car modifier, but my DC5 is lowered, has a few bolt-ons, and the ECU is re-flashed. I love being behind the wheel of most vehicles, whether that’s road tripping or circuit flogging, although a lifetime exposed to traffic in the greater L.A. area has dulled that passion some. And unlike my dear ol’ dad, I am not a DIYer, because frankly I break everything I touch.
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