Toyota Crown 2023 review, features and specifications

Our vision for the 2023 Toyota Crown

The 2023 Toyota Crown is the latest Toyota vehicle to enter the company’s lineup in the United States, a crossover lineup that picks up where the Avalon left off. Its odd shape may not be for everyone, but during our time behind the wheel, people couldn’t stop asking us about it.

The optional Supersonic red paint and 21-inch alloy wheels do much to elevate the Crown’s unique design, which has turned a lot of heads around the New York City area and at Watkins Glen International, where it was used as a support vehicle during a recent popular endurance event.

Appearance isn’t the only thing a crown has going for it. A spacious interior with plenty of useful technology makes it a great place to spend time, whether you’re traveling long distances or just commuting to work. There’s a smooth, easy-to-use and nice-looking infotainment system, with wireless Apple CarPlay and a wireless phone charging slot that work well.

The Crown’s ride is all suspension for comfort, with a floaty ride and plenty of roll. Not the best trait if you like to carve corners, but it’s ideal for a car designed to be a painless daily driver.

what’s new

The Crown is brand new to Toyota’s U.S. lineup for 2023, but it has been a mainstay in the company’s home market of Japan for more than half a century.

The first Toyota Crown went on sale in 1955, with sedan, wagon, fastback and coupe body styles available throughout production. Spend a night in Tokyo and you’ll see dozens of Crown taxis roaming the streets. Now, it’s finally available to buyers in America.

Positives

• Distinctive and eye-catching appearance
• A fun, comfortable and floating trip
• Beautiful interior design with lots of desirable features

cons

• The basic payment system option may be more robust
• The optional 21-inch wheels look great, but they’re not pothole-friendly
• We wish it had a hatchback-style trunk opening

Performance, engine and horsepower

Toyota Crown is available with two different hybrid engines. Go up to the top-level Platinum model and you’ll get the company’s Hybrid Max system, which combines a 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a six-speed automatic transmission to an electric motor on the rear axle, making the Combined 340 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque.

Choose either the Limited or 236 hp.

Toyota says the Crown equipped with the Hybrid Max can Sprint to 60 in just 5.7 secondswhile a lesser hybrid powertrain can do the same job 7.6 seconds.

Features and specifications

The Toyota Crown is meant to be a replacement for the outgoing Avalon, which ended production in 2022. As such, it’s packed with many standard features to help justify its $40,000-plus base price.

LED exterior lights, 19-inch alloy wheels and a fixed glass panoramic roof are standard. Inside you’ll find a 12.3-inch infotainment screen and a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, paired with an 11-speaker JBL sound system for Limited models and above. The front seats are ventilated, while both rows are heated. There’s also wireless phone charging and a host of standard active safety features.

mpg/range

The Platinum Crown’s Hybrid Max powertrain delivers 29 mpg city and 32 mpg highway, Combined rating is 30 mpg, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The base powertrain is much more efficient, delivering 42 mpg city and 41 mpg highway Combined rating is 41 mpg.

Our Limited tester had the basic system, delivering about 39 mpg over a 400-mile weekend consisting of city and highway miles. We were fairly aggressive with our throttle inputs throughout, so we can forgive the car for missing the EPA estimates.

driving test

The Toyota Crown drives like a larger, more comfortable Prius. It has a relaxed ambiance, and provides a floaty, fun ride without any sporty intentions. It overcomes most bumps with ease, and feels more like a crossover than a big, tall sedan thanks to the high driving position.

Our Limited tester, with the base hybrid powertrain, wasn’t very quick in a straight line. It took a lot of flat work to get up to highway speeds, but it was easy to adjust to after a few hours behind the wheel. Small price to pay for 40 mpg.

Check out our full first drive review of the Toyota Crown here.

Pricing

Toyota Crown It starts at $41,045 Including destination for XLE base. Jump up to the Limited trim you see here, and you’ll pay $46,645 before options. If you want the big Platinum model with the Hybrid Max powertrain, you’ll have to pay a staggering $53,445.

Our tester had two options: a $425 charge for the super-fast red paint job and the $2,950 Advanced Technology Package, which includes 21-inch 10-spoke wheels, a panoramic display, and Toyota Telematics, which allows you to connect to the car via an app Toyota on your phone.

Interior

The Toyota Crown cabin is a great place for long trips and daily commutes. There’s plenty of room for adjustment in the driver’s seat for all body types, and plenty of features to play with.

We’re big fans of the standard ventilated seats, wireless Apple CarPlay, and a wireless phone charger that, unlike most offerings from other manufacturers, works consistently. There’s also a panoramic roof that gives the cabin a better airy feel.

comfort

The Crown puts comfort at the forefront of the experience, providing a soft, comfortable and floaty ride that doesn’t shake the cabin. The ride has clearly been tuned towards a more chilled and relaxed style, which is exactly what we like for this type of vehicle.

The only thing we’ll take away from our tester is the Advanced Technology package, as it adds a set of massive 21-inch alloy wheels. Although they look great, they make larger bumps in the cabin more noticeable – and we think the standard 19-inch wheels will make things more comfortable.

technology

The Toyota Crown’s advanced technology becomes apparent as soon as you step inside. There are two 12.3-inch screensOne for the digital instrument cluster and the other for the infotainment system. Wireless CarPlay connects seamlessly every time you get into the car. Pair it with a wireless phone charger that works surprisingly well, and you’ll have a nice, user-friendly electronics ecosystem to work with.

In addition to traditional fuel economy numbers, the digital gauge cluster can display the remaining battery charge in the hybrid system, and show where power is distributed throughout the all-wheel drive system. It’s fun to watch and helpful in evaluating your remaining fees.

storage

The Crown is a large vehicle, which means it has plenty of places to put things. The door cards and center console are large enough to fit most water bottles, while the trunk has 15 cubic feet of cargo volumeIt can swallow enough luggage for a short family trip.

Given the Crown’s appearance, we initially thought it might have a hatchback rear deck, but alas, it will have to come down to a conventional-style trunk hatch. Which is a shame, because we love hatchbacks.

safety

The 2023 Toyota Crown comes standard with the company’s Safety Sense 3.0 suite of active safety systems. You get pre-collision detection, radar cruise control, lane departure warnings with steering assist, lane tracing assist, automatic high beams, and road sign detection. Neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has yet done crash testing.

Decorations

The Toyota Crown is offered in three models: XLE, Limited, and Platinum. The XLE is well optioned as standard, with LED lighting, wireless phone charging, radar cruise control, 19-inch wheels, a 236-hp hybrid powertrain, and a 12.3-inch infotainment screen.

Step up to the Limited trim and you’ll get leather seats, a heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, an 11-speaker audio system, and a fixed panoramic glass roof. The range-topping Platinum model includes a 340-hp hybrid drivetrain, 21-inch wheels, and an optional two-tone exterior paint scheme.

wrapping

The 2023 Toyota Crown is a smart choice for buyers looking for the efficiency and style of a Prius but need more space. This car is very good at providing a fun, unobtrusive drive, and has most of the technology we like to see in cars at this price. While rational buyers will overwhelmingly go for the more efficient XLE and Limited models, we’ll jump to the Platinum and its 340 horsepower, because we like speed.