The Toyota Crown sure has been around the block, evolving from what its roots as a 1955 everyman-oriented saloon to its latter days as the top of Toyota’s worldwide higher end (but still mainstream) portfolio.
This S220, to give its internal designation, has had 14 predecessors, but its place within a much larger family remains undiluted. Like the Century revealed in production form recently, the Crown too was foreshadowed at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show. And it’s now obvious that Toyota has kept the car nearly untouched in the transition to launch.
Built, like most other Toyota’s of 2018, upon the company’s new Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform, the 15th-generation Crown makes big promises on both refinement and dynamics, going so far as to being subject to test laps around the Nurburgring during its development.
The exterior is something of an amalgamation of various cues taken from the most recent run of Toyotas. Most notably, its liftback-esque shape is an echo of the Lexus ES and Toyota Camry (XV70) while the gaping maw in between the slender headlights puts one in mind of the aesthetically-challenged Alphard luxury MPV. Elsewhere, the Crown is definitely sleeker overall.
While its predecessor, the S210, also featured a similarly large grille, it tried to mask its bulbousness post-facelift with a dose of Lexus-style angularity. The S220 tones that down, for better or worse. Dimensionally, it occupies the same amount of space on the road, but Toyota have lengthened its wheelbase a hair in the interest of rear legroom.
In total, Toyota will be offering the all-new Crown in 21 different variations with 3 different powertrain options. The version you see pictured here with the quad tailpipes is rather obviously the most powerful combination in RS trim, a 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V6 paired with a two electric motors for a combined output 264kW, essentially the same multi-stage hybrid system used in the Lexus LS500h.
Otherwise, for the more conservative, there’s also a smaller atmospheric 2.5-litre four-cylinder from the automaker’s new Dynamic Force engine family and paired with a single electric motor for a combined 166kW. If you’re not into hybrids, Toyota will offer it with a less complicated 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder with a rather decent 180kW and 350Nm.
Inside is arguably where the Crown really shines over its predecessor, offering a truly modern ambiance with a selection of higher quality materials - including brushed aluminium and a metallic weave - and improved ergonomics. The first new addition worth mentioning is the unmissable dual screen media and infotainment set up, one that takes a bit of a bite from the Infiniti playbook - hopefully that’s where the similarities stop.
A more deeply set 8-inch wide display can now be found floating above the centre stack, presumably where passive information will be shown, but a 7-inch touchscreen unit lives below that to handle the usual manipulation of functions. The seats have also been redesigned to offer more comfort and less fatigue over longer distances but to also occupy less space to complement the airier cabin resulting from the increase in wheelbase.
As standard, each Crown will also come fitted with something called a Data Communication Module (DCM), a new control unit that can actively and intelligently the car’s various systems via 24/7 connectivity that leverages Toyota’s T-Connect service that can offer predictive and personalised feedback for vehicle security, maintenance, driving behaviour, and even an operator service.
Expectedly for such a highly specified model, the Crown also comes with Toyota’s latest and greatest suite of safety features as part of their Safety Sense suite, which include: Lane Tracing Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Automatic Braking, AEB, Road Sign Assist, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, and Adaptive High Beam Assist.
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