- Toyota’s newest hybrid cosplays as a crossover SUV whereas it is truly a wagon
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Crown Signia patrons will discover numerous room for cargo and cozy seats, however taller adults will really feel pinched on headroom
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Toyota’s newest hybrid bests the Highlander for gasoline economic system, however isn’t fairly as environment friendly as its sedan sibling
Toyota’s showroom is getting crowded, and borderline complicated, with all its hybrid crossovers SUVs. The most recent one is a advertising and marketing ploy.
Later this summer season the 2025 Toyota Crown Signia will roll into dealerships and patrons will discover a spacious, extra sensible iteration of the Crown sedan, which changed the Avalon atop the automakers passenger automobile lineup. However at $44,985 together with a $1,395 vacation spot cost some patrons are going to note some tough edges, particularly when the value crests $51,000.
Additionally, Toyota’s overstating the Crown Signia’s crossover bona fides. This isn’t a crossover SUV. Right here’s the deal.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
Toyota Crown Signia markets a wagon as an SUV
Toyota calls its newest hybrid a crossover SUV. It’s a wagon, and right here’s a technique I do know: The rear home windows aren’t tinted from the manufacturing facility. Automobiles categorized as vehicles by the EPA (which weirdly contains most pickups, SUVs, and crossover) can come from the manufacturing facility with tinted home windows, and America loves tinted home windows. Passenger automobiles, which embrace wagons and sedans can’t come from the manufacturing facility with tinted home windows due to wonky legal guidelines.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
The Crown Signia appears to be like extra engaging than its sedan counterpart. It’s all about proportions. The bulbous Crown sedan stands on stilts, the place the Crown Signia stretches that bulk right into a extra shapely wagon kind. At 194.1 inches lengthy the Crown Signia is sort of the identical size because the Highlander three-row crossover SUV. The gunslit LED daytime operating lights sit close to the hoodline whereas the headlights are mounted decrease within the bumper. The rear finish wears full-width LED taillights.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
Contained in the Crown will look acquainted to anybody having been in or round a Crown sedan. That’s as a result of it’s principally the identical from the B-pillars ahead. The dashboard includes a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and 12.3-inch touchscreen with wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The console’s lined in loads of shiny piano-black plastic, able to get scratched, however the Crown Signia will get it proper with actual buttons, knobs, and switches for important local weather and audio controls.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
The inside can haul 5 individuals in consolation, and 6-footers received’t have a problem sitting behind 6-footers, however headroom for taller of us will grow to be a problem. The entrance seats are mounted on plastic spacers that lower headroom however make you are feeling such as you’re sitting up excessive like in a crossover SUV. It’s a trick: the Signia has solely 6.7 inches of floor clearance like a sedan. The upper seating place does make getting out and in of it simpler than it was within the Avalon. The 60:40 split-folding rear seat permits the Crown Signia to haul an merchandise, like a surfboard, that’s as much as 6.5 toes lengthy. With the rear seats upright the Signia sports activities as much as 25.8 cubic toes of area, however that swells as much as 68.8 cubic toes with the second-row seat folded in comparison with simply 15.2 cubic toes of area within the Crown sedan’s trunk.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
Toyota Crown Signia offers America a hybrid wagon
Each Crown Signia is powered by a 2.5-liter inline-4, as a part of Toyota’s planetary-based hybrid system producing a mixed output of 240 hp. The Toyota staff was mum on whether or not the extra highly effective HybridMax powertrain with the turbo-4, which is out there within the Crown sedan, or a plug-in hybrid that’s obtainable in Japan will probably be obtainable in some unspecified time in the future. All-wheel drive is commonplace, however the system sends all the facility to the entrance wheels underneath regular circumstances. Toyota stated the facility break up can shift on demand as much as 20:80, although in sunny California I didn’t expertise this.
Acceleration isn’t brisk, however with an estimated 0-60 mph dash of seven.1 seconds, based on Toyota, the Crown has sufficient motivation to get onto a freeway with out challenge. Matting the thin pedal to the ground generates fairly a little bit of noise underneath the hood. It’s removed from a Lexus-like expertise. The powertrain prefers to lope alongside and fade into the background.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
The Signia rides softly, oriented extra towards the comfy finish of the spectrum. It controls its physique motions properly, however exhibited some unmoderated wheel hop whereas slicing across the canyons of San Diego. Most Crown Signias in all probability received’t spend their days weaving via canyon roads, although.
EPA gasoline economic system rankings of 39 mpg metropolis, 37 freeway, 38 mixed are one of the best America’s going to get with a wagon with a gasoline engine underneath its hood, however that’s off from the Crown sedan’s 42/41/41 mpg because of the further weight and aerodynamics of the longer roof.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
Security comes commonplace on Crown Signia
Toyota equips each Crown Signia with its superior suite of security tech together with automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lively lane management, adaptive cruise management, and blind-spot displays. The $1,865 Superior Know-how Package deal, which is barely an choice on the costlier Restricted trim, provides a surround-view digicam system, parking sensors, and entrance cross-traffic alerts.
2025 Toyota Crown Signia
Toyota crowds its hybrid crossover showroom
The 2025 Crown Signia lineup is an easy affair. Base XLE fashions value $44,985 whereas the Restricted mannequin checks in at $51,250. Each are properly outfitted, although it’s borderline embarrassing that the $50,000-plus Restricted mannequin lacks adjustable lumbar help on the entrance passenger aspect.
Toyota priced the Crown Signia proper on prime of comparable Highlander Hybrid fashions, that are about the identical dimension however supply a third-row seat.
For wagon lovers or patrons looking for one thing completely different, the Crown Signia makes some sense. For many households, fewer seats may have them trying throughout the showroom, we predict, on the Highlander.
Toyota paid for journey prices and I acquired sunburned to carry you this take a look at drive evaluation.
