HAIL TO THE KING
The 2019 Avalon is affordable and smart
Thinking about the redesigned 2019 Toyota Avalon, words like stately, composed, quiet, reliable and sophisticated come to mind.
How about sporty, quick, exciting, innovative? How about both sets of adjectives?
Sure. When it designed the all-new 2019 Avalon, Toyota encountered a fork in the trail and took both paths.
For traditionalists, XLE and Limited models are stout, conservative, old-dude pleasure palaces with a massive trunk. XSE and Touring models also have a huge trunk, but come with Toyota’s first adaptive variable suspension, paddle shifters, 19-inch wheels, a throaty exhaust, and a hankering for roads that bend and dip
Both versions are joys to drive, with all the characteristics that come with Toyota’s new global architecture: a lower center of gravity and a more rigid chassis that results in greater safety and above-average handling limits. Speed-sensitive power steering helps handling feel centered in all conditions.
Both have a hybrid variant that costs $1,000—$23 a month on a typical 48-month note—and produces about 43 mpg city and highway. Avalon 3.5liter V-6 models get an EPA-estimated 25 mpg in combined driving. At $2.50 a gallon and 1,000 miles a month, the hybrid pays for itself in less than two years.
What’s the gas bill on your SUV or pickup?
Prices range from $35,500 for an XLE to $42,800 for a Hybrid Limited, but some quick research shows that Robbins Toyota is offering $2,500 to $3,000 off most Avalons, rolled into showrooms three months ago. That demonstrates just how competitive the market is for sedans.
Though the market for midsize cars in general is shrinking in North America, it is still large enough to be lucrative here and is holding steady across the rest of the planet, where Toyota also does business. The Avalon nicely encapsulates the advantages sedans have over SUVs: less expensive, more fun to drive, easier to park, much more fuel efficient.
The Avalon justifies its existence by slotting between two first cousins. It is built on the same Kentucky assembly line, on the same platform, and with the same drivetrain as the Camry. The Avalon is better equipped and slightly longer, meaning it has more legroom and rides more smoothly than the Camry.
The Avalon’s rich relative, the Lexus ES 300, is built in Japan. It also shares platforms and drivetrains, but the ES, which starts about $1,500 more—$35 more a month—has a cabin that is more tightly tailored using even nicer materials.
She’s a looker
While the prior four Avalon generations aimed for sedate, the Americanbased team of designers and engineers for this version used a paradigm that included authenticity and exhilaration. Styling whispers technical beauty with a car that is longer, lower, wider and more angular than its predecessors.
A giant grille has styling cues that hint of Lexus sedans, as does the gently sloping c-pillar (the one holding the rear window). Sharp character lines emanate from crisp, narrow LED headlight assemblies and swoop down the sides.
Tangential vents on the sides of the front bumper, a rear diffuser, underbody panels and an available rear spoiler all to help shave its coefficient of drag to 0.27, increase fuel efficiency and improve vehicle quietness.
Cockpit meets cocoon
Thin structural pillars (between the doors) and a broad windshield lend an openness to what must be the best cabin ever designed and built by Toyota.
Real materials—not cheesy lookalikes—permeate the cabin with authenticity. Available Yamaha-sourced wood-trim and aluminum pieces on accent arm rests, center console, and instrument panels make it feel real.
Up front, one’s eyes are immediately drawn to Avalon’s slim center stack. The thin panel houses Avalon’s 9-inch multimedia system displaying audio and navigation and integrates the automotive climate control system.
Behind the steering wheel, a 7-inch multi-information display shows vehicle information, turn-by-turn navigation, and various vehicle settings (including those pertaining to lane departure alert with steering assist, pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, available intelligent clearance sonar, blind spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alert, and head-up display)
Soft-touch materials are used throughout—around the flowing, low-profile center console decorated in piano black trim; on the slim, tiered instrument panel leading into the door.
In the rear, a cup holder, accented in piano black and satin chrome-finish, folds up and down in the armrest between passengers. Ahead of their knees and within arm’s reach: air vents, controls for the available seat warmers.
Front and rear, there are a total of five USB charging ports.
Deep curvatures in the armrests provide passengers with ample surface area and comfort during long commutes. Rear seat roominess is exemplified by Avalon’s segment-best measurements in three categories: shoulder room (57.1 in.), leg space (40.3 in. for V6; 40.4 in. for HV), and headroom (37.5 in. for V6; 37.1 in. for HV).
Seats are built for road trips.
Power aplenty
The Avalon comes only in FED. Two powertrains are available, and both move the car into freeway traffic with ease.
Standard is Toyota’s ubiquitous 3.5-L V-6, tuned to put out 301 hp and 267 ft.lb of torque, bolted to an all-new, 8-speed transmission. We learned to go light on the throttle on takeoff to avoid chirping the front wheels.
The hybrid system uses a 2.5-L four-cylinder Dynamic Force engine mated to a 650-volt electric motor and a continuously-variable transmission. Thanks to a catalogue of new technologies, including longer stroke, higher compression and advanced valve management, the hybrid system is more fuel efficient, runs cleaner and is more powerful than any hybrid Toyota has built.
Competent and confident road manners
A new multi-link rear suspension brings many positive performance attributes, such as a wider rear track, lower center of gravity, and an aggressive stance. Revised trailing arms have been installed at a higher position to place the pivot axis of the tire rearward for better bump absorption. The setup’s shock absorbers are tilted forward, too, to realize a suppler ride. Bushings on the trailing arms and arm joints further mask passing road imperfections.
All Avalons have three selectable drive modes, except the Touring model, which has four.
XSE and touring models build on the new suspension geometry with Adaptive Variable Suspension, which provides real-time damping control to maximize controllability and sharp handling. The setup reduces Avalon’s posture fluctuations under hard or sudden directional changes, limits body movements, and yet absorbs nasty road undulations for a comfortable, flat ride.
With that comes an engine sound enhancement system that amplifies the engine’s air intake and exhaust through the sound system.
XLE and Limited don’t get that system. Instead, they get softer tires, thinker stabilizer bars, and stiffer spring rates.
We’ve drive both version and, frankly, our aging derrieres felt more comfortable in the XLE/Limited setups. Then again, we’re not the millennials targeted by the XSE/ Touring flavors.
Safety first
Avalons are built by Toyota, which makes standard a full complement of cutting-edge active safety technologies: Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist; and Automatic High Beams. Additional standard safety technology includes Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Back Guide Monitor.
Toyota’s goal is to eliminate casualties from traffic accidents, and multiple research reports show these technologies can do that.