2011 Toyota Avalon Limited

After driving the Avalon, I returned away unusually nonplussed. Toyota's principal sedan could be neither heart-racingly exciting, nor a slouch during the pants. The 2011 refresh up of the Avalon is thus delicate which I failed to realize it absolutely used to be a revised model.

Toyota had a robust pawn once it pitched the original generations of Avalons though Japanese Buick-fighters, taking a slice of market percentage away from General Motors in addition to Ford's large sedans. The sport possesses moved on. The most recent Buicks, such because the Regal, display a renewed specialise in the motive force, plus Ford's reinvented Taurus has a heap added style and sportiness in comparison to the Avalon does.

As a 22-year-old, I am not in the Avalon's specialise in market, less than I did not care for the interior. The blistering white-on-white of our tester's interior reminded me of sitting during a dentist's chair, also though I've sat in dentist chairs allowing for better bolstering and lumbar support. I'm undecided concerning the redundant temperature controls on the guidance wheel, either, when the actual controls have a tendency to be a pinky-length away. The typophile in me likes and dislikes the oversize eighteen-point sort on the buttons and gauges -- a less-than-subtle hint at the Avalon's intended target market. The navigation screen is angled toward the keep center passenger, not to driving force or passenger, which brands it challenging to attain and operate buttons by feel alone. (Then once more, if the dimensions of the text hasn't screamed out the button's function FROM A MILE AWAY...)

The Avalon behaved simply as I expected: sort of an enormous Camry. A really massive one, at that, with the added bonus of pinky-effort steering and a unusually high level of road noise in the cabin. The engine has more than just enough power and is sufficient to rev to redline if you push it, but why would you? About that sedan is the smooth operator, intended to be savored from the perch of the cavernous back seat, on a tedious highway trip. Skip the back roads with this one.

It is a brilliant factor that no Avalon owner features a serious foot, because these front tires are awfully straightforward to squeal. It amused me, nonetheless, to imagine dozens of blue-haired ancient ladies or socks-and-sandals grandfathers obtaining pulled over for peeling out hither and yon up and down the Florida peninsula. Unfortunately, that is the legal most effective amusement I were given of the driving the Toyota brand's flagship sedan.

The Avalon is a lot prefer its smaller sibling, the Camry: it has solely an appliance for individuals who care nada about vehicles. At the identical previous point, though, the Avalon is a really great, spacious, comfortable, and splendid automobile, especially in the Limited trim that we have a tendency to tested.

Toyota's approach with this model is so conservative that it's troublesome to inform that this Avalon has been updated from the auto I wrote about five years ago for a comparison story for this net web site; one big clue, however, is that readily available is no more time a cassette-tape deck in the Avalon's center stack. Speaking of factors at last place out to pasture, the Avalon would possibly be a great taxi and airport-fleet replacement currently that Ford has stopped building its hoary Crown Victoria.

Driving the Avalon was like a visit down memory lane, but I didn't feel like I utilized to be in an old-fashioned automobile, because ours was provided with one of Toyota's excellent navigation systems, a back-up camera, and even Bluetooth for the 660-watt, 12-speaker stereo. Wait, wait, shall we say that again: a 12-speaker, 660-watt stereo? In a car that is aimed squarely at the AARP set? Wow, what is the planet coming back to?

When it projects to cars just like the Avalon, there is no sense in making an attempt to elucidate them to BMW drivers. There are solely a continue to several folks that simply need a big, comfortable, reliable, cushy sedan that does not ask yourself much of the driver. These are the folks who were served for decades by cars like the Ford Crown Victoria. So now they discover equivalent driving dynamics -- isolated ride, lazy steering, considerable body roll -- but combined with Toyota reliability and an on the market portfolio of up to date amenities like the aforementioned navigation and stereo. That said, if my mother or aunt were brooding about purchasing an Avalon, I might recommend that they also check out the Buick LaCrosse.

2011 Toyota Avalon Limited

Base price (with destination): $36,235

Price as tested: $37,884

Standard Equipment:

3.5-liter V-6 engine

6-speed automatic transmission

17-inch alloy wheels

Vehicle stability management

4-wheel ABS

Power moonroof with sliding sunshade

Rain sensing wipers

Dual heated outdoor mirrors

Auto-dimming rearview reflect

HID headlamps

JBL synthesis AM/FM 6-disc CD changer

USB port with iPod association

Heated and ventilated front seats

Power rear sunshade

60/40 split rear seat

Leather trimmed steering wheel and shift knob

Dual zone automatic climate control

Options on this vehicle:

Navigation & premium audio -- $1450

Voice-activated touch screen

DVD navigation system

Backup camera

AM/FM 4-disc CD player

MP3/WMA playback capability

660-watt sound system with Twelve speakers

XM satellite radio

Auxiliary audio jack

USB port with iPod connectivity

Bluetooth connectivity

Carpet floor mats/trunk mat -- $199

Key features not on vehicle:

Remote engine begin -- $499

Fuel economy:

(city/hwy/combined)

20 / Twenty-nine / Twenty-three mpg

Engine:

Size: 3.5L DOHC 24-valve V-6

Horsepower: 268 hp @ 6200 rpm

Torque: 248 lb-ft @ 4700 rpm

Drive:

Front-wheel

Transmission:

6-speed automatic

Curb weight: 3616 lb

Wheels/tires: 17-inch aluminum wheels
215/55R17 Michelin Energy all-season tires

Competitors: Buick LaCrosse, Ford Taurus