- Toyota’s latest hybrid model masquerades as a crossover SUV when it’s actually a wagon
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Crown Signia buyers will find plenty of cargo space and comfortable seating, but taller adults will feel pinched for headroom
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Toyota’s latest hybrid model outperforms the Highlander in fuel economy but is not as efficient as its sedan sibling
Toyota showrooms are increasingly crowded and have confusing boundaries for all Crossover hybrid SUV. The latest is a marketing ploy.
Late this summer Toyota Crown Signia 2025 will arrive at dealerships and buyers will find a roomier, more practical iteration of the crown sedan, replacing the Avalon in the automaker’s passenger car lineup. But at $44,985 including a $1,395 destination fee, some buyers will find some pain, especially as the price tops $51,000.
Additionally, Toyota is exaggerating the truth about the Crown Signia crossover. This is not a crossover SUV. Here’s the deal.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
Toyota Crown Signia markets a wagon as an SUV
Toyota calls its latest hybrid a crossover SUV. It’s a wagon, and here’s one thing I know: The rear window was not tinted from the factory. Vehicles classified by the EPA as trucks (including most pickup trucks, SUVs, and crossovers) can come from the factory with tinted windows, and America loves tinted windows. Passenger cars, including wagons and sedans could not leave the factory with tinted windows because difficult law.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
Crown Signia looks more attractive than the sedan version. It’s all about proportion. The bulbous Crown sedan stands on pillars, where the Crown Signia stretches that mass into a sleeker wagon shape. At 194.1 inches long, the Crown Signia is almost as long as the Crown Signia Highlander three-row crossover SUV. The LED daytime running lights are located near the hood while the headlights are mounted lower on the front bumper. The rear of the car is equipped with full-width LED taillights.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
The inside of the Crown will look familiar to anyone who has been in or around a Crown sedan. That’s because it’s basically the same from column B onwards. The dashboard features a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The dashboard is covered in layers of shiny piano black plastic, ready to be scratched, but the Crown Signia has done it with real buttons, knobs, and switches for climate and audio controls. necessary.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
The interior can seat five people comfortably, and six-footers will have no problem sitting behind six-footers, but headroom for taller people will become an issue. The front seats are mounted on plastic cushion bars that help reduce headroom but give you the feeling of sitting high up like in a crossover SUV. That’s the trick: The Signia only has 6.7 inches of ground clearance like a sedan. The higher seating position makes getting in and out easier than in the Avalon. The 60:40 split-folding rear seat allows the Crown Signia to carry an item, such as a surfboard, up to 2.5 m long. With the rear seats upright, the Signia has up to 25.8 cubic feet of space, but that increases to 68.8 cubic feet with the second row folded compared to just 15.2 cubic feet of space in the trunk. of Crown sedans.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
Toyota Crown Signia gifted America a hybrid car model
Every Crown Signia is powered by a 2.5-liter inline-4-cylinder engine that, as part of Toyota’s planetary-based hybrid system, produces a combined output of 240 horsepower. The Toyota team doesn’t know which is more powerful HybridMax powertrain with the turbo-4 currently available in the Crown sedan or a plug-in hybrid version currently available in Japan coming to market at some point. Four-wheel drive is standard, but the system will send all power to the front wheels under normal conditions. Toyota says the power split is switchable on demand up to 20:80, although in sunny California I didn’t experience this.
According to Toyota, acceleration isn’t quick, but with an estimated 0-100 km/h sprint of 7.1 seconds, the Crown has enough momentum to get on the highway without issue. Placing the thin pedals on the floor creates quite a bit of noise under the hood. It’s a far cry from a Lexus-like experience. The drivetrain likes to cruise along and rearward.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
The Signia drives softly, leaning more towards the comfort end of the spectrum. It controlled body movements well, but there was some uncontrolled wheel hop when zipping around San Diego’s canyons. However, most Crown Signias probably won’t spend their days weaving through canyon roads.
EPA fuel economy ratings of 39 mpg city, 37 highway, 38 combined are the best America has achieved with a wagon with a gas engine under the hood, but that number is lower compared to the Crown sedan’s 42/41/41 mpg due to the added weight and aerodynamics of the longer roof.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
Safety comes standard on Crown Signia
Toyota equips each Crown Signia with a suite of advanced products safety technology includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, active lane control, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring. The $1,865 Advanced Technology Package, an option only on the more expensive Limited trim, adds a surround-view camera system, parking sensors and forward cross-traffic alert.
Toyota Crown Signia 2025
Toyota’s showroom is packed with hybrid crossovers
The 2025 Crown Signia lineup is a simple matter. Base XLE models cost $44,985 while the Limited model costs $51,250. Both are well equipped, although it’s a shame that the $50,000-plus Limited model lacks adjustable lumbar support on the front passenger side.
Toyota prices the Crown Signia on par with comparable Highlander Hybrid models, which are the same size but have a third row of seats.
For wagon lovers or buyers looking for something different, the Crown Signia makes sense. We think for most families, fewer seats will force them to look past the Highlander’s showroom floor.
Toyota paid for the travel expenses and I can’t wait to bring you this test drive review.
