Toyota hasn’t sold a medium-to-large station wagon here since the Camry in 2002, and don’t count on the Crown Estate to break that spell.
Now on sale in Japan, the Crown Estate is the same vehicle as the Crown Signia that went on sale in the US last year, but with one key difference: an available plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain.
Toyota Australia has thus far opted not to bring Crown models to Australia, arguing the family of quasi-premium models would step on luxury brand Lexus’ toes.
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Like the US-market Crown Signia, the standard powertrain in the Japanese-market Crown Estate is a 2.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid with a total system output of 179kW.
The Crown Estate’s PHEV powertrain also uses a 2.5-litre four, but has a larger battery and produces considerably more power with a total system output of 225kW. This powertrain also features in the RAV4 overseas, as well as the Lexus NX450h+ sold here.
Toyota claims WLTC fuel consumption of 4.9L/100km for the hybrid and 5L/100km for the PHEV.
The latter has a claimed WLTC electric-only range of 89km.
The PHEV version also exclusively offers a Rear Comfort drive mode.
“When changing lanes, the DRS control reduces the lateral G (gravitational acceleration) in the rear seats,” the company explains.
“This reduces the movement in the rear seats when changing lanes. In addition, the AVS pitch reduction control is utilised to further reduce the shaking of the rear seats. This provides a more comfortable ride in all seats.”
The Crown Estate features MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension, with adaptive dampers.
All Crown Estate models feature Dynamic Rear Steering and Toyota’s E-Four electric all-wheel drive system, which allows up to 80 per cent of torque to be distributed to the rear wheels.
There are few visual changes from the Crown Signia already on sale in the US, though the Crown Estate PHEV gets an exclusive Grayish Blue interior colourway.
The Crown Estate comes standard with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system.
21-inch alloy wheels are standard across the range, while other available equipment includes heated, ventilated and power-adjustable front seats; a head-up display; a panoramic sunroof; hands-free power tailgate; and a digital rear-view mirror.
There’s also a semi-autonomous parking assist system that can handle parallel and perpendicular parking, which can also be controlled from outside the vehicle via a smartphone app.
A full suite of active safety and driver assist features is offered, including autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist detection, blind-spot monitoring, emergency steering assist, lane centring, adaptive cruise control, safe exit assist, traffic sign recognition and front and rear cross-traffic alert.
While the Crown Estate is almost as long as a Kluger, it has only two rows of seating.
Here’s how the Crown Estate measures up against the Kluger sold here:
| Dimension | Toyota Crown Estate | Toyota Kluger |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 4930mm | 4966mm |
| Width | 1880mm | 1930mm |
| Height | 1625mm | 1755mm |
| Wheelbase | 2850mm | 2850mm |
| Boot space | 570L (rear seats up) 1470L (rear seats folded) |
552L (third row folded) 1150L (second and third rows folded) |
Toyota says the Crown Estate’s luggage area uses a “high-quality fabric with a pleasant texture”, while there’s a luggage space extension board mechanism that creates a completely flat space two metres long with the rear seats folded.
There’s also a pull-out deck chair and table.
In Japan, the Crown Estate Z hybrid is priced from 6,350,000 Yen (~$66,600), while the Crown Estate RS PHEV is priced from 8,100,000 Yen (~A$84,900).
The Crown Estate/Crown Signia is part of a quartet of Crown models.
In 2022, Toyota unveiled a new-generation Crown family, with the Crown Sedan replacing the 15th-generation Crown and retaining rear-wheel drive, and the Crown Crossover, Crown Estate and Crown Sport all using a front/all-wheel drive platform shared with models like the Camry and Kluger.
All four are sold in Japan, with the Crown Crossover and Crown Signia also exported to markets such as North America.
MORE: Everything Toyota Crown
