New York 2012: 2013 Toyota Avalon Is For The Roxy Music Fans, Not The AARP
The closest I’ve ever come to dying in a car was at the wheel of a Toyota Avalon, and I credit the nice, long wheelbase, stable handling and strong V6 engine for helping me avoid a major catastrophe. The new 2013 model, with its swoopy styling, looks like something that just might get you into trouble rather than keeping you out of it.
The pictures tell the whole story of the revamped Avalon, with a totally different look both inside and out. Power numbers for the 3.5L V6 weren’t disclosed, but it should be at a minimum equal to the 268 horsepower in the Camry V6. A Sport mode button will be featured, as well as a whole suite of active safety features, including 10 airbags, blind spot monitoring with cross-traffic detection and a pre-collision system. Personally, I think the sloping roofline is the most interesting feature. Is it a concession to aesthetics while compromising rear headroom (ala the Mercedes-Benz CLS) or has Toyota avoided that problem? Previous complaints from more mature buyers (i.e. the Avalons target market) about this trend has me wondering.
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- SaulTigh Unless we start building nuclear plants and beefing up the grid, this drive to electrification (and not just cars) will be the destruction of modern society. I hope you love rolling blackouts like the US was some third world failed state. You don't support 8 billion people on this planet without abundant and relatively cheap energy.So no, I don't want an electric car, even if it's cheap.
- 3-On-The-Tree Lou_BCone of many cars I sold when I got commissioned into the army. 1964 Dodge D100 with slant six and 3 on the tree, 1973 Plymouth Duster with slant six, 1974 dodge dart custom with a 318. 1990 Bronco 5.0 which was our snowboard rig for Wa state and Whistler/Blackcomb BC. Now :my trail rigs are a 1985 Toyota FJ60 Land cruiser and 86 Suzuki Samurai.
- RHD They are going to crash and burn like Country Garden and Evergrande (the Chinese property behemoths) if they don't fix their problems post-haste.
- Golden2husky The biggest hurdle for us would be the lack of a good charging network for road tripping as we are at the point in our lives that we will be traveling quite a bit. I'd rather pay more for longer range so the cheaper models would probably not make the cut. Improve the charging infrastructure and I'm certainly going to give one a try. This is more important that a lowish entry price IMHO.
- Add Lightness I have nothing against paying more to get quality (think Toyota vs Chryco) but hate all the silly, non-mandated 'stuff' that automakers load onto cars based on what non-gearhead focus groups tell them they need to have in a car. I blame focus groups for automatic everything and double drivetrains (AWD) that really never gets used 98% of the time. The other 2% of the time, one goes looking for a place to need it to rationanalize the purchase.
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Love the color. The roof? Not so much.
Ok so is it me or is the Avalon the answer to a question no one asked? I read recently the Camry is supposed to be the equivalent of the Toyota Crown in NA, so whats the point of this model? Seems like brand overlap, if a customer wants a Camcord feel/ride but higher up the food chain and can pony up the dough, a Lex seems like the logical choice. If the Avalon is superior to the Camry, why have the current Camry model at all, why not drop the Avalon name make it the Camry? This is the sort of stuff GM was doing with Buick/Olds/Cadillac, models across different lines which were all sort of similar and in GM's case all badge engineered. I'm sure there are subtle differences between the Camry/Avalon/ES350, but they are all generic FWD four door family sedans all based on a common design.