I once referred to the Toyota Avalon as the automotive equivalent of a comb-over, but not anymore. That was the second-generation

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car, a common sight in the balding hills of Palm Springs, CA and Myrtle Beach, S.C., or anywhere else retirees are more populous than younger folks, but the third-gen model that followed reached out to a slightly younger demographic due to a more rakish design and much better performance, while the new fourth-generation Avalon could easily be chosen over any other full-size luxury model by just about anyone.

The originator in this segment was also a Toyota, but it wore the Cressida nameplate and fought it out with Nissan’s sportier Maxima for up-and-comers who couldn’t afford a BMW or Mercedes-Benz but didn’t want to be seen in grandpa’s Buick. This is the premise that bore Toyota’s premium Lexus brand, and while the success of this staple of the luxury sector is now legendary, its midsize front-drive ES 350 and ES 300h hybrid in the annuls of record books for being some of the best-selling

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models in their respective segments, the Cressida’s Toyota-badged offspring continues to get better and better all on its own.

The Avalon actually rides on the same exact underpinnings as the Lexus ES, and in the U.S. can also be had in hybrid guise. Here it’s strictly a 3.5-litre V6-powered near full-size front-driver, a great choice for those requiring the upper-tier fittings of a luxury car yet not wanting the showiness or prestige of a premium nameplate. It ideally suits those who love their Camry XLE, yet want a little more style, size, and creature comforts.

To

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that end the Avalon is a midsize sedan owner’s dream machine. Its bold yet elegant front fascia combines Toyota’s trademark emblem-emblazoned chrome slashed upper grille with a big multi-slatted grille below for a premium look that could fit in at any country club, while optional LED daytime running lights and standard chrome-rimmed fog lamps bedazzle all those who might see it arriving. The Av’s long, lean lines, especially attractive in my tester’s dark Magnetic Grey Metallic paint, show off its extended wheelbase, my Limited tester’s 18-inch twin five-spoke alloys looking classy yet adding a touch of sport to the design. From end to end it’s a very attractive luxury sedan, the frontal design only improved on from the rear where sweeping rear glass culminates into a graceful set of perfectly shaped taillights.

Inside

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its homage to good design principles continue, but while utilizing classic elements the Avalon’s interior styling is by no means conventional. The shape of its instrument panel is at once totally unique, a theme that melds into the primary gauges made up of two round dials for the tachometer and speedometer and a central multi-information screen, all in full colour, brightly lit and attractively penned. The shape of the dark chrome trim surrounding the gauge package is what sets it apart, that darkened chrome a theme that continues throughout the entire cabin, accenting the leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel, enhancing the tastefully applied woodgrain trim, highlighting the centre stack surround plus much of the lower console where it’s layered on quite thick, while also brightening the door panel switchgear and trim. Just hearing the description makes it sound like Toyota has gone overboard with chrome embellishment, a mistake many wannabe premium players have done all too often, but when you take

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in the Av’s interior you’ll see that it all works very well, the darkened aspect of the chrome really helping to reduce its glittery effect and make it seem more like polished silver.

As you might have expected, Toyota didn’t miss a beat when it came to finishing its flagship model off with quality soft-touch plastics and leathers, even going so far to detail the dash-top in a stitched leather-like material that truly gives off a rich ambience. That material continues over to the door panel inserts and armrests, the centre console bin lid, the dual cupholder surround, and even the sliding lid overtop the console change tray that also houses the aux and USB plugs. Combined with similar looking leather covering the seats, the total effect borders on breathtaking.

Just

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when you think things can’t get better, a cursory glance at some of the details shows that the Av’s beauty is more than just skin deep. Cloth covered pillars front to back are expected luxury fare that most premium players get right even amongst mainstream brands, but the way Toyota integrated touch-sensitive switchgear into the centre stack was unexpectedly brilliant. If you’ve driven cars with touch-sensitive controls I wouldn’t blame you for being skeptical. They rarely work as advertised, but such isn’t the case with the Avalon’s uniquely designed infotainment and HVAC interface that appears to be cut from a solid piece of darkened metal, the buttons hockey stick-shaped cutouts accessing audio, phone and vehicle settings up top and climate controls below. While no more functional than a set of conventional switches, they look and feel more sophisticated for a high-tech

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experience that’s literally cool to the fingertips. The full-colour 6.1-inch touchscreen they put into use is smaller than the new class average, but that’s ok by me as I’ve never been a fan of supersized graphics interfaces in cars. What matters here is quality, and to that end the Av’s high-resolution screen depicts deep rich blacks and bright radiant colours.

The woodgrain I mentioned a moment ago isn’t real, but it’s easily the best faux woodgrain Toyota has ever created, although I’d like to see more attention paid to a more solid and therefore genuine feel. Really, that’s one of the only criticisms I can

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give this interior, and it’s a pretty mild one I know. The Av’s standard feature set will immediately leave that thought to rest. It comes in two trims, XLE at $37,355 and Limited at $39,450, plus $1,620 for freight and pre-delivery prep, with the former boasting the usual luxuries in this class such as an auto-dimming rearview mirror with an integrated compass, power-adjustable heated foldable exterior mirrors with integrated turn signals, a multi-information display, dual-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats that are eight-way power adjustable for the driver and four-way powered for the passenger, a powered tilt and slide moonroof with sunshade, a remote garage door opener, overhead sunglass storage (always appreciated), fog lamps, and automatic headlamps, although the

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Avalon’s feature double-eye projector ellipsoid (PES) low-beams.

Some standard XLE features that a few main rivals don’t incorporate include proximity sensing Smart key access with pushbutton ignition, power windows with auto up/down all-round, leather upholstery, two-position memory for the driver’s seat and powered side mirrors, navigation, voice recognition with SMS-to-speech and email-to-speech functionality, a backup camera, plus top-line premium display audio, this one a nine-speaker system with Bluetooth audio streaming, satellite radio, the capability of displaying

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the artist, song and album art via a connected smartphone, and of course the usual AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA functions.

The base Avalon XLE gets all the expected safety features too, such as ABS-enhanced four-wheel disc brakes with electronic brake force distribution and emergency brake assist, traction and stability control plus the usual assortment of airbags, although the inclusion of standard driver and passenger knee airbags along with a set of airbags for the rear side thorax positions goes the extra mile.

Speaking of going the extra mile, my tester’s Limited trim included a higher grade of perforated leather upholstery, the tiny holes needed for this model’s ventilated front seats, while those up front also benefit from variable-length cushions. Additionally the passenger now gets all eight powered adjustments the driver enjoys

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in base trim, while everything looks a lot nicer thanks to cool ambient lighting. Aluminum scuff plates can be found at all four doors, while a clear and crisp TFT LCD colour climate control panel improves the look and functionality of the HVAC system. The Av Limited’s driver will especially appreciate the auto-leveling HID headlamps with LED daytime running lights, as well as the auto-dimming side mirrors with puddle lamps, rain-sensing automatic wipers, and blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert.

My tester also featured a $2,950 Premium package that added a wonderful sounding 11-speaker JBL audio system, while three-zone automatic climate control,

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a rear seat climate interface and rear seat heaters improved overall comfort. Automatic high-beams make night driving easier, while the powered rear window sunshade doesn’t only prove useful for shielding back passengers from the sun during the day, but goes a step further towards blocking headlights from behind at night. This brings up my only other interior criticism, the lack of side window sunshades. Normally I wouldn’t even comment, but the inclusion of a powered rear sunshade makes the lack of side window sunshades obvious, especially considering that it’s more common to see shades on the side windows than one at the back. More important to me, the Premium package also includes dynamic

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radar cruise control, a road trip favourite, while the pre-collision system gets pulled from the automaker’s Lexus brand to make this flagship as safe as possible.

Confidence-inspiring safety allows a person to push a car harder than they might otherwise, and the latest Avalon responds much more enthusiastically to right foot prodding than you might expect. I wouldn’t go so far to call it a sport sedan, as its supple ride will confirm this isn’t its primary mission, but open up the DOHC, 24-valve 3.5-litre V6 and let all its 268 horsepower and 248 lb-ft of torque run free and it moves along at a quick clip, followed by easily controllable handling from its nicely sorted, front and rear stabilizer-enhanced fully independent strut suspension. The Av’s rack and pinion steering

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is more direct than expected and responds well to input, while its standard 225/45R18s dig into the tarmac with ample grip. Its vehicle stability control comes with an off switch just in case you want to burn some rubber, although it’ll probably get used more by those in the snow belt attempting to extract the car from the aftermath of a well-meaning (or just downright mean) snowplow driver.

I left it alone, but I did play with the standard Drive Mode Select button, which allows selection of a fuel-saving Eco mode, plus normal and Sport modes, the latter quite effective with quicker shifts from the six-speed automatic, which incidentally gets steering wheel-mounted paddles for a more engaging driving experience. One of the reasons the Av can make use of such sporting equipment is a relatively light curb weight of only 1,610 kilos (3,548 lbs) in base XLE trim and 1,625 kilograms (3,582 lbs) for the as-tested Limited; weight almost always being the fun detractor of any car.

Weight

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is also a big negative to fuel economy, the Avalon’s excellent 11.3 L/100km city, 7.5 highway and 9.6 combined claimed rating another example of how Toyota got this car right. In a previous weeklong test of a 2013 model the Av’s trip computer registered 12.3 L/100km as a combined average, while my calculations were even better at 11.5, which is superb for a large luxury sedan. The Avalon’s slick 0.28 coefficient of drag no doubt helps its highway rating, while doing a good job of keeping wind noise at a minimum. Additionally, Toyota makes certain NVH levels are reduced further with sound absorbing acoustic glass and lots of insulation in all the right places.

I’m going to guess that a solid rear bulkhead helps in this cause too, but if you’re moving up from a top-line Camry you might miss the ability to fold the rear seatbacks

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flat when loading longer items into the trunk. It’s a fairly big cargo hold at 453 litres capacity, 17 litres larger than a Camry, and the pass-through behind the rear seat armrest is handy for long, thin items, but you’ll need a rooftop carrier if you plan to take four adults skiing.

I’m going to take another stab in the dark by guessing that if you’re an avid skier you probably already own something similar to the new Highlander, making luggage capacity and features like pass-through systems irrelevant. Large crossover SUVs that come similarly equipped to this Avalon are why full-size sedans don’t sell in the same numbers as they used to, but spend some time in Toyota’s flagship luxury sedan and you’ll likely want one, it’s just that good.
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