Toyota Crown Signia leaps forward with fuel efficiency

TOYOTA

Toyota's Crown Signia hybrid has good power, an upscale cabin, excellent range and outstanding fuel efficiency that offset its noise.

Do you go hybrid or electric? Which provides the best value and save the most on fuel?

Some new car buyers are faced with this dilemma. Electric will get you away from high gas prices but the cost and lack of range on said vehicles may be prohibitive. Hybrids use less gas with the aid of self-recharging batteries but also can be expensive. What do you do?

I like electric vehicles, but I’m not sold on the infrastructure yet. I like hybrids but most are noisy under hard acceleration and feel underpowered. If I had to pick, it’s a hybrid for me, especially if it’s the Toyota Crown Signia. It’s got the room and the range. The price and noise? We’ll talk about that.

The Crown Signia is different from the Crown sedan. Toyota calls it an SUV, but it is essentially a station wagon. It seats five people comfortably and can carry a moderate amount of stuff. Fold the rear seat and it can carry a lot of stuff if you only need to carry another person, The Signia is powered by a 2.4-liter hybrid system that has a combined output of 240 horsepower. It can two up to 2,700 pounds and in AWD form can achieve nearly 40 miles per gallon in the city.

I had the Crown Signia for a week, and I can tell you Toyota may be underestimating its fuel efficiency. This thing absolutely sips gas. With a 14.5-gallon tank, the Signia can travel 565 miles before the next fill up. That’s impressive for something that can haul five people around a city and doesn’t need to be plugged up.

Driving the Crown Signia is easy and pleasurable. The vehicle isn’t quick but accelerates quick enough. If you need to floor the thing to pass it proves capable, but there is a noise penalty. The engine is quite noisy, even for a hybrid. Certainly, the power is for more than adequate to get to where you are going but the trip may not be as quiet as hoped.

This is surprising considering how upscale the cabin feels. The Crown Signia could easily slip into the Lexus lineup. It doesn’t have wood and a lot of other higher end finishes but the way the cabin fits and feels is far above pedestrian. There are no cheap feeling bits and pieces. I wish there was a bit more room, however. Again, it’s adequate but feels a little smaller than the Venza, the vehicle it replaced last year. 

The Crown Signia’s ride quality is almost plush feeling. The four-wheel independent suspension keeps most of the bad stuff at bay, even on bumpy roads. The AWD system works well in bad weather and also gives the Signia a little bit while cornering. Body roll feels under control if you find some twisty roads.

The interior is comfortable. The front seats are leather covered, ventilated and heated. Each is power operated and is extremely supportive. The digital dash can be configured to display a variety of information, while the12.3-inch touch screen controls Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and a JBL 11-speaker infotainment system.

My test car was the Limited model with a tech package. Yep, it was loaded. I didn’t find anything missing on the Crown. The tech package included panoramic camera view, lane change assist, traffic jam assist, puddle lights and front and rear parking assist.

The Crown Insignia starts at $48,890 for the Limited trim. If you want one with the Advanced tech package add another $1,895. The as-tested price with destination and roof rails was $53,919.

Pros

• Handsome styling

• Excellent fuel economy

• Upscale interior 

• Decent towing capacity

• Lots of standard equipment

Cons

• Loud engine under hard acceleration 

• Limited cargo space

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