 Appeared
in 1955, "Crown" is the oldest nameplate in
Toyota's current line-up. Generation
after generation, today's Crown is still the most
popular company car in
Japan, which is good, but its presence is still bounded in domestic
market
and South East Asia, which is less good. One word summarise its
character
- Conservative. To please Japanese company executives and businessmen,
you know, it HAS to be conservative in styling and trimming. It has to
ride as supple as magic carpet, offering independent audio, climate and
lighting controls for the rear passenger. In contrast, driving pleasure
is not very important.
But the latest Crown is no longer that conservative. It has been styled, tuned and trimmed to please driver as well as passenger. To be honest, it is still not as driver-oriented as Lexus GS, but the improvement made is substantial enough to let you forget any pervious Crowns. For the first time, I found the Crown looks quite nice. Nice, if not handsome. Doesn't it look like a Lexus LS400?
There are 3 versions of Crown - Majesta, Royal and Athlete. The Athlete is the most sporty, with stiffest suspension setup. Majesta is most luxurious, powered by a 280 hp V8. It also has longer wheelbase. Royal runs middle of the road and is usually the best seller among them. No matter which version, handling is far beyond imagination. Gone is the traditional soft suspension setup, which is replaced with firmer springing and damping. As a result, steering response and body control are greatly improved. Although it is still regarded as comfort-biased by European standard, it is already more driver-biased than other domestic rivals, including Nissan Gloria. In particular, it rolls less and steer with more feel than the Nissan.
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| The above report was last updated on 23 Apr 2000. All Rights Reserved. |
The
cabin also looks fresh. Lexus-like back-lit gauges looks cool. Center
console
has a unique shape and is no longer taxi-like. Two-tone colours match
very
well with wood decoration and leather trimming, although I suspect the
wood is fake. Fit and finish is first rate, so is the quality of
material.
My only complain is the dull-looking 4-spoke steering wheel.
There's plenty
of space for front and rear passengers, the latter also enjoy
independent
audio and climate control, reading lamps and a small refrigerator
behind
the arm rest. Overall speaking, it's an enjoyable
place to spend hours
of long journey. 
Although
the range-topping Majesta is powered by Lexus'
4-litre V8, most other
Crowns are likely to be ordered with 3.0 inline-6. This 24-valver is
actually
the same as Supra and Lexus GS300. No matter with or without
direct-injection,
it output 220 horsepower and 217 lbft of torque. As in Lexus GS, it is
silky smooth and quiet. Predictably, Toyota provides no option for
manual
gearbox, but there are two electronic automatic for choose: 4-speed
automatic
is smoother; 5-speed Super ECT (with Tiptronic style manual override
mode)
is quicker.