We are strange creatures, obsessed with labels to help keep our little lizard brains organized. Consumer goods are labelled with brand names to establish their worth, job titles use specific words to denote how much seniority they carry, and even our own romantic relationships aren’t really “real” until we’ve had “the talk” where you’ve decided to “label it.” Everything in our lives, tangible or not, has to fit into a neatly labelled box. The 2024 Toyota Crown Hybrid Max Platinum refuses to fit into any one box.
First, its name alone is a mouthful of a label right out of the gate, but it matters. Crown signifies how important this is to Toyota, as the nameplate has been around longer in their history than household staples like Corolla and Camry. It’s their flagship line of cars, the ones nearest-and-dearest to their corporate identity—an identity that we have very limited exposure to over here in the West.
Platinum denotes the luxuriant accommodations blurring the line here between Toyota and Lexus. Nearly every surface is cushy to the touch, and all of it is framed in a subtle bronze metallic accent that goes a long way toward brightening things up. We’ve also seen this in the brand-defying Grand Highlander, whose carefully chosen materials and a very clean design help punch way above its price bracket.
Hybrid Max refers to the powertrain in this car. Unlike the less-bejeweled Crown we reviewed last year, this car gets a much more muscular powertrain. Here, a 2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder works with two electric motors to produce a combined 340 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, which is by all accounts not bad. Unlike the overwhelming majority of hybrids that Toyota has built over the years, this car isn’t built with maximum efficiency in mind; it’s built to perform, using hybridization to augment excitement over frugality. That’s not to say that it isn’t frugal; we observed 8.8 L/100 kilometres. It’s perhaps not as efficient as other Toyota hybrids, but not bad for something pushing 340 ponies.
That’s the name, its literal label, out of the way. Now, let’s talk about its silhouette. The Crown’s tall-sedan styling and two-tone paintwork blurs the line between sedan and sport-ute more than crossovers already do. Is it an oddly shaped SUV? Is it a lifted car? Does it matter? It looks like a fastback with its rakish profile and short deck, but said deck opens as a conventional trunk like you’d see on any other sedan. Either way, the Crown blends the stately, striking styling of a rather handsome three-box sedan with the convenience and ride height of a crossover to great effect. The topic of the Crown’s styling, with its tall proportions and melodramatic black accents have been the subject of much debate around the office. I’m in the minority that thinks it looks terrific, regardless of what category you think its shape falls into. [It works with the right colour and wheels. —Ed.]
No matter how you look at it, the Crown isn’t what you expect, and it doesn’t neatly follow any existing structure. I’m surprised that Toyota of all companies—careful and conservative, Toyota, conscientious of the hierarchy of their product portfolio—green-lit this chameleon of a car. But I’m glad they did, because it might be the best vehicle they make, despite not neatly fitting into any of the boxes we like to put cars into.
Despite being so hard to label, the Crown Platinum drives wonderfully. Is it a Toyota? A Lexus? A full-size luxury sedan? A sport-ute? I don’t know about any of that, but I do know it drives really, really well, regardless of what it is or isn’t. The powertrain is effortless and powerful like a luxury flagship, and sips fuel like an economy car. It’s quick when it needs to be, sounds brawny enough when you’re hustling it, and is damn-near imperceptible the rest of the time.
Blindfolded, it could easily pass for a Lexus. It handles well, feels decently balanced when you’re playing with it, and otherwise has superb ride quality and serene isolation from wind and road noise. If you’re feeling frisky, the powertrain has more than enough oomph to feel exciting, and the chassis is well-honed enough to make you feel like an integral part of the action, with organic and confidence-inspiring steering. No one may not be entirely clear on what the Crown supposed to be, but I can say with confidence it is comfortable and quiet first and foremost, with very competent performance following close behind.
For all the Lexus-ness, the Crown also melds the approachability of a Toyota Camry. The infotainment is super easy to figure out, there’s a good mix of physical controls, and it has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, with a wireless charging pad to keep your phone full of juice. It has all the driving assists you’d expect from a top-shelf product, with excellent adaptive cruise control and lane-tracing that allow the Crown to more-or-less drive itself. Honestly, outside of being a hard-to-label being an oddity, there’s nothing to complain about. OK, maybe one thing: when using CarPlay, a shortcut that takes you back to Toyota’s native infotainment, that stays on-screen all the time, would’ve been nice. But that’s hardly a dealbreaker.
Regardless of how you try to label the Crown, it’s all the car you could ever want for $62,540 as-tested. It looks great, being distinct and demure altogether. Its cabin is as comfortable and as easy to access as any other Toyota crossover. Its chassis is brilliant. Its powertrain is among the best out there. Its on-board tech is intuitive and feels natural. Who cares if you can’t put a clear-cut label on the 2024 Toyota Crown Platinum Hybrid Max? It defies labels, and it’s all the better for it.
