Quickride: 2005 Toyota Crown Royal Saloon.

"Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW." (aya-yu)
03/17/2014 at 06:08 • Filed to: Quickride

So, My Friend Just Get A New Car. And I'm Jealous. He somehow found a used '2005 Toyota Crown. And because i'm a sucker for a Huge, 4-door sedan, i have to visit his home and borrow his brand new Crown.

You Might think the E-Class Competitor from Toyota was the Lexus GS. But the problem was, the GS never sold in Japan. Instead, Toyota offers an alternative called "Crown"

In my country, this Crown back in the day had an MSRP of somewhere arround 130,000 USD. Fast foward 10 years and you can bought one for 30k. So, you got a car that has an E-Class level of luxury, plus you get an added Toyota reliability, for a Fiesta ST money. Sounds great, right?

Plus, it has a similar looks like a W220!

But you may asking, how luxurious is it?
Well, i think it's quite on par with E-Class from the same period, if not a little nicer.

But the back is look quite amazing. You don't get that sort of seats in E-Class or 5-Series BMW.
It also full of gadgets normally found in european cars.
Fridge? check. Reclining seats? check. Air Suspension? check. Electric shade? check. Satnav? check. The only problem is the satnav is still in Japanese, but i think we'll figure that out later on.

But the engine is a bit dissapointing to look at. It got a massive engine cover.

Spec wise, it was 2GR-FZE 3.5L V6 like Lexus IS350 or GS350, but in this one tuned all the way to 311hp, 6 more than in the lexus. There's also a sport version called the Crown Athelte with 4.2l V8, but we rarely find those for sale.

So far the only complaints of the car was, it handles like a ship. It's so heavy, feels like an american land yacht, thanks to the insanely soft suspension. It's 1 million times softer than a E60 5-series.Hell, it's almost as soft as a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

But the thing is, Crown is about comfort. If you want to drive from A to B, buy an E60. But if you want to be driven from point a to point b, you'll want a Crown. Really. Just see that handles on the seats there, it's designed so you can hang on there when the driver do some hooliganism.

I love that car.

DISCUSSION (4)

Vlad_the_impaler > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW.
03/17/2014 at 06:27

My 1989 Crown feels exactly the same suspension wise, and inside it has a burgundy plush velur upholstry which for it's day was something nice and from what i have read the Japanese prefer velur over leather.

thebigbossyboss > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW.
03/17/2014 at 06:42

Good review....now....sneak that engine cover off when your friend isn't looking!

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Vlad_the_impaler
03/17/2014 at 07:18

Yeah. It's like a signature that reminds you that you're not supposed to drive like a maniac in this thing.

Brian Silvestro > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW.
03/17/2014 at 10:28

So much luxury it knocks you over