Toyota Royal Crown
Toyota's luxury cruiser is as sumptuous as they come, but it has a hidden wicked streak, as well

What's New?
You see before you the all-new Toyota Crown, first seen as a concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2003. Many people think of the Crown as Toyota's flagship, but that accolade really belongs to the Japan-only Century, an enormous limousine with a 5.0-litre V12 engine and enough bodily length to rival an aircraft carrier.

Nevertheless, the Crown serves as Singapore's Toyota's range-topper, given that it's the largest and most expensive sedan to wear a 'T' on its grille here. The recipe is classic luxury car - a juicy 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine, rear wheel-drive (like in all BMW and Mercedes sedans), and electric power for everything inside the plush, roomy cabin.

In fact, the Crown's essential make-up so suits the requirements of a luxury sedan that its platform (or major architecture) forms the basis for the new Lexus GS300 as well.

How It Performs
Careful if you've had Mexican food for lunch. The Crown's cabin is so quiet that those with a little bit of flatus to liberate into the atmosphere stand little chance of not betraying themselves.

Asian luxury demands interior silence, and the Toyota delivers it to an astonishing degree.

It's also clearly designed to pamper. The leather seats are broad and lushly-padded, and detail touches like air-con vents that swivel automatically or an optional air ioniser to boost the well-being of occupants remind you that the Crown represents Toyota's best efforts at lavishness.

Plenty of emphasis goes to rear passengers, too. They get legroom to spare, but also options like electrical adjustment for their chairs, a rear cooler box, sunshades, or an extra set of climate controls. All in all, the Crown feels like a business lounge on wheels.

Paradoxically, though, it has a streak of hell-raiser about it. The V6 engine is agreeably silky, but it's also gorgeously brawny, catapulting the Crown to highway speeds in riotously rapid fashion.

Crowns are no strangers to high-performance, though. The previous model had a lovely, super-smooth and deliciously torquey straight-six engine that felt unburstable.

How It Stacks Up
Strong engine aside, the Crown handles more tidily than enthusiastically, so in character it's more old-school Mercedes than contemporary BMW. The comparisons don't end there. Like the Merc E-Class, the Crown signifies its owner's elevation to the ranks of senior management. At home, it also sees life as a taxi, which says a lot about its comfort, size and robustness.

It's not going to steal three-pointed star customers, though. More likely, the Toyota Crown will capture the attention of senior Japanese expats already familiar with what it has to offer, or those who want the luxury, but not the ostentation.

There might be a man or two, as well, who plumbs for a Crown because he can't help himself, after falling in love with the engine. It's that majestic.

Technical Specifications

MODEL Toyota Royal Crown ENGINE Engine: 2,995cc, 24V V6 Max Power: 231bhp at 6,200rpm Max Torque: 300 Nm at 4,400rpm TRANSMISSION 6-speed automatic TOP SPEED 180 kmh 0-100km/h 7.72s