Toyota Crown Sport-type launched in Japan

The new Toyota Crown Sport-type packs a plug-in-hybrid powertrain, tuned to deliver exhilarating performance. The hybrid powertrain uses a 2.5L petrol engine, a high-output density electric motor and a Li-ion battery pack. The combined system output stands at 306PS, which is channelled to all four wheels via an e-AWD system.

While the front wheels channel power directly from the engine, the rear axle of the Crown Sport-type uses an electric motor, which channels power to both wheels. The electric motors draw power from a large-capacity battery placed beneath the floor. The battery is good enough to deliver an EV-only range of 90km. Since the Crown Sport-type is a plug-in-hybrid, it boasts on-board charging functions. 

The Crown Sport-type boasts a fuel tank capacity of 55L, which with a claimed fuel efficiency of 20.3kmpl, is good for a range of up to 1,200km on a single tank fuel up. Another feature of the Crown Sport-type vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging and it can be enabled with a separate accessory. Since the Sport-type carries the additional weight of the plug-in-hybrid powertrain components, it gets revised friction and damping force characteristics for the front and rear shock absorbers. 

On the design front, the Crown Sport-type carries a couple of exterior and interior enhancements, which make it stand out from the rest of the Crown lineup. To begin with, it runs on 21-inch aluminium black alloy wheels, which are shodded with sticky tyres. In addition, both the front and rear brake callipers are finished in red, further amping up its sporty quotient.

On the inside, the Crown Sport-type black and red dual-tone colour scheme for the dashboard. While the seats are draped in black leatherette upholstery, the seatbelts are finished in red, giving it a contrasting look. In order to facilitate the sporty driving dynamics, Toyota has also added adaptive dampers to the Crown Sport-type, which adjusts the damping force for each wheel.

Amit Saraswat: