2021 Toyota Avalon Road Test and Review

2021 Toyota Avalon ・ Photo by Ron Sessions

If you are thinking that the Toyota Avalon is a fancier, stretched-wheelbase version of the brand’s best-selling Camry sedan, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Both are built on Toyota’s latest TNGA-K platform which brings sizable improvements in ride, handling, steering, braking, and quietness over previous iterations. Bumper-to-bumper, the full-size Avalon stretches just shy of 4 inches longer than the Camry, but offers greater luggage space and a noticeable 2.4 inches more rear legroom than Toyota’s mid-size sedan. It has its own unique sheet metal and interior design. As Toyota's flagship sedan, the Avalon comes with a more lux array of standard comfort and convenience features than the Camry. Plus, the Avalon has standard V6 power to the Camry’s base 4-cylinder in most trims.

The 2021 Toyota Avalon is available in eight trims, all equipped with front-wheel drive: XLE, XLE Hybrid, XSE Nightshade, XSE Hybrid, Limited, Limited Hybrid, Touring, and TRD. The non-hybrid XLE and Touring trims can also be equipped with all-wheel drive at no extra cost. Including the $995 destination fee, prices range from $36,870 for the base front-drive XLE V6 or AWD XLE 4-cylinder to $44,295 for the Hybrid Limited.

The shrinking field of full-size sedan competitors includes the Nissan Maxima, Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, and Volkswagen Arteon.

Available All-Wheel Drive

One of the 2021 Avalon’s best-kept secrets is its available all-wheel drive. Selectable with base XLE or mid-grade Limited trim at no extra cost, the Dynamic Torque Control AWD is the same system used in some versions of the RAV4. It delivers all-weather, all-road driving confidence, operating automatically at all speeds with no driver involvement required.

The Avalon’s AWD system employs a mechanical driveshaft and coupler to deliver drive torque to a rear differential and equally to each of the rear wheels. It defaults to front-wheel drive when AWD is unnecessary to maintain traction. Opting for all-wheel drive also replaces the 301-horsepower V6 with a 205-hp 4-cylinder.

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Three Powertrains, No Waiting

Most Avalon models come standard with Toyota’s smooth and sonorous 301-hp 3.5-liter V6, a powerplant shared with the Lexus ES 350. It is teamed with a Direct Shift 8-speed step-shift automatic and can accelerate from rest to 60 mph in under 6 seconds. It offers eager response for merging onto interstates and passing slower cars on two-lane highways. It’s EPA-rated at 21-22 mpg city/30-31 mpg highway/25 mpg combined.

All-wheel-drive Avalons are powered by a 205-hp 2.5-liter Dynamic Force 4-cylinder that’s also teamed with the Direct-Shift 8-speed automatic. The engine’s a bit boomy at times and not as smooth as the V6. It can hit 60 mph from rest in just under 8 seconds. The EPA rates it at 25 mpg city/34 mpg highway/28 mpg combined.

Not surprisingly, the Hybrid is the Avalon fuel-economy champ. Equipped with a slightly detuned 2.5-liter Dynamic Force 4-cylinder and a pair of electric motors, the hybrid system is good for 215 horsepower and 0-60 runs just under 8 seconds. Teamed with a continuously variable automatic transmission, the Avalon Hybrid’s 4-cylinder can drone on when accelerating on the highway, but the low-speed drive-off feel under electric power is turbine smooth. The big benefit is an EPA estimated 43 mpg city/43-44 mpg highway/43-44 mpg combined.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Lux Cabin

Looking particularly striking in one of several available two-tone color combinations as seen here, the Avalon is a pleasant and cushy place to spend time on the road. Standard amenities include dual-zone automatic climate control, console knee padding, Smartkey entry, pushbutton start, and auto up/down power windows. All but the base XLE get a standard power tilt and slide moonroof, and a console-mounted wireless charger for Qi-enabled phones.

Outward visibility to the front and sides is good courtesy of a low instrument panel, thin windshield pillars, and free-standing side mirrors. Interior storage is ample as well thanks to a generously sized covered center console bin and glovebox, dual cup holders, an open bin behind the shifter for small electronica and road-trip detritus and commodious bins in the doors.

A 10-inch color head-up display with selectable road speed, shift position, compass, ambient temperature, navigation, phone, audio, and safety-system readouts is included with Limited and Touring trims.

Limited trim adds real wood trim plus ambient lighting for door handles, console sides, and cup holders.

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Easy-to-Use Infotainment

A generously sized, landscape-format 9-inch touchscreen is standard in all models with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto cellphone mirroring. Limited and Touring add imbedded navigation. Both are Amazon Alexa compatible and come with a 3-month trial of SiriusXM satellite radio and 4G LTE in-car Wi-Fi hotspot.

The system is easy to use and can be accessed via steering-wheel controls, voice prompts, meaty analog volume and tuning knobs on the dash center stack, hard shortcut buttons flanking the screen, or the touchscreen itself.

The standard audio system in XLE, XSE, and TRD trims is an 8-speaker AM/FM stereo. A rich-sounding 14-speaker JBL premium audio system with a booming subwoofer and head-clearing 1200 watts of power is standard in Limited and Touring models and a $1,720 option in all other trims. It includes Clari-Fi sound restoration technology that improves the fidelity of digital music files.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Cushy Front Seats

As Toyota’s flagship sedan, the Avalon coddles its front seat occupants in comfort. All Avalon trims feature supportive and well-padded heated and power-operated front bucket seats with power lumbar adjustment.

The base XLE’s seats are covered with Softex faux-leather. The sporty XSE Nightshade, Touring and TRD trims upgrade to perforated faux-leather with grippy suede inserts. Touring and Limited add front-seat ventilation plus front seat memory functions. Limited trim also upgrades to leather seat coverings.

All Avalon trims come with a standard grippy, leather-wrapped steering wheel that’s heated except in the base front-drive XLE trim. The Touring, XSE Nightshade and Touring trims add paddle shifters for manual shift control. The standard tilt and telescopic steering column is manually operated in XLE, XSE Nightshade, and TRD trims and power operated in Touring and Limited.

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Roomy Back Seat

The Avalon offers dignified, spread-out room for rear seat passengers. How roomy? It’s got more rear-seat headroom than the Nissan Maxima, Volkswagen Arteon, Chrysler 300, and the Lexus flagship, the LS 500. The Avalon's rear-seat legroom outstretches its competition as well; it offers more legroom than the Maxima by six inches. Rear seat amenities include climate-control vents, USB ports, and a fold-down center armrest with dual cup holders. The outboard seating positions are also heated in Limited and Touring trims.

Both outboard rear seat positions also feature LATCH anchors and tethers for child safety seats.

Photo by Ron Sessions

Trunk Pass-Through

For 2021, Toyota replaced the previous Avalon Hybrid nickel-metal hydride battery with a more compact and efficient lithium-ion one, so now both gas and hybrid versions of Toyota’s full-size sedan offer a generous 16.1 cubic feet of trunk space that can swallow six or more airport roller bags. The 60/40 split folding rear seatbacks also fold down to accommodate longer items such as a stepladder, 2x4s from the local hardware store, or skis, effectively doubling trunk space if both rear seatbacks are lowered.

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Safety and Driver-Assistive Tech

In addition to 10 airbags and a backup camera, the 2021 Avalon comes with a long list of standard safety and driver-assistive features. These include forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, lane-keeping with steering assist, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic monitoring, automatic high-beam control, and full-speed adaptive cruise control. Optional and available only with Limited and Touring trims are a 360-degree overhead-view camera and intelligent clearance sonar with rear cross-traffic braking.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the 2021 Avalon a full five out of five stars for crashworthiness.

The Independent Insurance institute for Highway Safety gives the 2021 Avalon Good ratings in all crashworthiness categories but poor ratings for headlamp effectiveness in XLE and XSE trims

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Connected Services

The Avalon comes with free trials of technology that keeps it connected to your world. Included at no charge is one year of Safety Connect and 10 years of Service Connect. Also included is one year of Remote Connect that allows owners to start and stop the engine, lock and unlock doors, check fuel levels, and more. Remote Connect works with any Amazon Alexa-enabled device, Apple or Android smartphone, compatible smartwatches, and it is voice-controllable.

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Sedan Sensibility

A lot of buyers have jumped from 4-door sedans to 4-door SUVs and crossovers in recent years, craving the taller seating position and cavernous cargo holds the latter vehicles offer. But for those who don’t necessarily want to drive around in a clumsier-handling, more fuel-thirsty storage locker of a vehicle, a more comfortable and easier-to-park mid-size or full-size sedan may still make sense. The Toyota Avalon is a good example of the breed.

The boy-racer-look Avalon TRD may not be what many buyers are looking for, but the V6-powered XLE, XSE, Touring, and Limited versions offer eager performance and comfy confines. AWD trims help take the worry out of winter driving, and the Hybrid models, with a fuel economy of about 43 mpg, help take the sting out of today’s higher-priced gasoline.

Photo by Ron Sessions