2012 Toyota Avalon

Well-executed but traditional to a fault, the Toyota Avalon wears a little more metallic trim in this go-around, and slightly more thrifty interior finishes.

While it's still generically handsome, we've seen the Avalon before--it's changed little from the last generation, with a few bolder details figured into the stretched-Camry body. The grille is as formal as ever, but it's wider and more prominent. The underliner that shapes the headlamps is a bit prettier. From some angles, the Avalon's side moldings and cutlines clearly evoke the Mercedes E-Class--the crisper shoulder line on the Toyota is almost as pronounced as the one on the Benz. At the rear, the Avalon wears its most emphatic design statement, taillamps incised with a C-shaped string of LEDs.

Toyota isn't setting out to change hearts and minds with the Avalon's handling, but its straight-line performance could lead you to that impression.

All Avalons get power from a 3.5-liter V-6 with 268 horsepower, which shuffles to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. It's the new norm in big family sedans, and the Avalon's a little more like its competition with every passing year--there's a touch of vibration and noise in the current car under full throttle, for example. It can perform very briskly from a stoplight, despite the luxury-liner looks and cushy seats, but the transmissions on past test vehicles have felt a little less than perfectly smooth. A manual shifting mode exists, and we're convinced we were the first ones to try it out on the test car provided.

Spacious doesn't begin to describe the Toyota Avalon. It's a modern car from the old school, where wide seats with vast amounts of leg and head room march in lockstep with its remote driving feel.

Just a few minutes in the Avalon's flat-bottomed front bucket seats will tell the story. Even moving these chairs to the ends of their travel won't cut into rear-seat leg room all that much; it'll put the driver's feet almost out of reach of the pedals, in fact. We do wish the Avalon baked a little more lateral support into the front seats, but the devil's advocate on staff here says the broad seat cushions are probably just what the customer ordered.

In back, the Avalon is even more comfortable than in front. For one, all those pesky driving controls are omitted. Secondly, the rear seats tilt back for long-distance comfort, and there's a keyhole of access to the ginormous trunk that makes a ski weekend for four a snap.

A six-seat version can be ordered, for the one or two fans of column-mounted shifters out there; leather upholstery is standard, and with the generally handsome level of materials, the Avalon's cabin is up to its $30,000-plus task.

Safety is a key product feature in family sedans and even more so, in cars that appeal to older drivers. The Toyota Avalon has them covered--mostly--with good crash-test scores where they exist, and some safety technology that's offered on some, but not all, of its competitors.

Every Avalon gets a standard rearview camera, for example, along with the usual side-curtain airbags and stability control. On Avalons without navigation systems, the camera displays on the rearview mirror; navigation-equipped cars share their LCD screens for the camera's output. The latter's a much nicer result, as the rearview mirror puts out a small, washed-out image.

When it comes to crash tests, the Avalon performs well, in at least one set of tests. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has granted the Avalon "good" scores for all its tests, which makes the sedan a Top Safety Pick.

The federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not yet crash-tested the current Avalon. The prior version was structurally related to today's car, and it earned five stars across the board, but the NHTSA changed its ratings system in the 2011 model year, so the scores aren't directly comparable.

The assortment of luxury and entertainment features in the Toyota Avalon will have some shoppers wondering if they've wandered into a Lexus showroom.

Of course, they might not be able to sip a cappuccino while they wait for an oil change, but Avalon buyers have an extensive array of standard features and options staring them down when it comes time to order their sedan. Stick with the base trim and the Avalon is an exceptional value: each one comes with a sophisticated audio system with satellite radio, a USB port, and Bluetooth audio streaming, as well as steering-wheel controls. (The USB port hides in the center console, by the way, so hiding your media player in a convenient place isn't the journey it can be in other family sedans.)

Move up to the Avalon Limited, and the standard-equipment list adds ventilated front seats, a power passenger front seat, and a keyless-entry system with pushbutton start.

The Avalon does tend to stray well into Lexus territory if you don't keep watch on options. One Avalon we've tested wore a pricetag of $34,094, including just floor and trunk mats, and a $900 JBL audio system with CD changer and Bluetooth streaming—and that's without a navigation system or Limited trim.

There's just one drivetrain offered with the Toyota Avalon, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the EPA rates it just one way, too.

The Avalon earns an EPA rating of 19/28 mpg, a figure that Toyota says will best the gas-only version of the Buick LaCrosse. Of course, Buick now fields an eAssist LaCrosse with up to 32 mpg on the highway, while the new Hyundai Azera boasts a highway rating of 29 mpg, just a mile per gallon better than the Avalon.

Relative to most other vehicles that can also fit five or six occupants with the same level of comfort—namely, large crossover vehicles like the Buick Enclave or Ford Flex—that makes the Avalon a very green machine.

Toyota's promised that all of its vehicles would have a hybrid option by 2020, but as of yet, there are no plans to fit the current Avalon with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive, despite the fact the Avalon shares its architecture and its assembly plant with the Camry Hybrid.