2024 Toyota Crown Crossover Landscape - Design Review
As the trekking market increases, you can expect to see a few new entries which you would never think you would see before. Can we say Huracan Sterrato and 911 Dakar. These two products show us how big this market has become and how even products like the Crown are not immune to its growth. But really, why not give us a Corolla or Camry Landscape in place of the Crown, as more us in these markets may be inclined to venture out in these products. You may think this as both models to carry a larger market share than the Crown, but both models have CUV counterparts which most of us would just upgrade too. The Crown on the other hand is more for the condo adventurer who is above the Corolla and Camry market. Without getting their Lexus dirty, they can add a bit of dirt to their Crown sedan, as they venture out in comfort. And we all know that adventures in comfort are becoming a big thing for the condo world today. With this mindset from the mid-to-high range income earners, you can really start to see how a product like the Crown is a wanted product in the premium marketplace. With only products from luxury marks, a premium soft-roader is a welcome attraction to a market which is more inclined to adventure out past the edge of the city. So, we welcome the Crown and what it has to bring the premium marketplace. Up front the Crown adds on to what they already had going for them, but with some aspects required for off road conditions. An improved front lip makes trekking into the deep woods easier as you won’t have to worry to much about damaging your lights or lower intake. Of course all is not good, as the lower lip gives way to the oversized and out of sync main front intake. All too much plastic material, an odd pattern and its size, make the front intake a bit out of place. Talk about an oversized pouty lip, this intake makes the Crown look like its mad to be going off road. But again, it was originally a premium city going sedan and now you’re covering it in mud. A slight reduction in the top protrusion would help this area blend in a bit better, along with some accents to break up this oversized world. Toyota did manage to keep the clean lines from the original Crowns light fixture. But this time they gave them some flat plastic to help with scratches you get from the bush. This could help the front end retain some of that premium feel from the original car.  Rolling over the oversized wheel well covers, we find ourselves gazing upon the sign of Zorro. Seems Toyota wanted to join the “Mark of Zorro” fan club, as they have utilized his mark for their side character lines. Doing away with the upper body line would take care of this mark and help to create a rolling surface which is more incline with a premium sedan. Overuse of flat plastic is a common occurrence in the cross-trek marketplace, but red mud-flaps are not. A poor choice of colour from Toyota, as both their size and colour take away from overall appeal. We get it, you need these to keep mud from building up under your car and in your wheel well, but they could have blended them in better with their surroundings. Of course, their surroundings are not better, as the all too flat fender flares don’t blend well with the smooth lines of the original car. Guess the aftermarket industry will be needed here to fix this issue. We did like the rolling lines on the side of the Landscape, as they kept with the original feel of the Crown. This stays true on the windows as Toyota didn’t think to add on any window flares. Maybe that was a good thing, as they would have ruined the overall appeal of this side profile.  Out back we get a taste of why you really want this car to be covered in mud. A all to large for this world, rear accent gives anyone the illusion that your trunk has been added on after the fact. Guess the designers have never seen multi colored panels on a car before, as we know this was a thing highly seen in the economy world. Toyota has made it easy to find your car though, as they have added an extra pair of reflectors to the rear of this car. This could help after you cover up that god awful truck accent. And they blend in nicely with the lower cladding, as the flat plastic rises up into the plate location. We did also like the accent line for this space, as it deters you from seeing the full extent of the flat plastic used. From the rear we do see that those odd-looking mud-flaps carry the Crowns own logo. This is a nice feature, but we have to ask if they are embedded or just painted, as paint will wear quick with mud and sand wear. We do find it nice that Toyota did make it easy for us to hook up a trailer. Adding in a dedicated space for a hitch really adds on what a true trekking model requires. The ability to bring along a small trailer as you head off into the woods. Now we have a true soft-roader, which is fully capable of traversing the back roads with what you truly need.  Toyota has done a decent job on taking a premium sedan and giving us something we never knew we wanted. Soft-roading is growing in popularity and with more of us wanting to explore the back woods, it may just be the right time to do this in a premium product who can still appeal to our city going lifestyle. Besides an overuse of flat plastic (something expected from cross-trek models), the Crown Landscape is a decent way to do a soft-road sedan. We would just ask to bring in a few spots and do away with the gloss black accent on the rear. Let’s make this a true premium sedan by day and soft-roader by night. Oh, and Toyota, you should change the colour of the mudflaps too. Everett J. #autolooks COMPETITION: Volvo S60 Cross Country - 59.87% Qoros 3 GT - 39.13% Citroen C5 X-Hypnos - 53.59% Polestar 2 - 48.04%
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