From the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, Cars.com's Kelsey Mays takes a look at the 2011 Toyota Avalon.
Transcript
(upbeat music) <v Narrator>Cars.com "Auto Review." Hi, I'm Kelsey Mays for cars.com. We're at the Chicago Auto Show. With me is the 2011 Toyota Avalon. It's been substantially restyled this year, with a new face, new tail and updated interior.
We're gonna take you inside and out and show you all the changes. First off is the new nose. There's a wider grill and it kinda flows more into these headlights, which look a lot like the Camy's actually with sort of accented lenses in the middle. Honestly, I'm not wild about it. I actually liked the way the outgoing Avalon looked, the way the bumper kinda floated into the lower air dam. This kinda looks bottom heavy here. It looks squatter, like it's trying to be sportier and I'm not really sure that's what the Avalon is. Cabin volume remains the same. The old Avalon had lots of hinged doors over everything in the center and there was this frosted silver plastic everywhere. I mean, seriously, it was bad. This is much better. There's a more traditional layout around the center controls and the climate controls have a nicer sort of brushed finish with their silver trim. I kind of wish that extended down here around the gearshift, 'cause this kind of shiny or silver down here, well, that's kinda what the old Avalon had a lot of. Plenty of room to spread out and the arm rest now extends forward and backward for shorter drivers. The Avalon's V6 engine and six speed automatic transmission carry over, but gas mileage is up one mile per gallon in EPA ratings, to 20 city, 29 highway. It's pretty impressive for a big car like this and like all other 2011 Toyota's, the Avalon will have a brake override system to mitigate unintended acceleration. That said, Toyota has a lot of last ground to make up in terms of lost customer perception about quality. So when the 2011 Avalon hits dealerships this spring, we'll have to wait and see how much it can help out on that front. <v Narrator>For more car related news, go to cars.com, or our blog KickingTires.net.
