2015 Toyota Avalon

The 2015 Toyota Avalon is available in five trim levels: XLE, XLE Premium, XLE Touring, XLE Touring Sport, and the Limited. Pricing for the trims starts at $24,200 for the base trim and goes up to $30,005 for the top trim. Standard features on all trims include 15-inch alloy wheels, heated power mirror, power accessories, cruise control, rearview camera, tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel, height-adjustable driver seat, 60/40 split-folding rear seat, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 6.1-inch touchscreen.

The 2015 Toyota Avalon offers some of the upper trim features on the lower trims. This, however, varies region-wise. The Limited gets a Technology package, which includes adaptive cruise control, frontal collision warning, automatic high-beam headlight control, Qi wireless charging, and a pre-collision system.

We Recommend

We recommended the 2015 Toyota Avalon XLE Touring trim. It’s the most balanced trim among them all and comes with great features as well. It also gets some higher trim features as optional. The pricing is right on as well. However, if you want to go all-out with the Avalon, the top Limited serves as the right option for you.

The 2015 Toyota Avalon is powered by a 3.5L V6 engine that produces 268 horsepower and 248 lb-ft of torque. The power is transferred through a 6-speed automatic gearbox with manual shift capability. The car comes with Front-wheel-drive as standard. There is no optional drive system. There are paddle shifters as well, and apart from three driving modes (Eco, Normal, and Sport). 

The car’s handling and steering offer a great feel. The V6 engine is powerful, and has decent acceleration. The shifts are precise. The power is delivered in a quiet, linear manner that appeals to all. The ride quality is excellent and the ar’s very easy to drive. The 2015 Toyota Avalon takes 6.1 seconds to go from 0-60 mph and reaches the quarter-mile mark in 14.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 130 mph.

The Toyota Avalon is the quickest of the lot. The Chrysler comes in second, with a 0-60 mph time of 6.3 seconds. In terms of quarter-mile as well, the Avalon tops the charts. The Hyundai with the least engine capacity has the highest top speed of 160 mph. It makes the most power as well. The three cars are very competitively priced.

The 2015 Toyota Avalon with its 6-speed automatic returns 21 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway, with a combined efficiency of 24 mpg. The returns are above par considering the segment of full-size sedans. The Avalon has a tank capacity of 17 gallons, which gives it a decent range of 408 miles combined.

The 2015 Toyota Avalon has the best numbers among the three. The two rivals have the same combined economy of 23 mpg. The Azera is more efficient in the city at 20 mpg, whereas the 300 offers 31 mpg on the highway. Both the rivals offer better fuel capacity. The 2015 Chrysler offers the most highway range at 574 miles, whereas the 2015 Azera offers the most city range at 370 miles.

The 2015 Toyota Avalon’s interior is spacious and beautiful. There is excellent attention to detail on this car. The controls and knobs are futuristic and very robust to use. The materials used are top quality, and the fit and finish are right on spot. The dash and the upper door trims get the soft plastic treatment in the otherwise decent interior. Overall, this is a top interior.

The seats in the car are spacious and offer loads of comfort. The seating position is a little low, which provides more headroom and shoulder room. The front seats are comfortable and have great support for long journeys. The leather seats with real stitching are impressive. In the rear, the seats have excellent bolstering and great back support. They are very roomy, with one of the best legroom in this class. 

The seats manage to accommodate up to five people. The 2015 Azera’s front row is super-roomy in all dimensions. The Avalon offers the least headroom in the front. In the rear, the Chrysler 300 offers the most legroom and the most shoulder room. In terms of cargo capacity, the rivals offer a cargo space of 16.3 cu-ft against Avalon’s 16 cu-ft. Some interior features are:

• Full power accessories
• Leather Upholstery
• Cruise control
• Keyless ignition and entry
• Dual-zone automatic climate control
• Tilt-and-Telescopic Steering Wheel

How intuitive is the 2015 Toyota Avalon’s infotainment unit?

The 2015 Toyota Avalon’s infotainment system is loaded. It’s very easy to use, the interface is simple and the functionality is to the point. Toyota’s Entune system is standard on every trim. Other standard features include a 6.1-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth phone, and audio connectivity, an auxiliary audio jack, satellite radio, HD radio, iPod/USB connectivity, and an 8-speaker sound system with a CD player. Higher trims get smartphone app integration and a larger screen. Salient infotainment features include:

• Toyota Entune 
• CD player
• Voice recognition
• 6.1-inch/7-inch touchscreen
• Customizable home screen
• Navigation system

The 2015 Toyota Avalon’s exterior remains completely unchanged from the last year. Though it got a few cuts to its exterior dimensions a few years ago, the car still maintains its large car status pretty well. The Avalon does remind us of the Camry, but the design is more calm and composed. The most obvious thing in the front is the large air intake. There is a decent use of chrome as well. The unique headlights with the dual projector lights setup look premium. 

The side of the Avalon is simple and nothing too flashy or focused. The roofline is long, and tapers well into the rear without causing problems to interior space. The rear of the Avalon is very stereotypical, but it’s got some nice lines and creases with well-arched curves. All in all, the design of the Avalon does not bore you but also does not throw a very sporty appeal. It’s just long and wide.

The Avalon is the lightest at 3505 lbs. When compared to the rivals, the Azera is the shortest. The Avalon has a tight wheelbase of 111 inches. The Chrysler is the longest at 176.4 inches and has the most width of 75 inches and the most height of 58.4 inches. It also has the longest wheelbase at 120.2 inches. The Avalon has a ground clearance of 5.5 inches. Few major exterior features include-

• 17-inch/18-inch alloy wheels
• Power sunroof
• Automatic headlamps
• LED running lights
• Foglights
• Heated mirrors

The 2015 Toyota Avalon scored high in the crash tests. It received 5 stars from the NHTSA and a rating of ‘Good’ from the IIHS. The car offers excellent reliability and high safety standards, as expected from Toyotas. Standard safety features on the Avalon include antilock brakes, traction and stability control, airbags, and a rearview camera. The XLE Touring, XLE Touring Sport, and Limited come with blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alerts. The Limited gets Toyota's Safety Connect service, which includes roadside assistance, stolen vehicle location, and automatic collision notification. The Limited's optional Technology package includes a frontal collision warning system. Safety features include:

• Tire pressure monitoring system
• Traction control
• Engine immobilizer 
• Ventilated front disc and solid rear disc brakes
• Emergency Braking Assist
• Rearview camera
• Front and rear head airbags

The 2015 Toyota Avalon is a great offering as a full-size sedan. It has performance on demand and does so while being pretty fuel-efficient. The interiors are spacious, plush, and very practical. The technology inside is simple, and modern features are offered. Even the base trims come very well packed. As a Toyota, the Avalon offers high reliability and excellent safety standards. There are other better-equipped cars out in the segment, but what the Avalon offers on the whole at a sub $40,000 price bracket, makes it a great pick.