As the Hybrid world is taking over the vehicle market, and for good reason, the Toyota Crown continues on with its excellence. In 2025 Grasso’s Garage gets the opportunity to review the 2026 Toyota Crown Nightshade. Wrapped in Storm Cloud, Toyota’s Nightshade’s top color, shows out exceptionally.

Powered by a 2.5 Liter 4-cylinder hybrid engine with 4 drive modes, boasts a 236 combined net horsepower. An eCVT transmission was also present and the Crown offered on demand all-wheel drive standard. Safety and technology top the list for the Crown as they really excel in the safety and technology categories. In 2026, we notice a Safety Sense 3.0 pre-collision system, Blind Spot monitor with rear-cross-traffic alert and other items.

Similar to our past Crown tester, the nightshade boasts exterior additions like Quad LED headlights, 21-inch wheels with Matte Black finishes, dark badging and a panoramic fixed glass roof. Interior wise, the Crown shows out nicely. A 12.3-inch infotainment that is easy to use, similar to other Toyota models including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM and a JBL Auto system with 11-speakers. Heated and Cooled seats were also standard on our Crown Nightshade.

When it comes to Hybrid’s, they make logical sense. They are fuel efficient, still have plenty of power, don’t need to be plugged in and are fully functional on pump gas. While the Crown rolled out in early years and was very new to the market, its higher ground clearance makes it easier to get in and out of, its very plush and comfortable for all passengers and can hold a host of extra cargo with its “grand coupe” styling. Additionally, the legroom is something to be mentioned, I am very impressed with the legroom for all passengers as its sizing is similar to the Volvo wagon, which is a huge plus.

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