Lighter Gasoline and Hybrid Toyota Avalon Nearly Ready to Go on Sale in US

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and Toyota Avalon at the New York Auto Show, and they will go on sale alter this year. Toyota has made the Avalon lighter than the previous generation for both the hybrid and gasoline engine options. This is the first time that a hybrid has been offered in the Avalon. Toyota says that it is attempting to make its cars more fun to drive, and the Avalon is the first car to have this new philosophy. 

Compared to the previous Avalon, the next generation Avalon is 2in shorter overall but has the same wheelbase. The overall width is half an inch less but the front track is identical. The rear track is up half an inch.  The new Avalon sits an inch lower than the previous generation. The weight is the two cars' biggest difference. The new V6 Avalon weight over 100lbs less than the previous generation, and even the hybrid is over 20lbs lighter than the previous car. 

The Avalon comes with either a 3.5l, V6 with 268hp and 248lb-ft and a six-speed automatic transmission. It gets to 60mph in less than seven seconds. The transmission has ECO, Normal and Sport modes, and the car has a fuel economy rating of 21mpg city and 31mpg highway. 

The bigger new addition is the hybrid engine that uses a 2.5l, four-cylinder engine with hybrid drive. Total output for the engine is 200hp. It features regnerative braking and liquid-cooled batteries. The transmission has EV, ECO and Sport modes. The EV mode allows the Avalon to drive purely from electrical power up to 25mph. Toyota has not sent the Avalon to the US Environmental Protection Agency yet, but it expects the engine to get 40mpg in the city and 39mph in the city. 

Toyota says that it attempted to make the new Avalon a more driver-friendly, sporty car. It will be built in the US and go on sale later in the year.