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Some times you just want things easy. It’s not that you can’t handle what life throws your way; it’s just that you’re ready for a time out. This week life threw me an easy one. I spent the week behind the wheel of a 2011 Toyota Avalon Limited. The Avalon is Toyota’s top-of-the-line sedan and the Limited is the...




Some times you just want things easy. It’s not that you can’t handle what life throws your way; it’s just that you’re ready for a time out.



This week life threw me an easy one. I spent the week behind the wheel of a 2011 Toyota Avalon Limited. The Avalon is Toyota’s top-of-the-line sedan and the Limited is the top-of-the-line Avalon.



Typically, I’m excited at the prospect of putting a new car through its paces, but I have to admit the Avalon quickly soothed me into contented bliss. I first realized it when, after only a few drives, I stopped tensing up before hitting the many railroad tracks that seem to surround the newspaper.



The Avalon, with its MacPherson strut suspension, offset coil springs and stabilizer bars on both front and rear ends, took the bite out of the road and made it feel like the whole city had been repaved.



The variable-assist, power rack-and-pinion steering contributed to the feeling of effortlessness behind the wheel. Luxuriously styled leather seats helped soften the ride, while a quiet cabin made it seem as if all was good with the world.



This front-wheel-drive, full-size sedan comes standard with a 3.5-liter V-6 engine that generates an upstanding 268 horsepower and gets 20 miles per gallon in the city and 29 on the highway. The Avalon’s V-6, present in a number of other Toyota products and mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, is quiet and smooth while providing smart acceleration that doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg at the pump.



While the Avalon is highly regarded for its reliability and comfort, one of its strongest suits is providing luxury-car amenities for a non-luxury price. Inside the Avalon, a driver would be hard-pressed to tell it apart from an Acura, Infiniti or Lexus.



For 2011 Toyota has done away with the three previous trim levels on this vehicle to now offer only two, the Avalon and the Avalon Limited, according to William Lewis, general manager of Toyota of New Orleans. The list of what the two vehicles include standard is much longer than what sets them apart. So there’s no going wrong here.



All Avalons come standard with V-6 engines, 17-inch rims, leather seating surfaces, reclining rear seats (yes, rear seats), sunroof, rear-view camera, power windows, mirrors and seats, satellite radio, USB and iPod connectivity, Bluetooth cell phone pairing, dual climate control, wood-grain-style interior trim, trunk cargo net and more.



How the two models differ is subtle. From the outside, the Limited will sport chrome handles versus body-colored handles on the regular Avalon. On the inside, the Limited comes standard with heated and ventilated seats, while the base model offers the option to add heat to its seats.



A smart key on the Limited allows you to open any of the four doors by merely touching the door handle. A power sunshade for the rear glass and a power seat bolster extension for the driver are also standard on the Limited.



Eight-way power seats with memory as well as memory positioning for the side mirrors are standard on the Limited, but an option on the base. The wipers on the Limited come with a rain-sensing position and the JBL stereo’s wattage gets beefed up to 660.



Both Avalon models are well behaved on the road. The cushy suspension absorbs shocks from the road while preventing the ride quality to get too yacht-like. The slight body lean in the curves is part and parcel of that soft suspension and will be unnoticeable to most Avalon drivers.



After all, drivers want either a tight sporty suspension, at which point they’re willing to put up with a bumpy ride, or they want plush an

Tags: Toyota, is-featured

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Toyota Avalon: Legendary comfort was originally published by New Orleans Auto Reviews: Toyota. Read the full story by clicking here.