 Hey guys, welcome back to another one. If you're new to the channel, I am Gold Pony. I do new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the new 2020 Toyota Avalon TRD, courtesy of Hanover Toyota in Hanover PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. Really wanted to check this one out today because according to consumer reports, the Toyota Avalon does have well above average which is the very highest reliability rating given by consumer reports. Yet at the same time, this looked like an extremely fun car to drive. And typically those two things don't go hand in hand, so therefore I am in this one today. So what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so the 2020 Toyota Avalon TRD will start at $42,300. There are a couple additional options that can raise that price a little bit more like for instance, the JBL sound system that we have on this particular one today which we will test out in a little bit. But other than that, that is gonna be the MSRP for this one. Powering this beast is going to be a 3.5 liter naturally aspirated V6, putting out 301 horsepower at 6,600 RPM, 267 pound feet of torque, available at 4,700 RPM. Power sent to the front wheels through an eight speed automatic. Zero to 60 time comes in at approximately 6.1 seconds and we'll do a little acceleration test here of course in a little bit. Top speed 130 miles per hour with MPG numbers coming in at 22 in the city, 31 on the highway which actually is quite impressive when you consider the size of the Avalon but either way taking regular unleaded fuel or 87 octanes that's gonna save you a little bit of money there as well. But before we do an acceleration test and also a paddle shifter test because we do have paddle shifters as well on this one don't want to mention there are some driving modes and of course those drive mode buttons are located directly behind the shifter and they will include eco, normal and sport adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response, the steering sensitivity and the climate control settings to a certain degree as well. For example, if you were to put in an eco it's gonna dial back that climate control a little bit so give you a little better MPGs that's the trade off I suppose but nonetheless having now mentioned all of that what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway let's do a paddle shifter test here first and before we do that I wanted to mention there is a full manual shift mode if you simply slide the shifter to the left that is gonna display what gear you are currently in up on the digital portion of the gauges and it is essentially going to give you full control over the shifting. So with that being said what do you guys say? Let's test out the paddle shifters here first and let's see how quickly they are going to react for us here. All right someone of a rolling start here you guys but here we go, not bad, all right it's not bad there's a very slight delay but really this paddle shifters are definitely not that bad I've tested worse so not the quickest things in the world but they're not bad like I said so I am glad the Avalon has paddle shifters on it if anything you can use it for engine braking when it starts to snow out rather than traditional braking so you don't slide but do like that they're on there but to take it out of that full manual shift mode simply just slide the shifter back to the right there and that of course will get the Avalon back full control and having said that let's go ahead and do an acceleration test with the Avalon TRD having full control do have it in sport mode so let's see how quickly this thing is going to get us here up to speed. All right you guys I think we have found our straightaway let's go ahead and come to a somewhat stop and the car coming up on us let's go. Whoa. Oh my goodness. Okay surprisingly there's no torque steer which is kind of a concern of mine when I first went into this one because that's a lot of horsepower being sent to the front wheels. Well done Toyota for no torque steer that was really you can feel it in your gut that was a really good acceleration for the Avalon TRD despite the size of this vehicle so that was nice I enjoyed that. But so anyways to go along with that acceleration as always braking is equally important so up front you will find 12.9 inch power assisted ventilated disc brakes with dual piston front cowpers in the back 11.06 inch rear disc by the way there's a red painted front and rear cowpers I thought that was pretty cool as well and in case anybody was curious yes they are larger front and rear brakes than your standard Toyota Avalon trim so I didn't want to mention that as well and overall as far as the braking feel goes it's been perfectly fine for me on my short test drive today we'll actually say it feels a little bit on the softer side but really it's not bad certainly no issues for the Avalon for sure but touching on suspension and handling I first wanted to start by mentioning the Avalon TRD does have a 0.5 inch wider wheel and tire combination for enhanced grip that is pretty freaking cool and 0.6 inch lower ride height as well so definitely tuned for more aggressive handling I will say that but in addition to that 10% stiffer springs in the front 15% stiffer springs in the back stiffer anti roll bars revised non-adaptive dampers and beefed up under body braces as well a lot of work went into making this car a much better handling vehicle and despite all of those aggressive handling characteristics ride quality is still actually very acceptable I've had no issues with ride quality and I guess I'm coming from a lowered Mustang with larger wheels but still ride quality is perfectly fine in this Avalon TRD so no issues for me at least when it comes to that as far as the steering feel goes it is actually quite nice in the sport driving mode I will say that there is a noticeable difference between the sport driving mode and the other two so if you did want a little heavier weighted steering feel definitely put it in that sport driving mode because you can tell the difference as far as cabin always goes it's pretty much as expected as I'm hitting a bridge right now really it's pretty much as expected it's definitely not the quietest ride in the world but pretty much on par for the course I guess you could say but then touching on visibility I can see perfectly fine out the back really with Synans you're not gonna have any issues and with this larger Avalon sedan again definitely not gonna have any issues there either but that about rounds out the performance segment of this review you guys let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of this brand new 2020 Toyota Avalon TRD All right so here she is you guys the new 2020 Toyota Avalon TRD and yes the TRD trim level does give you a whole lot of grill up front which actually looks quite good in my opinion one of those polarizing grills that you're either gonna love it or hate it and I actually love it I think it looks really good but anyways let's continue up front here looking to the sides you guys can see those air curtains just underneath the headlights they are there to help direct air around that wheel tire combination give you a little better air dynamics there taking a look at those headlights they are LED reflector headlights with smoked housings they will of course come with the automatic feature meaning when it starts to get dark out at night they will turn on automatically for you there LED daytime running lights also coming standard with that and of course down below you guys can see that piano black front splitter that is going to tie in quite nicely with the front grill in my opinion but so anyways now let's go ahead and make our way to the side of the Avalon TRD here it's probably the first noticeable difference between the TRD and your standard Avalon is the TRD side skirts with red accents that of course ties together with the front lip and continues onto the rear as well but piano black window surrounds to go along with that piano black heated power adjustable side mirrors with integrated turd signals do come standard on this one and taking a look down at the wheel setup one of my favorite parts 19 inch TRD matte black alloy wheels they look amazing they do come with a multi spoke design and the TRD red emblem in the middle for the wheel cap so it looks absolutely amazing there love the side profile to this one but now let's go ahead and make our way to the back of the Avalon TRD and so of course you will find that shark fin antenna up top but just below that a gloss black rear spoiler that is going to come standard on the TRD trim there LED tail lights actually come standard as well there is some TRD badging back there TRD rear diffuser and you guys can see that along with how low and amazing this thing actually looks but then to the sides of that rear diffuser large cat-back dual exhaust outlets with stainless steel tips they look absolutely amazing back there but what's going to make them even better I think you guys know what we have to do next as always here is that exhaust clip and so now since we are around back the Avalon here to go ahead and open that trunk there are a few different ways to go ahead and do that there actually is a rubberized button on the trunk itself it's going to be located more towards the right side underneath there there is also a button on the key fob and there is a button by the driver's left knee when sitting in the driver's seat as well so a few different ways there but once opened up cargo capacity comes in at 16.09 cubic feet which of course is a ton and of course this is a larger sedan so that's pretty much as expected there but if you need it even more space there is a 60-40 split meaning the rear seats do fold down giving you a ton more space once again that's absolutely amazing but since we are making our way to the rear seats let's touch on those 40.3 inches of rear leg room for reference I mean even six feet tall this is how much space I have back there a ton of space for me and that's really luxury like leg room quite honestly but red accents in the seating you got red seat belts as well I definitely love that there is a rear center armrest with cup holders back there as well and of course you will find rear ventilation for those rear passengers back there too so rear passengers definitely haven't made back there and make our way to the front seats eight-way power adjustable driver and passenger seats and that's pretty cool that passenger seat is power adjustable as well soft text upholstery with suede inserts come standard on this one heated front seats come standard as well you can find the TRD lettering found at the upper portion of those headrest and of course you do have some red stitching some red accents red seat belts once again and very comfortable seating not quite as comfortable as Lexus F-Sport seats that of course Toyota also makes but still very comfortable seating in the Avalon TRD so I was definitely a fan take a look at the steering wheel it is tilt and telescoping it is leather wrapped with red stitching so loved that as well wouldn't have minded a little bit thicker grips and a sportier trim like the TRD but other than that steering wheel is plenty fine then make your way to the startup let me first start by showing you guys the key here you do have your Avalon specific key with Toyota Avalon badging on the one side then when you flip it over lock unlock and that button to pop the rear hatch and it is all keyless entry by the way with a push button start so all I'm going to do is simply put my foot on the brake and press that engine start button located just by the driver's right knee there it's a bit then once started up tachometer is all the way to the left speedometer is to the right and there is a fairly large digital display front and center to control what is on that digital display simply use the steering wheel mounted controls found on the left side of the steering wheel there that is going to give you things like a digital speedometer how many miles you have left until you hit empty there's your outside temperature when you need your next oil change there's some safety information radio information really the list goes on so there's quite a bit you could check out up there the bigger way to overall interior quality a power moonroof does come standard on this one there's also an auto dimming rear view mirror with homelink controls for up to three different garage doors love that as well aluminum foot pedals that of course alluding to the sporty nature of the Avalon TRD aluminum trim accents also throughout this one including the door handles on the doors and it ties in together with the climate control just above the passenger side glove box there and of course that red stitching continues from the seats onto the doors and above the glove box and you do have a 12 volt power outlet just in front of the shifter there and by the way the shifter itself I don't know if you guys noticed you do have TRD etched into that shifter with a leather shift boot that was pretty cool and there are two cup holders just beside the shifter there there's a lecture mechanical parking brake and an absolute ton of storage behind it all including three USB charging ports within that center armrest as well in a little tray area you can take out if you wanted to so everything is very well laid out in the Avalon but now let's go ahead and make our way to the tech display on this one nine inch colored touch screen display coming standard Bluetooth audio streaming coming standard Android auto Apple CarPlay as well love that and you can actually check out the weather forecast up there as well if you wanted to there's also an eco button that lets you know your driving statistics how many MPGs you're getting at any given time that was pretty cool and of course you can check out your radio settings up there as well and by the way when it comes to the sound system you will get eight speakers that come standard on this one however, there is an optional sound system that comes with factory navigation and that being the JBL sound system that is currently the one we have today so I do believe you guys know what we have to do next let's turn on the radio see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one I love these there is definitely one or more subwoofers in the Avalon TRD at least with this JBL sound system plenty of bass plenty of clarity the sound system is wonderful the only constructive criticism I actually have with this is the front speaker placement on the A-pillars here it looks like an afterthought it looks like they just glued them onto there or something I wouldn't have minded the speakers incorporated into the A-pillars rather than just having them placed on there with black plastic surround so that's my only constructive criticism as far as it sounds it did sound absolutely amazing so definitely a fan of the JBL sound system there last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on the tech display though is when you do put the Avalon TRD in reverse you will of course find a rear view camera letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety which is where the Avalon absolutely kills it top safety pick plus by IIHS to start meaning the very highest safety designation given by IIHS that's always a good start front side side curtain airbags but also driver and passenger knee airbags as well that doesn't come standard in every vehicle out there in the back of course you got latch aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats along with rear child door locks tire pressure monitoring system and Toyota safety sense as well which includes a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection lane departure alert with steering assist automatic high beams and full speed dynamic radar cruise control which is amazing that it comes standard on this one also though not part of the safety sense package but also standard being blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert and that's gonna be the little car icons in your side mirrors letting you know when someone's in your blind spot so you don't go turning into anybody that's always a plus as well but that is about it for this one when it comes to my final thoughts of the Avalon TRD definitely a very nice vehicle if you are looking for something a little bit on the sporty side but also an extremely reliable family hauler because like I said, you got a ton of backseat legroom where you could fit really anybody and again, well above average reliability which is the highest designation by Consumer Reports so you know it's gonna last 200,000 plus miles and really when it comes to the TRD version of the Avalon it's not necessarily faster or anything like that you have a little bit better braking and you have a good bit better handling so that's really where it's gonna be worth it for you if you wanna have a little more fun in the back roads driving him from work or something like that but that is about it for this one you guys thank you so much for watching feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen there if you like be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews that is what we do here on this channel after all, do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video stay gold