Toyota Alphard

Step into the cabin of the Toyota Alphard and your minds will be blown by the lounge-like experience of the seating and cabin layout. Finished in top-quality leather, the cabin of the Toyota Alphard has an all-black finish, accompanied by premium-looking wood inserts on the steering wheel, dashboard and door pad inserts. 

The Alphard has supremely comfortable seats, with electrically electrically-adjustable front seats with memory function for the driver’s seat and heating and ventilation function for both the front seats. However, it is the second-row seats which are bound to make you feel supremely comfortable, as the Alphard gets 8-way powered Ottoman seats with memory function and manually sliding tables ahead of them. The third-row seats have a 50:50 split folding theme complete with an armrest.

The Alphard also has a super-long overhead console that has control switches, storage spaces, ambient lighting and split sunroofs with fixed glass panels on either side. This minivan from Toyota feels super luxurious with features like 64-colour ambient lighting, power-adjustable multi-functional steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control with rear AC vents, 12.3-inch full-TFT instrument console, 14-inch touchscreen infotainment system, 15-speaker JBL audio system, wireless charger and more. 

The new third-generation Toyota Alphard retains the boxy stance and silhouette of its predecessor, but the new design language makes it look even more dramatic and luxurious than ever before. While its boxy stance might not be of everyone’s liking, the overall design language of the Alphard looks aggressive, with a bold-looking fascia that has a cascading-themed front grille with a dark chrome finish.

The wide and inverted L-shaped all-LED headlamps and LED fog lamps with a wedge-shaped chrome garnish around them wrap up the front look of the Alphard. The side profile of the Toyota Alphard continues the boldness of the front, with a unique zig-zag-shaped window waistline that has a chrome finish. The 19-inch alloy wheels and chrome finish for the door handles make the side profile look even more elegant. 

The rear profile of the Toyota Alphard looks boxy yet very dramatic, with the MPV having large all-LED tail lamps with cool-looking LED inserts. Mimicking the design of the wings of a butterfly, the tail lamps have wide gloss black panels between them that also house the rear license plate. 

With a front-wheel-drive configuration, the Toyota Alphard has Macpherson struts at the front and a double wishbone setup at the rear. The Alphard prioritises comfort over anything else, and that is reflected in its supremely plush ride quality. Even the seats offer excellent comfort levels with nice cushioning and great under-thigh support. There are three driving modes on offer too – Eco, Normal and Sport, and while the Alphard remains composed at higher speeds, the boxy profile does make its driving feel a bit unnerving at higher speeds. 

The Toyota Alphard is being offered in the Philippines car market in its petrol-electric hybrid (HEV) version, which comes with a powertrain combination of a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, an electric motor and an Ni-MH battery. While the engine produces 188 bhp and 233 Nm, the electric motor generates 182 bhp and 270 Nm. In the combined mode, this powertrain claims a combined power output of 250 bhp, while being paired to a CVT gearbox. 

Besides having the basics like eight airbags, ABS with EBD, front and rear parking sensors, 360-degree parking camera, electronic stability control, traction and hill start assist, the Toyota Alphard also comes equipped with the Toyota Safety Sense package as standard. This is Toyota’s suite of ADAS features, which includes a pre-collision system, automatic high beam, adaptive high beam, lane tracing assist, lane departure alert, dynamic radar cruise control, blind spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert. 

The Toyota Alphard is a true synonym of grandness and luxury, with this opulent, large-sized minivan having plenty of visual drama in its design, comfort and elegance in the cabin and calmness and composure in its ride quality, making it one of the most comfortable MPVs money can buy.