Posted on: Sep 02, 2012 | 14,182 reads

Toyota Planning a Sportier Avalon?

Performance-oriented Avalon could be in the works to turn the notion of your grandfather's Toyota sedan on its head.

The Toyota Avalon is far from what we would consider a "performance-oriented" model. But that could change in the near future, according to a report from our friends over at Autoblog. The new Avalon unveiled at the New York Auto Show benefits from considerably more aggressive styling than its staid predecessor, but to back it up the big sedan's looks, Toyota is reportedly planning a trio of tuned Avalon concepts for the SEMA show in October that will hint at the Japanese automaker's intent the four-door flagship.

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One of those will including a supercharger from the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) parts bin for a setup similar to that found in the Toyota-powered Lotus Evora S with its 345 horsepower. While that supercharged powertrain may not make it to production, a more powerful version of the Avalon's 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 could be in the cards. Couple that with a sportier suspension and a recalibration of the car's electric power steering system could make for a more exciting version of the Avalon than the one your grandpa drives around the retirement village in Florida... and hopefully more comprehensive than the Camry SE.