Toyota Introduces Nightshade Package for the 2025 Crown!

Toyota expands on the Nightshade family, adorning the 2025 Crown sedan with the lineup’s signature Storm Cloud paintwork and features!

There’s something rather captivating about a clean, blacked-out look. A fact that Toyota’s capitalized upon with its Nightshade family of trim packages, spread across most of their popular models. In general, the package rests just over the premium-grade, with its most notable feature being that characteristic uniform gloss black trim. It’s a package that’s been around for several years now, its earliest models being the Venza, Tacoma, and Camry. But Toyota’s greatly expanded the lineup since then, including vehicles like the Corolla, Sequoia, Tundra, and more. And now for the 2025 model year, we welcome the Crown to the Nightshade family, sporting the ubiquitous blacked-out trim and bespoke rims!

2025 Crown Nightshade Features

The main selling point of the Nightshade above the Premium trim comes down to two main selling points: the exclusive Storm Cloud paint (though it does come in black as well) and the 21-inch 10-spoke rims. Toyota fits rims this size as an option on the Limited as well, though without the signature Nightshade look. Unlike some other Nightshade models which feature bronze-finished rims, Toyota painted the Crown’s in matte black. And the rims stand two inches over the standard, granting a significantly lower profile tire. The package also features blacked-out badging, mirror caps, and window trim. Basically, there’s not a single part of the exterior that isn’t black, other than the lights and indicators.

This certainly works well with the Crown’s image, similar to a slick business suit. However, the rest of it remains firmly cosmetic-only. The package sits just above the Limited, but below the Platinum with its 2.4L turbocharged hybrid. As such, the Nightshade comes with the standard powerplant, the 2.5L 4-cylinder hybrid. Toyota listed no power differences headed into 2025, so expect 184 horsepower from the engine only, and 236 combined. All this coupled to the standard AWD powertrain with ECVT transmission. You’ll still be hard-pressed to fall below 40 MPG, however. Which isn’t bad for a full-sized hybrid luxury sedan.

The 2025 Nightshade lineup

The Crown wears the Nightshade trim package nicely. As a premium full-size sedan, it’s straddling the line between car and crossover. A look that fits well with the 21” rims. This, coupled with the ample headroom and elevated seating position, grants a more crossover-like feel without the dimensions. Much like the other Nightshades, it’s merely a cosmetic package, and is priced as such. It’s essentially a Limited with bespoke paint and rims. As such, it sports various common options with the lower-grade trim package. Namely, standard front and rear parking assist, as well as heated and ventilated leather front seats. And new for 2025, all Crowns now come standard with Toyota’s Safety Sense 3.0. Which features perks such as radar cruise control, pedestrian collision avoidance, lane tracing assist, road sign assist, automatic high beams, and others.

Not that being a Limited with bespoke paint and rims is a bad thing. The Crown made its name as a premium-grade luxury alternative to vehicles like the Camry. Which is something it still does very well, with all the amenities one expects of a vehicle in its class. Overall, while it may not add to the performance, it’s a reasonably-priced and very handsome-looking package that fits the image and design philosophy of the Crown to a tee.

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M.C. Cuccio

I've been an automotive aficionado since I had baby teeth. My path was set when I first leaned on my grandfather's classic Porsche as I learned how to walk. One of my first memories was my mother sitting me behind the wheel of her Pontiac and talking me through the instrumentation and controls. Even though I was a mere three or four years old, I was instantly sold, and filled notebooks with technical drawings, sketches, and collections of manuals of all sorts of cars. I've actively tracked developments in automotive and motorsport technology for well over 20 years, and pride myself on being intimately familiar with the functions and history of a wide range of vehicles.

My primary goal as a writer and enthusiast is to equally learn and share what I've learned in a constructive and interesting way. I maintain connections with people from around the world and can read technical manuals in Italian, Japanese, and Spanish, granting me access to a wide array of resources. My primary focuses are deep-dives into historical topics, motorsport discussion, and learning about the complex mechanical elements of such vehicles. As such, my research is never perfect; as anyone into cars will attest, the more you learn about cars, the more you realize how little you actually know. Therefore, I always welcome fresh knowledge and corrections to help me better my work in the future.