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TOYOTA DOES A fine line both in solidity and reliability. In fact, it's pretty much cornered the market in those terms. The flip side is that solidity and reliability often come at the expense of the qualities that make cars special to enthusiasts. Toyotas don't generally set the heart racing, in other words.
That said, it's important to register that stolid and sedate translate into virtually permanent background cash register ringing noises. It sounds ludicrously simple, but Toyota's success stems from focusing on building cars that normal people actually want to own, as opposed to trying to grunt out the sort of fluffy lifestyle-oriented guff that many other carmakers so indulgently continue to build.
This is why the company's poised to become the world's largest carmaker by volume, a feat that in itself isn't all that earth-shattering. General Motors currently occupies the top spot but the company, especially in North America, has been dogged by a litany of serious problems. Toyota on the other hand, plays the volume game in a highly profitable manner, and much of the money it makes goes back into making its already formidably well-engineered cars even better.
A fact that nicely segues us into the new Camry. The Camry is virtually synonymous with the big sedan, and is pretty much the default choice for those looking for seriously fuss-free daily transport, so you'd think that Toyota wouldn't want to rock the boat too much with the new version.
Like its predecessor, the new car is manufactured in Thailand, but the similarities mostly end there. Unlike its predecessor, the new Camry sports considerably more visual presence. Now that sister company, Lexus, is heading towards a more organic, freeform styling sensibility for its latest cars, this seems to have pretty much freed Toyota up in terms of adopting styling cues from Lexus' old look.
Approach the new Camry from head on, and you'd be forgiven for expecting to see a Lexus badge on the bonnet. The car itself is pretty huge in the metal, too, with a broad purposeful stance, so that adds to the visual heft. The details all seem to be neater, no fussy lines and just the right amount of chrome. The Camry's is still a very understated shape but it?s now an attractive one to boot.
That said, it's important to register that stolid and sedate translate into virtually permanent background cash register ringing noises. It sounds ludicrously simple, but Toyota's success stems from focusing on building cars that normal people actually want to own, as opposed to trying to grunt out the sort of fluffy lifestyle-oriented guff that many other carmakers so indulgently continue to build.
This is why the company's poised to become the world's largest carmaker by volume, a feat that in itself isn't all that earth-shattering. General Motors currently occupies the top spot but the company, especially in North America, has been dogged by a litany of serious problems. Toyota on the other hand, plays the volume game in a highly profitable manner, and much of the money it makes goes back into making its already formidably well-engineered cars even better.
A fact that nicely segues us into the new Camry. The Camry is virtually synonymous with the big sedan, and is pretty much the default choice for those looking for seriously fuss-free daily transport, so you'd think that Toyota wouldn't want to rock the boat too much with the new version.
Like its predecessor, the new car is manufactured in Thailand, but the similarities mostly end there. Unlike its predecessor, the new Camry sports considerably more visual presence. Now that sister company, Lexus, is heading towards a more organic, freeform styling sensibility for its latest cars, this seems to have pretty much freed Toyota up in terms of adopting styling cues from Lexus' old look.
Approach the new Camry from head on, and you'd be forgiven for expecting to see a Lexus badge on the bonnet. The car itself is pretty huge in the metal, too, with a broad purposeful stance, so that adds to the visual heft. The details all seem to be neater, no fussy lines and just the right amount of chrome. The Camry's is still a very understated shape but it?s now an attractive one to boot.
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DRIVING IT
The Camry's 2.0-litre engine develops 147bhp and 190Nm of torque, and while those are fairly respectable figures, the Camry comes off as feeling like a pretty heavy car. This impression of solidity will no doubt be welcomed by some, but it does mean that overtaking involves plenty of revs.
The engine is pretty refined, though, so you can be fairly abusive with the throttle without eliciting too much raucousness. The 2.0-litre model gets a four-speed automatic, while the 2.4-litre gets a five-speeder with tiptronic capability. The four-speed 'box does work smoothly enough, but you can get into situations where you find it hunting around for the right ratio.
The ride is still very good, and road noise seems to have been considerably reduced over the previous model.
So far so good, then, with everything looking like it's business as usual. Only it isn't in fact business as usual as Toyota has actually gone and added something extra to the mix. Normally, being assigned the task of driving a Camry about for several days would've been preferable only to being continuously slapped in the face with a dead carp for the same amount of time, but this new one represents something completely different.
Actually, that is a bit unfair. Under the right circumstances, say on a proper track with somebody else footing the bill for the tyres, the old Camry could be a real hoot. But day-to-day... No.
The new Camry still isn't what you'd call sporty but there's more of a sense of weight and heft behind the controls, the steering in particular, that helps you feel more connected to the car. The weightier steering is also quite positive, and there's actually palpably improved levels of turn-in response.
Body control has been tightened up, too. Compared to the old car's suspension setup, which felt like it had as much authority over body movement as a tiny baby doll dress stretched to bursting round a jiggling, massively fat woman, the new Camry's underpinnings make the car appear much more lithe and nimble.
Quick lane changes, which would've sent the old car into wallowy paroxysms, are soaked up very nicely by the new car with precious little complaint. You could even take the new Camry down a favourite road without it embarrassing itself, no mean feat.
The Camry's 2.0-litre engine develops 147bhp and 190Nm of torque, and while those are fairly respectable figures, the Camry comes off as feeling like a pretty heavy car. This impression of solidity will no doubt be welcomed by some, but it does mean that overtaking involves plenty of revs.
The engine is pretty refined, though, so you can be fairly abusive with the throttle without eliciting too much raucousness. The 2.0-litre model gets a four-speed automatic, while the 2.4-litre gets a five-speeder with tiptronic capability. The four-speed 'box does work smoothly enough, but you can get into situations where you find it hunting around for the right ratio.
The ride is still very good, and road noise seems to have been considerably reduced over the previous model.
So far so good, then, with everything looking like it's business as usual. Only it isn't in fact business as usual as Toyota has actually gone and added something extra to the mix. Normally, being assigned the task of driving a Camry about for several days would've been preferable only to being continuously slapped in the face with a dead carp for the same amount of time, but this new one represents something completely different.
Actually, that is a bit unfair. Under the right circumstances, say on a proper track with somebody else footing the bill for the tyres, the old Camry could be a real hoot. But day-to-day... No.
The new Camry still isn't what you'd call sporty but there's more of a sense of weight and heft behind the controls, the steering in particular, that helps you feel more connected to the car. The weightier steering is also quite positive, and there's actually palpably improved levels of turn-in response.
Body control has been tightened up, too. Compared to the old car's suspension setup, which felt like it had as much authority over body movement as a tiny baby doll dress stretched to bursting round a jiggling, massively fat woman, the new Camry's underpinnings make the car appear much more lithe and nimble.
Quick lane changes, which would've sent the old car into wallowy paroxysms, are soaked up very nicely by the new car with precious little complaint. You could even take the new Camry down a favourite road without it embarrassing itself, no mean feat.
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INSIDE IT
The interior of the Camry sports a highly logical placement of switches and controls, and the basic design is a natural progression from the previous generation model. This means that drivers who trade up from the previous Camry will feel right at home. That's not to say that it is the same old thing though, and while the switches and storage compartments are more or less in the same locations, they are all-new and, with typical Japanese forethought, right where you expect them to be.
If you like driving in arctic temperatures while your passenger prefers something warmer, the air-conditioning system obliges by offering dual-zone climate control, plus a Plasmacluster air-cleaning feature. Passengers in the back also get a set of air-con vents.
All the seats are comfortable and supportive without being too cushy. The rear seats feature a fold-down centre armrest that reveals a through-loading hatch that facilitates the loading of especially long items. It's also great for tossing little packages into the boot from the back seat without having to get out of the car.
The large and deep boot space will not let you down when you go shopping for groceries. We have all encountered vehicles with wheel arches and shock absorber mounts that eat into the boot space, occasionally hampering the ability to get something bulky inside. The Camry has very little of such structural intrusions, making it possible to use every bit of the already large boot space.
Noise and vibration insulation is so thorough that even after starting the car we had trouble hearing and feeling the engine at idle. Only the tachometer hovering just above zero gave a hint of the car being awake. In this interior, everything fits well and nothing squeaks.
The interior of the Camry sports a highly logical placement of switches and controls, and the basic design is a natural progression from the previous generation model. This means that drivers who trade up from the previous Camry will feel right at home. That's not to say that it is the same old thing though, and while the switches and storage compartments are more or less in the same locations, they are all-new and, with typical Japanese forethought, right where you expect them to be.
If you like driving in arctic temperatures while your passenger prefers something warmer, the air-conditioning system obliges by offering dual-zone climate control, plus a Plasmacluster air-cleaning feature. Passengers in the back also get a set of air-con vents.
All the seats are comfortable and supportive without being too cushy. The rear seats feature a fold-down centre armrest that reveals a through-loading hatch that facilitates the loading of especially long items. It's also great for tossing little packages into the boot from the back seat without having to get out of the car.
The large and deep boot space will not let you down when you go shopping for groceries. We have all encountered vehicles with wheel arches and shock absorber mounts that eat into the boot space, occasionally hampering the ability to get something bulky inside. The Camry has very little of such structural intrusions, making it possible to use every bit of the already large boot space.
Noise and vibration insulation is so thorough that even after starting the car we had trouble hearing and feeling the engine at idle. Only the tachometer hovering just above zero gave a hint of the car being awake. In this interior, everything fits well and nothing squeaks.
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DOLLARS AND SENSE
Since its local introduction, the Camry has proven to hold immense appeal for drivers looking for a large and comfortable sedan. The strength of the Toyota badge also meant that the previous model pretty much sold itself. At $89,988 with COE, the new 2.0-litre Camry costs only $2,000 more than the equivalent Nissan Cefiro.
Dynamically, the new Camry has a better-handling chassis when compared to the old car's, while high comfort levels make the car a good long distance tourer and a much more comfortable place to be stuck in during traffic jams.
Further down the price scale you will find the similar-sized but much cheaper Hyundai Sonata and Kia Magentis, both which have proven themselves to be well sorted cars in their own right, but the local preference for Japanese cars means that we are still seeing less of them on the road than we could otherwise be.
CONCLUSION
You could stick the Camry and Toyota badges on anything, an old kitchen cabinet perhaps, and virtually guarantee brisk sales. Toyota could've therefore just carried on with the status quo, churning out yet another faceless paragon of cookie cutter reliability, but with the new Camry, the company's actually made an effort to make the driving experience that much more involving.
For competitors who were looking to the Camry's launch with no small amount of trepidation, it's probably brown trousers time.
PLUSES: Plenty of room, hugely refined, there's bags of kit and it handles much better than before
MINUSES: 2.0-litre is a little short of grunt, a fact that's not helped by the four-speed automatic
VERDICT: The new Camry's success is a foregone conclusion
Since its local introduction, the Camry has proven to hold immense appeal for drivers looking for a large and comfortable sedan. The strength of the Toyota badge also meant that the previous model pretty much sold itself. At $89,988 with COE, the new 2.0-litre Camry costs only $2,000 more than the equivalent Nissan Cefiro.
Dynamically, the new Camry has a better-handling chassis when compared to the old car's, while high comfort levels make the car a good long distance tourer and a much more comfortable place to be stuck in during traffic jams.
Further down the price scale you will find the similar-sized but much cheaper Hyundai Sonata and Kia Magentis, both which have proven themselves to be well sorted cars in their own right, but the local preference for Japanese cars means that we are still seeing less of them on the road than we could otherwise be.
CONCLUSION
You could stick the Camry and Toyota badges on anything, an old kitchen cabinet perhaps, and virtually guarantee brisk sales. Toyota could've therefore just carried on with the status quo, churning out yet another faceless paragon of cookie cutter reliability, but with the new Camry, the company's actually made an effort to make the driving experience that much more involving.
For competitors who were looking to the Camry's launch with no small amount of trepidation, it's probably brown trousers time.
PLUSES: Plenty of room, hugely refined, there's bags of kit and it handles much better than before
MINUSES: 2.0-litre is a little short of grunt, a fact that's not helped by the four-speed automatic
VERDICT: The new Camry's success is a foregone conclusion
NEED TO KNOW
Model : Toyota Camry 2.0 (A)
Engine Type : 1,998cc, 16V in-line 4
Max Power : 147bhp at 6,000rpm
Max Torque : 190Nm at 4,000rpm
Gearbox : 4-speed automatic
Top speed : 188km/h
0-100km/h : 12.5 seconds
Price : $89,888 with COE
Warranty : 3 years / 100,000km
Contact : Borneo Motors at 6475-1288
SIMILAR CARS TO CONSIDER
Honda Accord 2.0 (A) $87,000 with COE
The recently-facelifted Accord's strengths lie in its agile chassis and in its terrific engine. You can swan through rush hour traffic and make the switch to a spirited drive down a favourite road quite happily. There's also plenty of equipment, and a roomy interior that boasts great build quality.
Nissan Cefiro 2.0 (A) $86,000 with COE
The Cefiro has also benefited from a fairly recent facelift, but its main strength is its sheer size. There's tonnes of room inside and the cabin, with its Zen-inspired aesthetics is a genuinely nice and comfy place to be in. The 2.0-litre engine also comes off as being very smooth and refined.
Model : Toyota Camry 2.0 (A)
Engine Type : 1,998cc, 16V in-line 4
Max Power : 147bhp at 6,000rpm
Max Torque : 190Nm at 4,000rpm
Gearbox : 4-speed automatic
Top speed : 188km/h
0-100km/h : 12.5 seconds
Price : $89,888 with COE
Warranty : 3 years / 100,000km
Contact : Borneo Motors at 6475-1288
SIMILAR CARS TO CONSIDER
Honda Accord 2.0 (A) $87,000 with COE
The recently-facelifted Accord's strengths lie in its agile chassis and in its terrific engine. You can swan through rush hour traffic and make the switch to a spirited drive down a favourite road quite happily. There's also plenty of equipment, and a roomy interior that boasts great build quality.
Nissan Cefiro 2.0 (A) $86,000 with COE
The Cefiro has also benefited from a fairly recent facelift, but its main strength is its sheer size. There's tonnes of room inside and the cabin, with its Zen-inspired aesthetics is a genuinely nice and comfy place to be in. The 2.0-litre engine also comes off as being very smooth and refined.
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