New Toyota Camry : First Drive

It’s been around since 1982, but what we have here is the most modern and hi-tech Camry yet. Reads like the perfect antonym, doesn’t it? Let me elaborate. The Toyota Camry came to life way back in 1982 as the boxy V10 and thereafter spawned nine successful generations, including the latest car you see here. While it has been one of Toyota’s most successful cars internationally, the Camry hasn’t really caught the Indian buyer’s fancy. India has seen the last two generations of the car but a high sticker price (thanks to the Camry being a CBU) and some very stiff competition meant it did not really thrive too well in our market. The current generation car, the XV50, though is all set to change that.

Toyota has given its best-selling Camry sedan line-up a full redesign for 2012. Every piece of sheet metal, every element of the underbody structure, the suspension, and all the interior components of the new Camry are different, and only some engines and transmissions are carried over. Instead of trying to make the new car radically different, Toyota took the existing car and figured out how it could redesign nearly every component to attain a better end result with a focus on core values like comfort and safety.

The new Camry design definitely slants toward pragmatism at every opportunity. The corners are a little boxier for aerodynamic reasons (seems incongruous but its true), the front A-pillars are narrower for better visibility; and the roofline has been tucked up and back just a bit for more rear head room. It’s never been outright oomph, but rather a combination of soft ride and roomy interior, a strong value-for-money aspect, reliability, resale value, and sensibility that have made it such a big seller.

Toyota has also given more attention to the design in the interests of pedestrian safety, and improved aerodynamics and cooling. So, even though the Camry does not ooze sex appeal like the new fluidic Sonata, it’s a safe design.

The insides have received a major makeover as well. Thankfully, Toyota has replaced the former interior that we saw as a ‘Corolla-plus’ layout with one that looks part influenced by the more premium Lexus sedans. Like most new models, the Camry gets a multi-layered dash appearance. Toyota says that the layered, stitched leather look of the instrument panel was modelled after saddles, while the centre gauge cluster and audio and climate controls were inspired by media players like the iPod. And we like the chunky, multi-function controllers on either side of the steering wheel, positioned close to the driver’s thumbs. 

Luxury manifests itself in the form of leather and faux wood, and there is plenty of it. The plastics feel good and the quality of materials has been significantly improved. The driver and co-passenger seats are electronically adjustable in a multitude of ways to get that perfect seating position. The rear however is where the Camry starts making the most sense. There are acres of space and leg room to pamper the occupants. Good under thigh and back support means long journeys will be looked forward to. And the built-in front passenger seat controls for the driver or back seat occupant to control for more leg room is a good ergonomic thought.

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The all-new exteriors and interiors are matched by an all-new motor. The long hood now hides a 2.5-litre petrol engine (no diesel yet). Apart from the bump up in displacement, it also gets dual VVT-i which adjusts timing on both intake and exhaust camshafts. As a result power output is now 181PS @ 6000rpm and there’s all of 233Nm of torque available at 4100rpm. That’s an 11PS increment over the previous motor.  

Push the start button and the engine purrs to life and settles into a nice muted idle. Get it into motion and the rev counter starts swinging north quite effortlessly. Transferring the power to the front wheels is a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The numbers churned out by our drift box were pretty quick though we would have liked a bit more grunt considering the Skoda Superb with a 1.8-litre unit matches the much larger displacement Camry. The 100km/h mark was crossed in 9.43 seconds and keeping the throttle buried saw the Camry hit a true top speed of 205km/h before we ran out of road. But those speeds will seldom be seen on your speedo unless you have an expressway all to yourself. Where the Camry excels is travelling at more than decent speeds with supreme comfort.

Push the start button and the engine purrs to life and settles into a nice muted idle. Get it into motion and the rev counter starts swinging north quite effortlessly. Transferring the power to the front wheels is a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The numbers churned out by our drift box were pretty quick though we would have liked a bit more grunt considering the Skoda Superb with a 1.8-litre unit matches the much larger displacement Camry.

The 100km/h mark was crossed in 9.43 seconds and keeping the throttle buried saw the Camry hit a true top speed of 205km/h before we ran out of road. But those speeds will seldom be seen on your speedo unless you have an expressway all to yourself. Where the Camry excels is travelling at more than decent speeds with supreme comfort. 

Should you be inclined for some fun, there is also a manual tiptronic mode, but there is only so much you can do given its dynamic ability. The Camry is no sportscar and it makes no bones about it. Spirited driving, especially on the twisties, makes the big car roll, not to mention understeer.

While the electronics make sure the mischief is kept in check, the Camry’s light steering and burly dimensions make the going quite disconcerting. That the Camry is under-tyred doesn’t help either. Keep it straight though and all is well. Ride quality is slightly stiffer than the earlier car and as a result the Camry has a pretty good low speed ride quality. Minor bumps are easily handled without any qualms whatsoever.

Big displacement, big dimensions coupled with a slush box (for those who don’t understand this means it uses a good old fashioned torque converter) meant we couldn’t keep our hopes high when it came to the fuel efficiency. But to our surprise, the Camry did not disappoint. A 9kmpl figure in the city and 14.2kmpl on the highway gives the big car an impressive 10.3kmpl overall figure. That means the 70-litre fuel tank will easily take you about 720km before the next refill.

So will the Camry do it for Toyota this time around? Well, yes and no. Yes, because Toyota is finally going to assemble the Camry here in India, which has brought the price down. That apart, the new Camry boasts of everything you could ask for. While it may not be as flashy as some of its competition it still makes up with more than enough presence. Our car in white especially looked stunning. There are gadgets galore and the car is loaded to the gills. Coming to the ‘no’, there is just one reason.

Still no diesel! With petrol prices hitting the roof, a diesel is a must to boost sales. The Camry at Rs  23.8 lakh ex-showroom Delhi is slightly more expensive than its immediate rival, the Honda Accord, but it also offers a lot more and is a fresher option as well. If a petrol option is considered, the Camry has everything that the fat cat in the rear seat wants. Get one for unadulterated rear seat pleasure! And also of course that wholesome Toyota strength – reliability over all else.