The new Toyota Camry is better looking, better equipped and more comfortable, albeit a little on the expensive side.
Under the hood is a new 2.5-litre, all-aluminium, four-cylinder petrol motor. Known internally as the 2AR-FE, it’s from Toyota’s AR four-cylinder engine family. It has variable valve timing, on both intake and exhaust camshafts, a variable length intake tract and new tumble control valves that enhances combustion when the engine is cold and helps bring the catalytic converters up to operating temperature faster. Power and torque are up to 178bhp and 23.75kgm – a significant improvement over the old car’s 165bhp and 22.8kgm.
Thumb the start button and the engine comes to life and settles into a barely perceptible idle. Press the throttle and the way the Camry glides off the line sets the tone for the rest of the driving experience. Performance is measured and linear with no sharp spikes in the power delivery, the six-speed automatic slurs through its ratios, and the engine is impressively smooth and quiet.
It can be quick though. Floor the throttle and wait a bit as the gearbox kicks down. There’s strong performance as the engine crosses 3000rpm, and it pulls with growing eagerness right up to 6000rpm, where the gearbox will execute another smooth shift and repeat the process. It doesn’t have the ballistic top-end of the Honda Accord motor or the buttery smoothness of the Superb’s TSI, but manages to find a nice balance between the two.
The Camry hits 100kph in 9.2sec, which is just 0.1sec slower than the fastest-in-class, the Skoda Superb. This tells you how it behaves when you are decisive with the throttle; there’s enough responsiveness and grunt for effortless overtaking as well. Part of this is down to the Camry’s impressive 1475kg weight. The Camry is the lightest car in its class by a fair margin.
You can get more out of the engine by sliding the gear lever into manual mode. Here, you can hold the engine till its 6200rpm redline and it does give you slightly more control over gearshifts. Know that the engine gets a bit thrashy when it revs beyond 5000rpm – it’s never as smooth as a six-cylinder motor – and the Camry feels best when you gather pace in a relaxed manner. It’s undoubtedly the best way to drive it.