Model history and preview

Looking now at this car you would never say that it was “grown up” from Toyota Celica and the beginning of its history dates back to 1980 when first Camry achieved V10 marking.

Since then car has grow to a real respectable almost business class sedan with all features of executive car. We say “almost” because it has a pocketful of small lacks design drawbacks on compare to really luxurious business class cars of Porsche, Infinity, Acura, Rolls-Royce etc. but at the same time it has every feature to be the one of the most balanced car in D-segment and we will state it in the overall ratings.

Toyota`s bestseller got a new body and different settings of suspension. Of course, we can`t forget to say about absolutely new engine of 2.5L volume, which became a new standard for Camry and its rivals.

On Russian market and markets of some Asian and CIS countries Camry received a status of a car for rich men, politics and other big shots. It is partly caused of illegal origin of such people earnings and with attempt to hide real income by the modestappearance of Japanese car, at the same time having all the comfort and respectability from driving at the rear seat.

Western European public didn`t praise such ability of this car and didn`t buy it either, so Japanese make decided to promote Toyota Avensis for this market.

Americans didn`t catch the joke about “status” of this car too, but theit love for all big and powerful makes them to buy this car with [email protected] hp engine which can speed up the car for just 7- sec to 60 mph from the standing position. That`s why the exterior of new XV50 Toyota Camry of 2013 – 2015 has slightly differebt exterior of bumper, headlamps and rear lights.

Exterior

The design shows that this car can more than the previous model in every aspect. At the same time we can recognize Camry by its restrained frontal panel with wide headlamps and grille with horizontal lines. Bumper became more aggressive with its complicated oval form reminds an open mouth of some predator.

Measurements were increased on 25mm long and 5mm broadwise. Also Camry became slightly more heavy.

Rear part undergone bigger changes. Now greater accent is made on simplicity and flatness of lines. Lamps don`t snatd out of the trunk lit and the lit itself have only slight protrusions at the top and around the lamps to emphasize the latter.

For unique and really specific details we can include fog lights with their comma-shaped narrow holes. In the rest of design solutions it is good old Camry, which achieved new modern appearance.

Interior

This part of new Camry maybe have the most number of innovations. First of all we can see the absolutely new multifunctional steering wheel and new philosophy of central panel and dasboard.

As you can see, there is no more silver plastic central console with abundance of buttons and rotary controls of the climate control. But new climate control panel is hardly better. This new panel is controlling only with buttons and it`s not very easy to change necessary temperature quickly and to change different functionas you need to stretch out your hand. Rotary swtches remained only at the top of console to control music volume and to scroll the map on new big 7″ LCD screen of infotainment center.

Toyota Camry provides a lot of space for your personal small things. First of all, it`s two deep armrests with glass-holders and voluminous deepenings. Depending on a package near the lever of the gearbox you can find another portion of glass holders or concealed niche. Also you can find one at the bottom of central console.

Rear armrest has lots of buttons for controlling of audio system, tilt angle of backrest and even cruise-control, which makes us think that it is meant for car owner to trip at the back seat with personal driver.

Inner decorating materials looks more solidly than it was at previous Camry. Dark wood imitating plastic doesn`t irritates as it was earlier with aspid red and yellow panels. Plastic itself looks more solid and red stitching hints to leather panels and it really pleasurable by touch.

Top package also has nice wide panoramic sunroof predominantly for rear occupants. And for 2.5L engine it costs $43 000 which is a considerable money.

But new omnifunctional steering wheel is a masterpiece. It is very comfortable in the hand, very convenient

• Cabin Space. This characteristic was always at the top in this segment. And new generation saved this ace. You can transport three adult male passangers at the rear seat easily. If you have only two rear occupants, they can easily seat with their legs crossed. Driver will also feel himself very well. Dozens of driver seat settings can suit anyone, as well as the telescoping-and-tilt steering wheel. 

Main Features

• JBL sound system with 8 dynamics and subwoofer as an option or in EX package. Really good equipment for executive car.
• New climate control panel with 3 zones and ionizator.
• Besides 4.2″ trip computer on the dashboard with small fonts you can have 6.1″ or 7″ LCD WVGA screen of 800×480 pixels resolution. Also you can have Navi complex in top package which is slow a little bit and it can annoy if you use ultra fast IPhones and other smartphones.
• Back armrest with many abilities.

Usability & Suitability

• Boot Capacity. 506 liters. Rear seat are foldable but there is no smooth floor and the opening is not so comfortable for carrying bulky loads. 
• Gasoline tank. 17 gal or 70 liters.
• Suspension. Standard scheme with McPherson at the front and multi-link beam. But it has different settings towards more speedy and sportive driving. Yes, it still has some softness causing palpable swinging after cutting turns or fast lane change, but it`s not so obvious now. At the same time, you`ll find this suspension a little bit rigid on big road holes or speed bumps.
• Clearance. 160 mm which is more then enough for this class of cars. But it adds some unsteadiness in abrupt turns and extreme driving, which you should consider.
• Soundproofing. Almost perfect but with few remarks. Camry has additional soundproofing in wheel arches, under the driver`s leg rug, and heat-soundproofing under the hood but at the same we can hear steady hum at high speed and it seems to be louder even in compare to previous model. But the road imperfections are swallowed without considerable noise. But it depends mostly on these imperfections: too big yawns may cause an apocalyptic crunch in the cabin which can scare you 🙂

Powertrain

• 2.5L V4 gasoline engine of 181 hp and 231 Nm torque is a real snatch. It is a bif step forward comparatively to previous engine with the same power. Despite +50 kg mass of the car it has more fast speed up to 60 mph from the start. Manufacturer says that it is still9 sec, but we held some tests that showed about 8,5 sec. And previous car with this (non-refined) engine in reality showed 9,3-9.5 sec. So the car has become faster approximately in a second. But ut still not so fast as new Accord because of different settings of automatic transmission. Here we have 6-speed Aisin. But the powertrain became much more economical (9,5 liters/100 km urban, 6-7 subruban or 26 mpg urban and 39 mpg suburban traffic). It has up to 3 liters economy comparating to predecessor. It is possible thanks to lower viscosity motor oil, three-step oil pump, reworked intake manifold and gas distribution system.
• 3.5L [email protected] hp and 346 Nm torque (derated) which we didn`t test. It has much more consumption (23 mpg average) and near 7 sec to 60 mph. Well, I don`t think it`s a good investment: it`s not the fastest and economical in the class so this engine only for Camry fans.
• 2.0 [email protected] hp is still in line for Asian market but I don`t really understand why. It has higher consumption, lower dynamics and it is frankly outdated.

Driving pleasure

Handling hadn`t been changed since previous generation. It is still predictable and docile, but at the same time it is not so informative as most rivals have. Full rotation of steering wheel from the left to right position has 3.1 turns and you can estimate the informativity of handling yourself.

In coouple with rather soft suspension it disposes you to more calm driving. But at the same time new Toyota Camry has more sportive character comparing to predecessor. Engineers tried to provide maximum comfort without reference to your driving manner.

The car has become faster and more eceonomical, and at the same time more comfortable without any revolutionary interventioninto its construction. Every principal part of this model isn`t change but was significally reworked. Toyota reveal the potential of this car and we can state it was able to save the old image and to deliver much better driving impressions.

Modifications

• D-class (full size) sedan.

Power Ups in Comparing to Previous Generation

• Almost every driving characteristic had become better.
• New stunning 2.5L V4 engine.
• Interior trim is more respectable and seems more reliable.
• Сoefficient of drag decreased from 0,28 to 0,26

Safety

• Such car simply can`t be unsafe. I mean the measurements of Camry, old traditions of manufacturing, declaredclass and image of the car. It has all safety abilities with 6 airbags even in base package. Also it has all modern electronic systems and drive assistants.
• Braking distance is

Known Lacks

• Blue aspid backlight of the dashboard like on Hyundai cars looks not very well.
• Small fonts of the trip computer and central console`s screen.
• Doubtful and controversial ergonomics of new climate control set

Owners` Opinion and Overall Rating

We can say nothing about Camry but warm recall. We weren`t paid for this review and see the lacks of this car distinctly. But we must say either, that it has much more pros than cons and this new 7-th generation of Toyota`s Camry is better then previous model almost in everything and we did analyze it thoroughly.

There is no really much adequate recalls from real owners in Internet. Most of all there are holy wars from people, who doesn`t know what Camry really is. the real owners of Camry don`t like excessive noise, especially around their car.

One of them said once: “I like this car for its versatility. I can go to village and transport sacks of potatoes home and another day I go to the chic dance club on Camry and I’m not ashamed. The car is trouble-free”. He has XV40 (previous) Camry.

Let it be the leitmotif of our review of this car. Camry indeed left the positive impression and it`s hard to find any shortcoming from the first sight. And if would be such reliable as the previous generation (we have all reasons for that) we have an auto which became a step closer to classic executive cars. And if you do appreciate comfort bordering with luxury, reliability and durability of the car, status and image – you can definitely buy this car.