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ENLARGE
Color me surprised. In a good way.
When your driving choices are splashed with the color and promise of other heavy hitters, hearing that a Camry is coming your way has, in the past, not been a cause for elation. A shrugging of the shoulders is a more common response.
The 2012 rendition of the Camry, the seventh-generation version of the ever-popular import sedan, serves to seriously change that impression.
Unlike the long and lanky and, by the end of its lifespan, considerably bland product it replaces, the all-new Camry is tall and sporty and low and fast and … nicely detailed, as well. With sparkly metallic paint.
How did the vehicle that's been the predictable and non-engaging top seller in the U.S. for the last nine years suddenly morph into a slab-sided screamer (in V6 guise) with looks that are sort of Venza-meets-Acura TL?
And the leather dash and seats, all deceptively hand-stitched, plus effective paddle shifters, an optional JBL stereo and on-the-go Web access? What the hell?
Yep, the new Camry got more than just a minor makeover. It's a whole different beast, something akin to a more comfortable and well-finished, adult-style version of the Matrix.
There's a terribly economical 2.5-liter four-cylinder version, good for up to 35 MPG on the highway, but my SE was fitted out with 18-inch wheels, sport-tuned suspension and the bordering-on-too-powerful 3.5-liter V6, imbuing the car with 268 horsepower.
As a result, it goes … and goes, even up the steepest high-country slog. And the front-wheel drive added to pleasantly planted footing in the long-ago fresh snow I drove it in a month ago, with brisk and confident handling from the electric power steering.
You can tool along at an impressive clip and still garner nearly 30 MPG, which beat the real-world mileage I got in a largely gutless 1.6-liter four-cylinder Kia Rio a week later. Put the six-speed in S mode and it will even blip the throttle on downshifts. In a Camry. Who knew?
Is it perfect? Of course not. The interior design, while considerably more dynamic and updated than the old Camry, is a pleasant hodge-podge of influences: skin-like rubber and plastic surfaces, simulated aluminum plating on the window controls and center console, plus loads of circles, swoops, curves and horizontal decks.
You get a wheel laden with moderately oversized and marginally extraneous controls, a la Ford's new import models, and those paddles really do work quite effectively, especially since the shift knob is delivered into a clunky j-gate.
The instruments are brilliantly illuminated, and the BMW/Subaru-styled instant mileage gauge often dipped into the high 30s.
Mine was equipped with a slightly odd mashup navigation and audio system with a small screen, though JBL's sound is impressive and the “GreenEdge” speakers are said to pound the tunes with a lighter amp and less energy expended.
The geeks will love the Entune system, which allows you to pair your iPhone or Android and use it to stream the Internet for on-the-road access to Bing, Pandora and live weather and traffic. Traffic and weather, thusly, do not pop up otherwise; the whole thing is held together with an advanced voice recognition mode that helps make the idea of Internet in a moving automobile a little less dangerous sounding.
The heat and fan controls look like giant baby food jar lids; otherwise there's clean lines and even some highlighted stitching throughout.
You get ultra-suede inserts on those leather seats to hold you in place, like a Mitsubishi Evo sports car, and even the headrests are sporty. I felt gratified, and confused.
Other members of the new Camry family include a hybrid with a new 2.5-liter four-cylinder at the center of its Atkinson cycle system, producing 43 MPG city and 39 highway. It's faster and more efficient than before, and also capable of all-electric driving for a mile and a half.
When your driving choices are splashed with the color and promise of other heavy hitters, hearing that a Camry is coming your way has, in the past, not been a cause for elation. A shrugging of the shoulders is a more common response.
The 2012 rendition of the Camry, the seventh-generation version of the ever-popular import sedan, serves to seriously change that impression.
Unlike the long and lanky and, by the end of its lifespan, considerably bland product it replaces, the all-new Camry is tall and sporty and low and fast and … nicely detailed, as well. With sparkly metallic paint.
How did the vehicle that's been the predictable and non-engaging top seller in the U.S. for the last nine years suddenly morph into a slab-sided screamer (in V6 guise) with looks that are sort of Venza-meets-Acura TL?
And the leather dash and seats, all deceptively hand-stitched, plus effective paddle shifters, an optional JBL stereo and on-the-go Web access? What the hell?
Yep, the new Camry got more than just a minor makeover. It's a whole different beast, something akin to a more comfortable and well-finished, adult-style version of the Matrix.
There's a terribly economical 2.5-liter four-cylinder version, good for up to 35 MPG on the highway, but my SE was fitted out with 18-inch wheels, sport-tuned suspension and the bordering-on-too-powerful 3.5-liter V6, imbuing the car with 268 horsepower.
As a result, it goes … and goes, even up the steepest high-country slog. And the front-wheel drive added to pleasantly planted footing in the long-ago fresh snow I drove it in a month ago, with brisk and confident handling from the electric power steering.
You can tool along at an impressive clip and still garner nearly 30 MPG, which beat the real-world mileage I got in a largely gutless 1.6-liter four-cylinder Kia Rio a week later. Put the six-speed in S mode and it will even blip the throttle on downshifts. In a Camry. Who knew?
Is it perfect? Of course not. The interior design, while considerably more dynamic and updated than the old Camry, is a pleasant hodge-podge of influences: skin-like rubber and plastic surfaces, simulated aluminum plating on the window controls and center console, plus loads of circles, swoops, curves and horizontal decks.
You get a wheel laden with moderately oversized and marginally extraneous controls, a la Ford's new import models, and those paddles really do work quite effectively, especially since the shift knob is delivered into a clunky j-gate.
The instruments are brilliantly illuminated, and the BMW/Subaru-styled instant mileage gauge often dipped into the high 30s.
Mine was equipped with a slightly odd mashup navigation and audio system with a small screen, though JBL's sound is impressive and the “GreenEdge” speakers are said to pound the tunes with a lighter amp and less energy expended.
The geeks will love the Entune system, which allows you to pair your iPhone or Android and use it to stream the Internet for on-the-road access to Bing, Pandora and live weather and traffic. Traffic and weather, thusly, do not pop up otherwise; the whole thing is held together with an advanced voice recognition mode that helps make the idea of Internet in a moving automobile a little less dangerous sounding.
The heat and fan controls look like giant baby food jar lids; otherwise there's clean lines and even some highlighted stitching throughout.
You get ultra-suede inserts on those leather seats to hold you in place, like a Mitsubishi Evo sports car, and even the headrests are sporty. I felt gratified, and confused.
Other members of the new Camry family include a hybrid with a new 2.5-liter four-cylinder at the center of its Atkinson cycle system, producing 43 MPG city and 39 highway. It's faster and more efficient than before, and also capable of all-electric driving for a mile and a half.
