Toyota Camry Hybrid
The Camry saloon returns in hybrid-only form, replacing the dull Avensis
You try it quicker and you try it slower, and you find yourself wondering where the fun is hiding. You try it again, this time in Sport mode rather than Normal. But no, nothing doing. But at least, you tell yourself, it’s got a nice smooth ride. And then you hit a rougher stretch of road and even that consolation is no longer available.
The new Toyota Camry, it turns out, is lacking in driver appeal. That may not be surprising, given that the Camry was never about driver appeal, but it is disappointing, given that Toyota doesn’t need to look any further than its own works car park to find several fine recent examples of cars that are good to drive. Not just the GT86 and Supra, not just some of the more ambitious Lexuses, but the recently resurrected Corolla, which replaced the Auris to good effect.
The Camry is not so much a resurrection as a return from exile, as it was still available elsewhere in the 15 years of its absence from these shores. The British-made Avensis has now been dropped (the factory is making the Corolla instead) and the saloon-shaped hole at the top of the Toyota line-up is now occupied by the latest Camry, imported in hybrid-only form. It shares many of its underpinnings with the decent new Lexus ES but is targeted slightly less ambitiously, its key rivals being the likes of the Skoda Superb, VW Passat, Vauxhall Insignia, Mazda 6 and Ford Mondeo, newly available in hybrid form.
The Camry’s 2.5-litre petrol four – set up for eciency and economy – is paired with an electric motor and a generator. The total system output may be modest, at just 215bhp, but the integration is seamless, the transitions barely discernible. But then to cock it all up there’s that infernal Sequential Shiftmatic transmission, driving the front wheels via a planetary gearset and doing an annoyingly close approximation of the CVT transmissions liked by precisely no car drivers, because of the grating mismatch between engine revs and road speed. Compared with the last Camry (one of the ones we didn’t get) the powertrain is compactly packaged, allowing the bonnet to be lower,
which in turn permits a lower dash and lower seats. The battery is now under the ample rear seats, freeing up some boot space. We have a choice of two versions, both well kitted out with safety gear and comfort features: the Excel from £31,295 and the Design at £29,995.
Drive it like you’ve got a newborn on board and you forgot the child seat and it’s nice. Smooth, calm, refined, roomy, easygoing. But accelerate and it gets noisier. Swing it through some bends and it keeps its composure but doesn’t give any indication that it would like you to do it again. And simply drive on some scarred tarmac to shake off the delusion that there’s anything sophisticated about the suspension.
Compare it with previous Camrys or the Avensis and this scores well. But compare it with the Mondeo, Superb and other surviving saloons and you marvel at the lack of ambition.
First verdict
If only you couldn’t get a Skoda Superb for £23k. But you can, leaving the Camry feeling dowdy, blunt and overpriced
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