2011 toyota Venza

2011 toyota Venza: The Toyota Venza has offered quickly given that its introduction, and also it's simple to see why. The crossover's five-seat cabin has the good-looking design and high end products that are missing from the oft-criticized Camry inside. Its sheet steel is meaningful-- bold, also-- in a way few Toyotas take care of. It's fuel-efficient as well as silent, roomy and also utilitarian. For an automaker that's just recently been embeded a product funk, the Venza excels information.

How excellent is it truly? I drove the cars and truck all week, and spent time in a Subaru Outback as well as Honda Accord Crosstour-- both likely rivals. The Venza is good, yet its driving experience left me wanting: It's less competent as well as uneasy, which's not a combination that bodes well.


2011 toyota Venza


The 2010 Venza comes with front- or all-wheel drive; either arrangement can be had with a four-cylinder or a V-6 engine. I examined a V-6, all-wheel-drive version. Besides getting new stereo controls and also a USB port for iPods, bit has actually changed considering that Toyota presented the Venza as a 2009 version.

Outdoors & In

Fourteen months and also 60,000 sales after it first hit dealerships, the Venza still looks fascinating. The nose could take some obtaining used to-- thanks primarily to its plunging fronts lights and zebra-striped grille-- but the staying 3 sides festinate, with squat percentages and short overhangs. The Venza has the sort of ground-hugging stance you do not get back at in some sports cars, aided in huge component by the car's titanic wheel wells. Our examination automobile's 20-inch alloy wheels loaded them out, however just barely. Twenties are conventional on the V-6 Venza, while four-cylinder designs obtain 19-inchers.

Though not as daring as the outside, the cabin does have a few design factors of its very own. The shapely control panel moves into the center console; both are so linked it's difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. It's a setup that intrudes a bit on knee room for those staying up front, however the Venza is spacious sufficient you won't miss the room a lot.

Materials look excellent on the whole, with a high-quality grained texture on the dashboard and doors that far exceed the Camry's flatter-looking products. I'm ending up being a stickler for cushioned surface areas in areas motorists in fact touch-- like armrests as well as door panels-- and also the Venza has a lot of extra padding where it matters little; those door armrests, on the other hand, can make use of much more.

New this year are greatly enhanced graphics for the journey computer display atop the dashboard, along with friendlier stereo controls that display tags for your terminal presets. I only wish the auto's stereo appeared as excellent. Our tester's JBL system provided little quality at either end of the bass/treble range. The system is optional-- and also most likely worth missing, considereding as the base stereo has steering-wheel controls as well as a USB/iPod port.

Seats & Freight

Both rows of seats offer good clearance and legroom, though our test cars and truck didn't have an optional breathtaking moonroof, which rips off regarding an inch of clearance up front. Taller chauffeurs may desire the front seats moved a little bit farther back; I'm 5-foot-11, as well as I had the seat nearly all the back. A power motorist's seat is standard, as is a tilt/telescoping wheel. One editor found the wheel's adjustment range also minimal.

The Venza's base fabric seats are supportive over lengthy journeys, and also various other tiny eas-- rear seat analysis lights and also A/C vents, one-touch down and up procedure on all four power windows-- will impress your passengers. Such details are usually reserved for even more premium nameplates. With the back seats in place, cargo area totals 34.4 cubic feet. The seats fold up down through hassle-free cargo-area bars for a maximum of 70.1 cubic feet of cargo quantity. Relative to the Venza's wagon and also crossover competitors, both numbers go over.

Going & Ceasing

The Venza's optional 3.5-liter V-6 is a Toyota pillar, seeing responsibility in everything from the Camry to the RAV4. With 268 horse power on tap, it pulls highly from a quit and proceeds completely up to highway speeds, with a muscle exhaust growl under tough acceleration.

Sadly, Toyota's recent six-speed automatic transmissions aren't known for their responsiveness, and also the Venza's complies with the pack. It upshifts smoothly, as well as its short reduced ratios indicate the Venza fingernails the entire go part of activity. How much time the outfit takes, nevertheless, can prove frustrating. Choose the passing lane, and the automatic takes also lengthy to kick to a reduced equipment; at lower speeds, other editors and also I noticed hints of accelerator lag, as well.

Much more aggravating are the brakes. Four-wheel antilock discs are standard, however the pedal really feels mushy as well as doesn't return much quiting power till an inch approximately down. After that it attacks unexpectedly, making it tough to stop smoothly. Not good.

A 182-hp, 2.7-liter four-cylinder is common. Our examination car had the V-6, but I drove a 2011 Sienna minivan with the 2.7-liter four-cylinder last December. It's a capable engine, rounding up great oomph off the line and also just coming up short on power when passing on the highway. Thinking about the four-cylinder Sienna's added weight-- 330 to 515 pounds additional, depending on which four-cylinder Venza you compare it with-- I doubt the base Venza really feels gutless. (If you've test-driven it as well as located otherwise, nevertheless, shoot me an e-mail.).

With front-wheel drive and the four-cylinder engine, the Venza obtains a decent 24 mpg in the EPA's consolidated city/highway scores; the V-6 is rated at 22 mpg. Four-wheel drive knocks both figures down 1 mpg. Below's exactly how the numbers contrast.

With the four-cylinder engine, the Venza can tow up to 2,500 extra pounds. The V-6 increases the score to 3,500 extra pounds, which is competitive with in a similar way valued crossovers.

Trip & Handling

After driving the Crosstour and also Wilderness in back-to-back loops, the Venza left other editors as well as I scraping our heads: Its trip and dealing with characteristics are at odds with each other, as well as not in a good way. I can't decide whether the 20-inch wheels-- whose 50-series tires actually should support things more-- or the strong suspension deserves even more blame, yet whatever it is, trip convenience is more detailed to an economic situation car compared to a midsize crossover. Pockets and also other bumps jar the cabin outright. On the interstate, you really feel spots of grooved pavement-- and also you learn how to prevent them.

This might be much more appropriate if the Venza were fun to drive, however aside from straight-line acceleration, it isn't really. Steering is well-assisted at low speeds, making driving in parking lots as well as city intersections easy. At greater rates, though, it's as sloppy as a Camry, with little road comments and also the kind of turn-in precision you could get with a boat rudder. Highway interchanges as well as curvy roadways lead to great deals of body roll, and if you take a corner also quick the tires fast to surrender their hold. Venza customers could not desire a skilled chauffeur's vehicle-- as well as this set certain isn't-- yet the trouble is that the Venza will not compensate them on the trip comfort side of points, either.

Toyota does construct quiet cars and trucks, and this is no exemption. On smooth roads, the Venza's cabin is free of wind and engine sound. The 20-inch wheels start to develop some sound at highway speeds. The 19s could alter that-- as well as ride comfort, also-- yet Senior Editor David Thomas drove both setups in 2015, as well as he didn't report any type of significant distinctions.

Safety and security, Quality & Rates

In collision examinations by the Insurance Institute for Highway Security, the Venza earned the leading overall score, Good, for frontal, side and rear influences. As of publication, the Venza had not gone through the IIHS' roof-strength examination, which prevents it from being eligible for the organization's list of Top Safety Picks. (To certify, it would need an Excellent total rating in the roof examination.) Typical attributes consist of the typical front, front-seat side-impact and also two-row side drape air bags, along with antilock brakes as well as an electronic stability system.

In the year it's gotten on the market, the Venza has actually scratched excellent overall reliability marks. Customer News reliability studies fix V-6 designs as Average in general reliability, with four-cylinder versions racking up Well Over Ordinary.

With front-wheel drive and also the four-cylinder, the Venza begins at $26,275. It's fairly well-equipped, with common remote entry and one-touch power home windows, a transmission, 19-inch wheels, dual-zone automatic climate control, a power driver's seat and a USB/iPod-compatible stereo.

All-wheel drive expenses an additional $1,450, with the V-6 and 20-inch edges running $1,825. Other options include a back-up cam, a navigating system, warmed leather seats, a power passenger seat as well as a scenic moonroof. Check all the boxes, as well as an all-wheel-drive V-6 Venza runs about $38,500.

Venza out there

With the latest round of accelerator-related recalls making front pages and also homepages worldwide, Toyota's reputation for high quality has actually definitely suffered. Independent of such context-- if it's feasible to think like that-- the Venza holds some appeal. It possesses the meaningful design and innovative inside that a lot of Toyotas do not have, but it's still peaceful, utilitarian and fuel-efficient. Those recognize Toyota toughness, and if you could get past the driving defects, there could be sufficient need to consider it.