Toyota Camry 2012 Review

Toyota Camry 2012 Review: While the 2012 Toyota Camry lacks the instantaneous charm of some competitors, a variety of vital, incremental renovations make it a worthy competitor for any type of family-car consumer.

The five-seat sedan can be found in L, LE, XLE and also sport-tuned SE trims. A four-cylinder engine is common, with a V-6 optional on the SE and XLE. I reviewed the much-improved Camry Hybrid individually. The brand-new Camry won't take place sale until October, however I drove most variants at a media preview.


Toyota Camry 2012 Review


That Point's New?

Toyota explains the Camry as brand new-- seventh generation, upgraded from top to bottom-- but the styling suggests a milder update. The auto's size, size and wheelbase stay the exact same. The headlights look even more reshaped than reimagined. The boomerang taillights include something fresh, however the side account resembles the old Camry.

The Camry SE has stylish body therapies and also 17- or 18-inch alloy wheels, versus 16-inch steel wheels on the base design. Better incorporated than the outgoing Camry SE-- whose slapped-on expansions had all the makings of a discount rate rhinoplasty-- it's the clearest redesign of the bunch, if you could follow its face. I see the late-2000s Acura TL, some Mazda6 as well as a great deal of woodchuck.

Spruced up Inside

The upgraded cabin really feels richer, if much less regular, than previously. Clothed with stitched artificial leather and also a chrome-flanked, raised center panel, the dashboard has lots of upscale eye candy. The top quality goes beyond view alone-- the environment regulates really feel better and also the gearshift crisper moving from Park to Drive.

I choose the last Camry's pleasant seats to the brand-new variation's, which are a touch stronger. Still, the chauffeur's seat has excellent modification variety, as well as the facility console does not encroach on hip or knee room. Though the backseat is not as cavernous as a Volkswagen Passat's or Honda Accord's, it fits adults fine, with great headroom and a hump-free floor. The Camry XLE sheds its reclining rear seat, however all trims gain a 60/40-split folding backseat. The previous generation's SE as well as XLE backseats didn't fold.

A few areas obtain the short shrift: cheap back door panels, an old headliner, no more one-touch power windows throughout. On the whole, however, cabin quality really feels competitive, if short of the Kia Optima as well as Passat. As well as the Camry's usefulness-- large storage cubbies, presence unconfined by a descending roofline or thick home window columns-- must draw purchasers.

Trunk quantity actions 15.4 cubic feet, up from in 2014's 15.0 cubic feet (14.5 in some trims) and beating the Accord. If trunk space is high up on your checklist, look into the Hyundai Sonata and also Ford Fusion. Both cars leading 16 cubic feet.

The Complaint is Hold

The previous generation Camry fasted: qualified with the 178-horsepower four-cylinder, muscular with the 268-hp V-6. That rollovers for 2012, in addition to a 2 mpg enhancement for each version in mixed city/highway gas mileage, inning accordance with EPA price quotes. At 28 mpg with the four-cylinder and 25 mpg with the six, the Camry leads all competitors however the Sonata. Credit scores Toyota for slendering most versions down more than 100 pounds, tweaking the drivetrain, adding fuel-saving electric power steering as well as furnishing the Camry with lower-rolling-resistance tires.

I'm sold on four of the five changes. Like many family-car automatics, the Camry's six-speed locates multi-gear downshifts, yet it upshifts smoothly and also normally kicks down quickly sufficient. (Toyota has gone down in 2014's standard transmission.) Just what's even more, the Camry outsteers its precursor. I drove 2011 and also 2012 Camry LEs back-to-back, as well as the old cars and truck's comatose guiding comments as well as freeway discomposure have diminished. The 2012 Camry's wheel still goes numb during quick lane adjustments-- the Accord and also Blend maneuver better-- yet it really feels extra certain compared to it did.

The tires, however, are anything yet. The Camry LE has Michelin Power Saver Green-X all-seasons, whose lower rolling resistance boosts gas mileage. Alas, it comes with a high price. Prod the accelerator, and the front wheels spin away. On sweeping curves, the tires break from the line early, reined in only when the basic digital security system calls order. The outward bound Camry utilized common Michelin Power MXV4s. Where they stuck, the Energy Savers stray. Most awful of all, I observed this after hrs of modest driving with temperatures in the 80s. On a gusting winter months day, I are afraid the Energy Savers would certainly make out also worse.

The Camry XLE as well as four-cylinder SE wear 17-inch Michelin Primacy MXV4s. They, too, lack much hold. The V-6 SE has 18s and Michelin Primacy MXM4s, which-- finally!-- play good. They fit the SE, which enhances its discordant precursor. The last SE dealt with too badly to validate its rough ride. I drove the two generations back-to-back, and also the new one leans even more but manages much better-- sharper equilibrium, elegant drifting, far better steering comments. I just want Toyota had actually functioned comparable magic with the suspension. It does not container as a lot with potholes and ruts, but tiny bumps are really felt in a fatiguing, ever-present rhythm. Some competitors-- the Suzuki Kizashi in particular-- discover much better ground in between trip and handling. The Camry SE has boosted, however it's not there yet.

Common Camry trims ride a touch firmer than before, yet overall convenience still thrills. So do the brakes. Toyota exchanged in slightly larger four-wheel discs for 2012, and also the linear action improves the Camry norm.

Security, Features & Rates

Since this writing, the Camry has yet to be crash-tested. There are 10 standard air bags. As called for of all 2012 designs, a digital security system as well as anti-skid brakes are conventional. An unseen area caution system is optional on the XLE. Toyota has yet to value the vehicle, however authorities told me the prominent LE design won't wander off much from its 2011 cost-- $22,700 with the automatic-- as well as the expense of the SE and XLE "will certainly be considerably reduced" than their precursors. Those trims were around $24,000 as well as $26,500, specifically, with transmissions.

Don't anticipate to locate a Camry L quickly. Toyota claims the base trim will comprise less than 5 percent of all sales-- mainly to business fleets, not customers. Common attributes include air conditioning, cruise ship control, power accessories, Bluetooth and also an iPod-compatible stereo. Mainline Camry trims add steering-wheel audio controls, remote keyless entrance and also a touch-screen stereo with Bluetooth audio streaming. Check all the choices, and the Camry could have heated natural leather furniture, power pole position, a moonroof, JBL sound, two separate navigating systems (see the pictures to compare) and Toyota's Entune multimedia system, which we detail below.

Camry out there

Toyota chose brief conclusions with the new Camry: Eke out one more 2 mpg, refine the steering and also handling, enhance the brakes. Some buyers could desire the carmaker had chosen to throw a designing long round, as Kia and Hyundai did. Toyota might lose out on some new buyers since the redesign looks also moderate.

However I'm uncertain the Camry required a styling overhaul; besides, its precursor had matured well. The carmaker has to recover the nameplate's track record for bulletproof integrity, which has sunk to just OKAY in the last few years. The inside is a couple of flubs short of family-car excellence, and also the skateboard tires mar an or else refined driving experience. But the perceptiveness stay, as well as on the whole the Camry has actually enhanced dramatically. It remains, more than ever, a poster cars and truck for your right mind.