Great to hear that it handles well

Thats the dumbest thing I heard

 

The 3Gen 1992-1996 Camry, IMO, was quite comfortable. It wasn't quite as soft as Grandpa's old Cadillac, but mellow enough to absorb most bumps and road-imperfections well, and still maintain what I would call decent handling. That, in strong contrast to many (in fact, most) of today's vehicles with their much stiffer suspensions and substantially lower-profile tires. While not all of today's vehicles necessarily have a bone-jarring ride, most, regardless of size, ride stiff enough to see that ride-comfort today is (mostly) being ignored in favor of quick-handling.

 

I'd say the previous two generations of Camry and first two generations of Avalon have about the same steering responses and sharpness as a late 90's Buick Regal, LeSabre, or a Cadillac Seville or Deville. All of those cars were dull to drive, had numb, overboosted steering, tracked very straight down the interstate, and rode AWESOME. Just what old people wanted. They finally dialed in some sport with the newest Camry SE.

 

In this class, the potential has not been tapped yet. One does not need to look at the Camry/Accord class to see the merits of a turbo four. The Germans have already proven the case. For example, Audi's award-winning A4 2.0T can get up to 24 in the city, up to 32 on the highway, and can do 0-60 as fast as 6.3 seconds- all in a heavier car (3500-3600 lbs.). The V6 Camry rates 21/30 mpg, yet weighs a lighter 3395 lbs. It's the same story with BMW and Mercede's new turbo fours. About the only downside would be the use of premium fuel, but even with a lower grade things come out ahead.
The potential is there for Toyota and Honda (and for Hyundai to improve upon). The future is in smaller, lighter, more efficient, boosted engines.

 

Its great to see the 6 speed sticking around.

 

title of the thread:
Camry to Keep Its V6 Option


what are you talking about?

VW itself uses 6cly in Passat as top option not 4cly turbo.

BMW, Audi, cars 10k more expensive than Camry V6.

 

In the ES350, which I am familiar with, the 3.5 V6/6 speed is still class competitive in performance and fuel efficiency. And this is after 7 model years of using this drivetrain in the ES.

From a marketing and fuel efficiency standpoint Toyota may need to add another gear or two to the trans or offer a CVT sometime down the road.

 

We've seen the turbo four tuned low (base model) or high (top line model).
The point of my above information is to show what COULD be done. Higher brands have already proven the merits and success of the smaller, turbo engine. The technology is there but hasn't been tapped yet by lesser companies.

Speaking of VW, next year they will be dumping the base five cylinder for guess what... a turbo four.

 

The Camry Hybrid beat the Sonata Turbo in a 0-60 test done by MotorTrend not long ago. Turbos aren't everything.

 

Electric motors produce their greatest torque at low-RPMs (theoretically, the max-torque is at 0), with lessening as RPMs build)....so they will typically have their strongest response right off the line, somewhat like diesels, which also peak at low RPMs. Most turbos, in contrast, require some lag time for the compressor to spool up enough to pack the extra air and fuel into the cylinders and get noticeable response. Turbo-lag on moden cars is greatly reduced from what it was decades ago, but it is still there. Engines with dual or multiple-turbos generally have the least amount of turbo-lag, because the engineers keep one turbo constantly spinning at low-to-medium RPMs and ready to respond fairly quickly at first, while the other turbo spools up and is ready to kick in at higher RPMs.

 

That's an old stereotype...but also at least partially inaccurate. You would be surprised at how many non-Geezers (and actually some fairly young people) enjoy smooth-riding comfort and quietness in their cars. Unfortunately, that has been almost completely forgotten (or ignored) by most of today's auto-manufacturers, who put in notable stiffness/firmness to the underpinnings and tires, even in vehicles with driver-adjustable suspensions that are set to "Comfort".

 

A lot of car-buyers, though, if given the choice, would prefer a N/A V6 to a turbo four....the V6 is usually more relaxing to drive and produces less NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness), especially at higher RPMs. It seems to be (primarily) the government/EPA with ever-tightening CAFE and emission-rules that is forcing the mass-conversion to turbo-fours, not necessarily consumer tastes.

Other car-buyers want economy as the highest priority. They, of course, would be more likely to chose a N/A four (despite the lower performance) than a turbo four....although the difference between turbo and non-turbo EPA ratings (on the same engine) is sometimes quite small.

 

The joys of "European" handling.

 

Problem is.....the roads in Germany (where many of the best-handling and stiffest-riding European-designed cars come from) are usually glass-smooth, where a stiff suspension doesn't necessarily hurt comfort that much. Contrast that with many of the torn-up and pockmarked roads we have here in the U.S..........particularly in the Great Lakes/Northeast states and cities. Michigan's are (arguably) the worst. In Germany, road-maintenance seems to be taken very seriously....here, for a variety of reasons, it simply isn't. Euro-suspension vehicles, despite the clamor in the auto-press for them, are often just not suited to the rougher American roads.....although in the American South and Southwest, where the climate is mild and there is little frost/freeze-induced damage to the pavement, the roads are much better.

 

The speed limits, though, in most parts of the U.S. generally limit the number of gears that a transmission actually needs for good highway-cruising efficiency. One cannot (legally) drive at Autobahn speeds here.....and, of course, in many places, traffic density itself prevents it.