#2018 camry driving impression drivers
#2018 camry driving impression Patch

When traffic is light, I quite enjoy driving in this mode. Insulation is significantly better, there’s no real whine from the motor, and when the engine finally does kick in, the integration of the two powertrains is much more seamless. What I do notice is that the car is even more silent and refined. It has a less powerful e-motor, but truth be told, I can’t tell the difference.

#2018 camry driving impression Patch

We hit a patch of traffic, and it’s here that the new Camry finally begins to run in pure EV mode. Ride is much improved over that of the earlier model. It’s just that at low speeds, in start-stop traffic, the brakes tend to grab a bit, making you unnecessarily pay more attention to them. Even the brakes are very reassuring there’s plenty of bite earlier on, and when you squeeze harder, retardation increases in a linear manner. It even rounds off bumps better, taking the edge off nicely. In fact, over bad roads, where the previous-gen car would get tossed around a bit, this one feels much more absorbent and much less reactive. The previous Camry was all about comfort, while this new car rides extremely well too. Also, please remember, this new car will deliver between 16-18kpl, even in real-world conditions. And while performance isn’t huge, it still is brisk expect a 0-100 time of around 10sec. You first get a serious hit of torque from the electric motor, the 2.5-litre motor seems to have a nice strong mid-range and though there’s no tachometer and the eCVT automatic isn’t the sportiest gearbox around, the Camry even accelerates hard all the way to redline if you use the paddles behind the steering wheel. In ‘Sport’, combined power from the petrol-and-electric hybrid powertrain is 211hp, and this comes flooding in when I lean hard on the right pedal. There’s sufficient grunt from under the bonnet as well.

#2018 camry driving impression drivers

The steering system has been designed with drivers in mind. The company has even dipped into its deep pockets and pulled out enough money to pay for an independent rear suspension. Just how has Toyota managed to take such a massive leap forward? Well, to begin with, the torsional rigidity of the car has gone up by a huge 30 percent on this new TNGA platform. The new Camry Hybrid is a big step up when it comes to how it drives. Yes, it does roll when I go faster and it does feel like it is 5m long, but, there’s plenty of grip and the Camry just hangs on gamely, even when I start to push harder.

The steering has more weight in ‘Sport’, it actually feels like it is connected to the front wheels (finally), and some communication even filters through to my fingers when the front wheels load up in a corner. But again, the car feels so much nicer to drive, even at these speeds. So I tippy-toe through the tighter bits and don’t carry much speed at all. Lap one is more a voyage of discovery, an exercise in restrain I don’t want to run into a carelessly discarded concrete block around a blind corner. Yes, there is some light traffic on the first bit due to an early off-ramp, but after that, the road just goes on and on. But is it really as good as this brief first impression? I have to get more of this.Īs luck would have it, I stumble on the perfect road, an as-yet-unopened section of elevated freeway that snakes and weaves its way through some suburbs near Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Where the previous-gen car felt like the chassis was made of tightly bound spaghetti, and it flexed and squirmed every time it was presented a challenging situation, this new car feels so sure-footed and confident, it truly bodes well for Toyota’s all-new TNGA platform. It’s just that this new car feels so much ‘tighter’ and so much more comfortable at speed, even at first acquaintance, it’s a big step ahead in driving manners.

No, the new Camry hasn’t suddenly turned into a corner-carving BMW 5-series, and nor has Sport mode turned it into a track star. The car I’m sitting behind the wheel of, however, is clearly new – of this, I have no doubt. A new bonnet, a new nose a new interior, new tail and, hey presto, it is an all-new car.īut is it any wonder that carmakers do this? The cost of development gets halved, the already-stretched engineering department saves years and years of development time, and then evolving and working with an entity you already know is much easier the second time around. This is because, in today’s world, the term ‘new car’ can be stretched and distorted sufficiently to accommodate even cars that have just been majorly updated. Often, however, new cars aren’t strictly new. New cars, that’s what we are all about, here at Autocar India.