Howdy, Bobbers. Just did a 1200 mile tour out west. Flew into Vegas, drove to Sacramento and back, with some sightseeing. Got a base model Camry from Budget with the 4 cyl and 8 speed automatic transmission.
The good:
Held the road well. 18" wheels. Tight ride without being punishing. Cornered well. Reported 33 MPG. AC worked well enough in 109-degree heat. LED headlamps are as good as my Prius, but probably as glary to oncoming drivers.
The bad:
Visibility. Thick A-pillars, thicker C-pillars. Blind spots galore. Took a lot of twisty turny roads climbing out of Death Valley and going into the Sequoia National Park, and the A-pillars blocked my view when making sweeping left turns.
User interface. Awful! Toyota took away the 4 o'clock cruise control button/lever thing they've had since the 90s, and gone with a button arrangement on the steering wheel. Harder to do by feel. Radar cruise works as well as it does on my Prius, nice. But the car uses an analog speedometer with a digital cruise set-point so it's not obvious when it starts losing speed due to a vehicle up ahead. Car was the base model with a 1.5" x 4" baby screen between speedo and tach. They tried squeezing in the speed limit sign display here, and it's tiny!
The car probably had a trip odometer, but I couldn't find it. This is one of those things that should be immediately obvious. Screen has a "map" button that declares it's an option not equipped to this car.
Transmission: Oh boy. I'd be climbing up a twisty turny road at 25 mph then lift off the gas to slow for an upcoming curve, and it would upshift! No fuzzy logic. Move the shifter lever to left of "D" and have manual control of the top gear, or, as an alternative, use the steering wheel flappy paddles. Gears 1, 2, and 3 were appropriately spaced, with 4 being a good "still accellerating" highway gear. So what do we do with gears 5-8? The car bounces through them rapidly, that's what! At least gear changes are swift and firm.
Electric throttle has anti-abuse programming that blocks swift acceleration, like from a stop sign into traffic. Brakes & steering are good.
This may be the BITOG darling for not having a CVT transmission, but I'd be happy to see it retire.
The good:
Held the road well. 18" wheels. Tight ride without being punishing. Cornered well. Reported 33 MPG. AC worked well enough in 109-degree heat. LED headlamps are as good as my Prius, but probably as glary to oncoming drivers.
The bad:
Visibility. Thick A-pillars, thicker C-pillars. Blind spots galore. Took a lot of twisty turny roads climbing out of Death Valley and going into the Sequoia National Park, and the A-pillars blocked my view when making sweeping left turns.
User interface. Awful! Toyota took away the 4 o'clock cruise control button/lever thing they've had since the 90s, and gone with a button arrangement on the steering wheel. Harder to do by feel. Radar cruise works as well as it does on my Prius, nice. But the car uses an analog speedometer with a digital cruise set-point so it's not obvious when it starts losing speed due to a vehicle up ahead. Car was the base model with a 1.5" x 4" baby screen between speedo and tach. They tried squeezing in the speed limit sign display here, and it's tiny!
The car probably had a trip odometer, but I couldn't find it. This is one of those things that should be immediately obvious. Screen has a "map" button that declares it's an option not equipped to this car.
Transmission: Oh boy. I'd be climbing up a twisty turny road at 25 mph then lift off the gas to slow for an upcoming curve, and it would upshift! No fuzzy logic. Move the shifter lever to left of "D" and have manual control of the top gear, or, as an alternative, use the steering wheel flappy paddles. Gears 1, 2, and 3 were appropriately spaced, with 4 being a good "still accellerating" highway gear. So what do we do with gears 5-8? The car bounces through them rapidly, that's what! At least gear changes are swift and firm.
Electric throttle has anti-abuse programming that blocks swift acceleration, like from a stop sign into traffic. Brakes & steering are good.
This may be the BITOG darling for not having a CVT transmission, but I'd be happy to see it retire.