I had two different Impalas (2000, 2006) for sales cars and I racked up a lot of miles.
Back then I rented a Toyota Camry and thought; have any of the GM engineers ever driven a Camry? Wow!
Time marches on and I have a '16 Chevrolet Silverado x 151,000 miles and I'm looking at a new sales ride. The truck is great - a ton of room for Hoss - normal GM truck. I could drive it to 250,000 miles except I have OCD with changing rides.
All the other sales guys at work drive trucks and Jeeps. I joked and told everyone I'm going to buy a beige Camry and just change the oil every 10,000 miles. They freaked - No!
Then I see this Camry TRD - looks goofy - it's not any more performance but I'm totally a Japanese Classic Car fan and would love to own a basic car that would jam out 30,000 miles a year. No sunroof is key to me and I also like the NA V6 and it's way cheaper than a new Silverado.
I'm embarrassed to ask - any Camry guys here want to speak up?
I've rented a couple of Camrys of this generation. They do have a sportier feel than the older generation models. I just can't get comfortable in the seats. But, having said that, i'd rock the hell out of that TRD or an XSE. The 2.5 even has a nice growl to it.
What is there to say? It's a good car.
Nothing to get excited about, but excitement is a double-edged sword.
calteg
SuperDork
1/5/23 9:55 a.m.
I briefly had an XSE V6. Even with that motor I wouldn't say the car had any character. It was competent, but I grew bored of it extremely quickly and sold it after 4 months
It's got red seatbelts! And I think a sportier exhaust? I'd certainly check one out.
Strizzo
PowerDork
1/5/23 10:30 a.m.
GRM tried to turn an older camry into a track car but gave up after killing two engines from oil starvation. Apparently there was no baffling in the oil pan.
Honestly all toyota needed to do with the TRD camry is to improve the suspension setup and tire/wheel combo, they already make close to 300hp from the 3.5L v6.
The 2GR in those later models is close enough to 300hp to make no difference. The 6speed auto isn't terrible. Don't let anyone with an impact gun touch the lug nuts unless they've been loosened.
Shame to say, but the fastest car I've ever owned was a 3.5 Camry. It was soul-suck boring, but it would scoot. For some reason, the issues we see with the DI motor don't seem to affect Camrys.
I don't want to endorse the purchase, but I can't think of a good argument against it for a commuter.
My wife commutes in a new Camry--2021 XLE V6, I think. Heck, might be a 2022. She traded the V6 Accord for it. She laughs at me when I use phrases like "it has a big 4-cylinder in it." She won't drive a 4-cylinder. If a six is the biggest engine offered, that's what she'll have.
She likes the Camry. I think I liked the Accord better, but the Camry does everything you need a commuter to do. In terms of handling and acceleration, I think it's outrageous, but I grew up driving cars from the 70's and 80's.
Pro: Comfortable, fast, reliable, 30+mpg.
Con: Low-profile tires are expensive.
It's really not hard to figure out why the Camry is consistently the best-selling sedan in America.
There used to be a time you need to be a connoisseur and well off to have panoramic roof, blood red seats, and quad pipes. You needed Euro.
Now you can get that in a Camry. Love it.
I've reviewed two of them. They're the cheapest way to get a V6 in a Camry, last I checked. Otherwise, they are fine. Not really "sporty" in a way that encourages you to hoon. But I appreciate what Toyota did with them as part of their "no boring cars" edict and they are indeed a little weird. It needs a LSD and the 8-speed auto is poorly behaved if you want to shift it yourself.
Here's a video I made on the 2022:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-__bKzrzMes
This is the TRD you posted:
This is the Camry XSE in the same white/black:
Similar white/black with no side skirts and a smaller wheel which probably translates to a smoother ride and certainly less expensive tires. But look close at the trunk lid to see its a Hybrid.
