[Venkatesh]

Toyota Camry Hybrid at Kari Speedway

Toyota Camry Hybrid at the Kari Motor Speedway set an lap record for hybrid cars - with a time of 1 minute 28.43 seconds, with 10 time National Champion Arjun Balu behind the wheel

https://youtu.be/tSr8zXDi0So

[Iyencar]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Toyota Camry Hybrid at Kari Speedway

This has to be one of the most pointless exercises that a PR team has ever imagined, especially considering the target customer of the Camry. Read through the piece on Evo to see exactly which hybrid cars and times did the Camry beat but there's nothing. So is this the fastest hybrid because it is the only hybrid that is yet to attempt this? If so, this should be named The Aladeen Drive (fans of The Dictator will relate).
Then there is more "fluff" like this

Though if motorsport is any indication, where energy recovery systems working on similar regenerative principles as the Camry Hybrid’s are employed in everything from Formula 1 to the World Rally and World Endurance championships, this is unlikely to be the last hybrid lap time on the track.

And tyres are used by everything from tractors to space shuttles. Puhleaaase Toyota.

[fordfreak]

Great. Now this should inspire the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc., to have a shootout for the most fuel efficient super car.

The Camry is a fantastic car, but it would probably not even make the top-100 list of cars to take for a track day; unless 'babu' in the back seat expects to dictate instructions to 'driver ji' on which would be the best racing line to take around the track.

[Harsha89]

I test drove the Camry Hybrid today. Overall I found the car to be impressive as a package - The ride, Noise insulation, comfort levels (Seats, Air Con, Ergonomics, music system SQ), Plethora of features, driving dynamics. Interior quality is top notch and it feels special indeed. Everything has a soft, smooth touch almost wherever you palm reaches. The driving position is very low and one needs to literally climb half a feet to get out, lol. But once inside, the soft ventilated seats, Air con blower air-throw, premium car interior smell literally lull your senses.

The Hybrid motor has quite the grunt under hard acceleration, reaches the ton in a short time. I felt a bit of torque steer as well, which is quite a surprise from a hybrid power train tuned for efficiency.

The Camry felt just as quick as an Audi A4 2.0 TFSI which I test drove not too long ago.
The brakes felt very powerful and confidence inspiring, the steering was the only negative I could identify - it felt a bit vague.

After test driving, the A4 and the BMW 320 Lwb, I’m impressed more by the Toyota Camry for its sheer all-rounder nature. I feel that it may not be as desirable for the prospective buyer in this segment in terms of the badge or brand appeal, but my primary requirement is trouble free ownership and reasonable service costs with great after sales service.

[pradheepsr]

I was requested by a friend of ours who's the manager of the local Toyota showroom here to try out the Camry for a couple of days. We said "ok" reluctantly since we thought we already have a complete garage at home (Innova Crysta, GLC 220d, Octavia mk3 TSI) and that he was trying to woo us in buying a 50 lakh car for fun!
But once I drove it , me including my family members fell in love with it!
We were awestuck with the cabin quality, plushness and the seamless manner in which the hybrid system works.
It could give many cars who are in a segment above, a run for their money
The engine in sport mode turned out to be a hoot to drive. We easily managed 18-20 kpl with her in the brief period she was with us, which is unheard of in a car at this segment.
Still feel that its underrated and that Toyota could rather think of making it in India rather than a CKD/CBU route.
It will sell numbers and give cars like the Superb a stiff competition in terms of sales when priced appropriately.

[M00M]

Originally Posted by pradheepsr

It will sell numbers and give cars like the Superb a stiff competition in terms of sales when priced appropriately.

Its a good product but at 52.5 lacs on the road Mumbai it just makes it a bit hard for a customer to plonk that kind of money on it. The Superb is somewhere around 43-44 and then you can get some discount on it. Toyota being Toyota never gives any discount and always makes less cars than the demand so the discount concept is removed.

Its just priced 10 lacs more than it should be otherwise it would have more acceptance and sales.

Just to add: If you buy the Superb, take the additional 10 lacs and use them for the service / petrol and you will in my opinion sail through for atleast 5-6 years of the ownership of the car. Im not factoring any resale prices or anything else. Toyota needs to get out of this mindset that Indians should pay a premium for their products. The Superb also has other features like 360 degree camera and remote parking alongwith kick operated boot and boot closure, and wireless apple car play and some other features which the Camry misses out on. Skoda at the same time needs to keep their prices in check otherwise they will loose the advantage that they have.

[V.Narayan]

As an erstwhile owner of a Camry (2005) and current owner of a Lexus ES300h (2017) I can honestly state that the current Camry is the equal of the Lexus ES300h in all aspects except the wood used in the interiors and the leather. But you need to have a professional's eye to spot this especially the leather. Lexus will have to up its game significantly to maintain a differential. And with the latest facelift Toyota have managed, at long last, to actually make the facia look handsome!

[zepp1108]

I too went to check out the Toyota Camry, here at the local dealership in Gurgaon, and man the car is so so impressive. Just before checking out the Camry, I went to Volvo showroom to test drive the XC40. For a moment, let's forget the SUV and sedan thing and what features these cars have, Camry is a far more impressive as a car. What a killer look from the front, from the back, from the side!

Things I really did not like about Camry-

1. The JBL speakers. A 50 lacs car should not have those speakers. Coming from a 2020 Hyundai Creta (20 lakhs car) with a Bose sound system, this felt like a clear meh sounding system.

2. The centre console. Creta has a better centre console, Jeep Compass has far better and fluid centre console. A 50 lacs car should not have such uninspiring console. I like the buttons and knobs though, but the screen quality is just bad.

Things I really like about Camry -

1. The visibility of front which I get from the driver's seat is quite decent. Coming from an SUV background and not driven sedans at all, I used to think it would be difficult to drive a sedan because of less visibility. I did not feel any issues driving the car.

2. The space inside is way too much. XC40 felt very clumsy from inside. Camry, my goodness, too much space to offer. The front seats, the rear seat and the boot, everything thing is very very spacious.

3. The leather on the seat, the soft touch materials on the dash and gates are of very decent quality. Beige colour gives quite an airy feel to the interior.

I can not explain a lot about how it drives, because the every aspect of driving experience is an upgrade from Hyundai Creta Diesel SX(O) Auto. It's silent, has a better pick up, very decently handling etc. Overall, it's an all rounder.

[CARDEEP]

I tried out Camry in March, being in Faridabad & driving across Noida & Gurugram, I feel a sedan like Camry is more of a bottoming issue than a quasi SUV. While it ticks many parameters as chauffeur driven car, in my opinion, it’s time Toyota replaces it with Highlander, which could sell as much or may be more than Camry for being in tune with market dynamics & equally adept at handling bad tarred roads.

[SR-71]

Specs state the following

Battery : Nickel Metal Hydride, 245 Volt,Battery Placed Under Floor Pan
Electric Motor : Permanent magnet synchronous Placed At Front Axle

Does anyone have an idea on the impact of shallow water wading on the floor battery and motor. I am not talking about 4x4 scenarios here! Cars in Bangalore inherently have to water wade during monsoon even on the best of roads and in some places, there is a substantial amount of water logged on the road.

[aerohit]

Originally Posted by zepp1108

Things I really did not like about Camry-

1. The JBL speakers. A 50 lacs car should not have those speakers. Coming from a 2020 Hyundai Creta (20 lakhs car) with a Bose sound system, this felt like a clear meh sounding system.

Well, in reality it is a 25L Camry. Remaining 25L goes for import duty to feed unemployed people, build speed breakers, free electricity for poor, political rallies, monuments, security of babus, and much more. Now that makes Creta appear expensive LOL.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by zepp1108

...2020 Hyundai Creta ....with a Bose sound system...

Well, Hyundai would have removed a couple of ultra high strength steel members in the Creta structure to pay for that Bose system.
The barely 3 star safety rating received for the Creta is quite bad, but it will nevertheless sell in good numbers as most Indian buyers will favour visible features (like Bose) and ignorant of structural safety features (like UHS steel usage)

[anvay]

Can't wait for the delivery of my Camry

Why Camry?
In Dec 2021, We (My wife and your's truly) decided to buy a 2nd car for our household. We already have a Nov 21 Polo GT TSI which has given us no trouble. It's still punchy enough to have safe fun within the legal limits. However with both of us working and offices eventually opening, we needed a 2nd car.
Budget: Everything included < 70l
Non negotiable features

• Powered seats for front passengers with memory function ( I am 6ft and my wife 5,2)
• Ventilated seats
• Moon Roof
• Keyless entry

Subjective bias on decision making

• We prefer buying top variant with no 3rd party modification in car, ever! Upgrades can be considered only from OEM (Eg: Head unit from VW for CarPlay in our polo)
• We intent to drive our cars from showroom to end of reliability (If I can't take my car on a 1000km long ad-hoc road trip with confidence then we don't consider it reliable)

Cars Considered
Merc
Badge attracts. Both GLA and GLC were considered.
We were attracted towards GLA as GLC top end was out of budget.
Lack of some features like keyless entry and ventilated seats was leaving a bad after taste.
We test drove a day after sitting in an Innova cab. In rear seat the engine rumble was similar which made us evaluate petrol cars only. (If Merc's diesel is noisy we can't be happy with any other brand). Petrol GLA was a FWD and not considered.
Kodiaq L&K
Loved at first sight, booked 2 hours after announcement on 10th Jan. 4 days later After watching other reviews online wife wanted to change the colour from white to blue. We asked sales advisor if it will impact our delivery date on changing colour, he assured us that it should not impact delivery date as manufacturing as not yet started. However in Feb we got an email from Skoda stating we are not a part of 2022 delivery and ETA for delivery will be shared in Jan.
We became furious and decided to cancel the car immediately.

Over the next weekend many cars crossed out mind (Creta, Tuscon, XUV 700, Superb, Camry, 330Li). We decided to go for either 330Li, Superb or Camry.
330Li
Compared to Polo within the legal speed limits I was not able to connect with the driver's car feel I read about soo much.
Due to chip shortage as per sales person, different cars had some of the features missing. One car did not have gesture control, another did not have HUD. He was not able to assure us what features will be missing in a car if we book now and also retrofitting by BMW once chip shortage is over was not also on the cards. BMW also felt expensive on the maintenance and service price.

Camry
During the car buying time Camry was updated and now had Android Auto/Car play. Because it was missing earlier I did not consider it. We were impressed with the central arm rest, 3 zone AC, reclining rear seat and an amazing mileage (On the same 25km strech my polo gives 10 kmpl while Camry gave 21.2 . BTW, I drained the battery in EV mode for ~ 1km before starting the trip meter).
Superb
We already had a bad after taste of Skoda but still decided to visit once again for superb, TBHP had an inclination towards Superb. After the superb's test drive we felt Camry was one upgrade cycle ahead of superb hence some features were better. ( 3 zone vs 2 zone, reclining seat). However was ~8l worth of difference worth of for hybrid vs non hybrid? We made an excel sheet on estimated ownership cost and booked the Camry.

PDI is scheduled on 1 Jun and I just can't wait

[SR-71]

Interesting computation on ownership cost, though the 50% difference in average fuel consumption is unrealistic. It would be more in the ball park of 30 - 35 %. Having said that, because you haven't taken service cost and parts failure into account, both of which will negatively impact Superb, your final assumption on Camry being the better VFM of the two may stay valid in the long run. Can you share more details on what was the time-line you had to wait for delivery. Congratulations on your buy, looking forward to pictures and ownership reports. Wish you many a happy miles with the car.

On an unrelated note and at the risk of crossing fellow enthusiasts the wrong way, the computation makes we wonder about the sensibility of ownership costs in India even more. 75L for 15 years translates to approximately 41K per month. It seems even if I take Uber to my office daily and fly for every vacation, I may not recover the cost.

[anvay]

The wait was not too bad. We booked the car in the end of Feb 2022 and the delivery of car is tomorrow morning .

With Respect to your question on justifying the cost. It's subjective, I can share a few data points which direct me towards owning a car, but every person thinks differently. My reasons:

• We have a dog. That too a Saint Bernard
• I have been stuck in the past for many hours because of my reliance on app based cabs.

BTW, here are some pics from the PDI