Tag Archives | Toyota Camry

Motor Trend Picks 2012 VW Passat as Car of the Year, but …

By on November 23, 2011 in Editorials

By Charles Krome

To say the all-new 2012 VW Passat is having a successful launch could be the understatement of the year: Volkswagen’s all-American mid-size sedan reaped a tidy 986.2 percent increase in sales last month, and although that’s partially because VW only sold 464 of them in October 2010, the bottom line here—5,040 deliveries—is a fairly strong achievement. To put that into context, that total is higher than the October sales for cars like the Ford Mustang, Hyundai Accent or Nissan Maxima. Then, just a few days ago, the new Passat added to the sales excitement by being named Motor Trend 2012 Car of the Year.

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First Drive: 2012 Toyota Camry LE

By on August 24, 2011 in Reviews

By Charles Krome

On the odd chance anyone missed it, Toyota has now unveiled the 2012 Camry, which is obviously a rather big deal for the automaker—and the U.S. market, of course. Toyota’s mid-size sedan has been the best-selling car in the U.S. for nine straight years, and 13 of the last 14; what’s even more amazing is that it also was back at the top of the heap in July, despite the production challenges poised by this spring’s disasters in Japan and any lingering effects of the Great Toyota Recallathon.

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Review: 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid

By on August 17, 2011 in Reviews

By Roger Boylan

The world is divided into two kinds of drivers: real drivers—let’s call them “real drivers”–and the rest. Usually, I’m the first kind, a “real driver,” who, even on the way to the supermarket, or on a boring commute, is aware of what he’s driving, how it looks, and what it’s capable of. Occasionally, however, when I’m fed up, hungover or ill, I’m one of the rest. I care as little as possible about the shell around me and the mechanics underfoot and just want the sight of home and bed. Most drivers fall into the latter category all the time; they’re the ones driving the old Buicks with masking tape on their windows and the oxidized Honda Civics with Obamanos bumper stickers: the “just get me from A to B” types.

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Review: 2011 Ford Fusion SE 6MT

By on June 13, 2011 in Reviews

By Charles Krome

First, let me acknowledge that I’ve been on a bit of a streak with Ford coverage, but that’s just synchronicity—I’m not really working undercover for the Blue Oval. Of course, my review of the Lincoln MKS should be enough proof of that.

Okay, now on to the Ford Fusion, which, as is always the case, was provided to me with a full tank of gas by its automaker.

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Review: 2011 Toyota Avalon Limited

By on March 28, 2011 in Reviews

By Charles Krome

When fellow Savant Roger Boylan reviewed the 2011 Toyota Camry at the beginning of March, he kicked things off with a relatively controversial point: That Toyota’s midsize sedan suffered from a sort of reverse snobbism, with customers (and critics) automatically complaining about how bland and un-engaging it is based solely on the badge it wears. Well, not only do I think he’s spot on with his analysis, but I’m also going to extend it to what’s often considered the epitome of Toyota’s soulless creations, the 2011 Avalon—which I recently drove for a week courtesy of the fine folks at Toyota.

The Avalon is aimed at buyers who prefer what’s loosely termed “traditional American luxury.” That means vehicles that offer a relatively large footprint, strong straight-line acceleration, restrained styling and presence, and a boatload of comfort and convenience features. It’s a shrinking niche, but the number of potential cars that fit the bill is shrinking even faster, so volume does remain for the automakers that continue to reach out to these customers.

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Review: 2011 Mazda Mazda6 S Touring Plus

By on March 25, 2011 in Reviews

By Chris Haak

Thanks to the likes of the Mazda3 (and MazdaSpeed3), MX5 Miata, and the diminutive Mazda2 subcompact, Mazda has staked out its claim as the “Zoom-Zoom” car company for years.  It’s not exactly “The Ultimate Driving Machine,” but it has perhaps more meaning than “We Build Excitement” did against a backdrop of the Pontiac 6000 and Daewoo-builtLeMans did.

We now find the Mazda6 in the middle of its life cycle, and its competitors are not slowing down their pace of improvement.  During the week that I spent evaluating the Mazda6 S, I found that the car had plenty of zoom from its big 3.7 liter V6 (which produces a class-leading 272 horsepower and 269 lb-ft of torque), but that the car lost a bit of its handling prowess into its transition from a lithe midsizer into a super-sized Americanized midsize sedan.

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Review: 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited

By on March 7, 2011 in Reviews

By Charles Krome

While the 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited came to my driveway loaded up with goodies, the most important thing the car brought with it wasn’t on the spec sheet. I’m talking here about expectations. As the car that nearly singlehandedly pulled Hyundai into the mainstream, the 2011 Sonata came with a strong reputation for satisfying customers, and I was particularly looking forward to seeing how it lived up to that rep. Of course, first I had to get used to seeing the vehicle itself.

I’d always been surprised that a car with such a relatively radical design was attracting so many customers, but after living with the Sonata for just a few days, most of its exterior design cues began to grow on me. The sedan’s silhouette is much sleeker than you might think at first glance, and it takes a nice stance on the road, with a surprisingly aggressive look that’s well enhanced by the character line flowing through its door handles. That character line blends backward into the Sonata’s tail-lights nicely, too, and the way the D-pillar flows down into the trunk area almost pulls off an Audi-esque feel. If I never had to look at the front of the car, I would have given the Sonata’s exterior a definite “thumbs up.”

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Review: 2011 Toyota Camry SE V6

By on March 3, 2011 in Reviews

By Roger Boylan

“What’s in a name?” famously asked the Bard in Romeo and Juliet, his meaning plain: not much (“…a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet”). But he wasn’t talking about cars, was he? The automotive snob value that inheres in having a Lexus nameplate on your daily wheels instead of a Toyota one, or an Infiniti badge instead of Nissan, is partly what keeps those luxury marques afloat. So, knowing that a new test vehicle of modest marque was arriving last Wednesday, but not wanting to be influenced by that fact, I played a game with myself. I pretended I had no idea what make or model it was, just that it was a… car.

Hello, car! I said, when the mysterious stranger rolled up. I was impressed. What a handsome machine. Muscular and aerodynamic; jet black, with sculpted flanks, bright alloy wheels, tinted windows, foglights embedded in restrained but eye-catching forward spoiler, snazzy side rocker panels. Just enough chrome to offset the ebony, but not enough to be garish. A muscular stance, like a Charger. An elegant black-out grille, reminiscent of some Mercedes designs; a handsome rear wing atop a rear end à la post-Bangle BMW. Truly, a fine-looking car, one you’d be proud to cruise around in. A real head-turner.

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Detroit 2011: 2012 Volkswagen Passat

By on January 11, 2011 in Editorials, News

By Charles Krome

Just before the North American International Auto Show opened, the New York Times, in previewing the all-new VW Passat, published a rather telling insight from Christian Klingler, “the Volkswagen executive board member responsible for sales.” Mr. Klingler was discussing the direction of VW’s future products and was quoted as saying: “Our cars have to have a language that is easily understood. We are really trying to get into the head of the American customer.”

You know, because U.S. customers were obviously too stupid to understand Volkswagen’s previous “language.”

But here’s the thing: While the automotive elite (and me, too) have been deriding VW’s decision to cater to U.S. buyers by making the Passat and Jetta bigger, cheaper and less-expensive than their predecessors, that might be the simplest way to quickly grow U.S. sales. And that’s Volkswagen’s priority here, remember, not building smallish-but-fun-to-drive German sedans.

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Quick Drive Alaska: 2010 Chevrolet Malibu LT

By on December 13, 2010 in Reviews

By Kevin Miller

When the current-generation Chevrolet Malibu launched for the 2008 model year, I was impressed. In design and materials, it was leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor. It possessed some stylistic cues that I still feel are class leading (as well as beating vehicles several classes above); the Chevrolet symbol detail in lamp lenses and the continuous C-pillar trim on the rear doors are two of the details that continue to stand out as the Malibu gracefully ages.

Since the time when the Malibu launched to much fanfare (with a large advertising budget), key competitors such as the Accord, Fusion, Mazda6, and Sonata have launched new generations (or have had major updates). Among those three competitors, only the Sonata and Fusion actually improved upon the appearance of their predecessors since the Malibu’s launch date.

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