Ever since my grade-school days, the Toyota Camry has been the bastion of the mid-size sedan: it was as reliable as an anvil, as inoffensive as a baby bunny, and as plain-jane and boring as a vanilla cone. The only way a Camry was going to deliver any excitement whatsoever would have to involve a trip to Lover’s Lane and even then, there were usually better options on the table than the bread-and-butter four-door family car that Toyota has sold untold millions of. We can’t knock the Camry for being a solid choice for commuter material, it does that job very well. We can, however, knock it for being absolutely basic in all of it’s mannerisms. Look, we know we are lumping two cars that don’t compete against each other here for this comparison, but park a Camry next to a Dodge Charger…one with the V8 and the exhaust bark that is one of the best in the business right now. See the problem?
Toyota does. For years, they’ve been trying to shed the Camry’s staid image, and this year, they’re going about it the right way: they are entering three different versions of the 2018 Camry into the Tire Rack One Lap of America to prove that a Camry can be more than A-to-B fodder. Tagging along will be a 2017 Prius, which is supposed to boost that car’s reputation to a level that’s more than just the automotive whipping boy and eco-minded’s darling. We will keep our traps quiet about our thoughts on the Prius, but as for the Camry options…well, they’re putting all three out on the track: a Camry Hybrid, a Camry SE with a four-cylinder, and a Camry XSE with a V6.
One Lap of America is currently ongoing, and is currently at High Plains Raceway in Denver, Colorado. On May 9th, the event will be at Motorsports Ranch in Fort Worth, Texas; NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, Louisana on May 10th, and NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky on May 11th. Will this help the average, everyday buyer see a Camry as a sporting car? We doubt it. We can at least give kudos to Toyota for hitting the tracks, but we will see how things really go when the event stops in Bowling Green in a couple of days…
They are doing it. We saw one of the cars at Gateway on Sunday.
One Lap looks like a fun yet grueling event.
and still the world yawns. Toyota please take note.
If you want enthusiasts to care about you start making cars with passion again.
The cars that people loved were not beige fwd econoboxes they are cars that have passion. The aw11 MR2 and AE86 Corolla were small, slow cars built with passion and enthusiasm in mind, the rwd celica and supras were built for car people. If you want to shed the beige stop building beige. The FR86 is the closest thing to a car of note you’ve built since the mid 90’s and you couldn’t be bothered to put a Toyota badge on it. Shame.
Let’s see… they are trying to give the car a sporty image, but it’s not possible to order a Camry with a manual transmission. First things first, people.
Two entirely different cars, marketed to two entirely different demographics & price points, but why would anyone GAF about ANY Camry when there is an import like the Kia Stinger out there??
Taking a Camry to some event all decal’d up isn’t going to magically change it’s DNA, or it’s performance/handling……
It could have worked if they’d done this right – for example, get manual-transmission versions of them in the One Lap, create a track-ready brake and suspension package for it, then offer the exact same thing they entered in a turn-key package with a warranty at your local dealer.
Every performance review we read these days tells us that a proper performance automatic is better than a manual. Look at powerglides on the strip; super cars have flappy paddle shifter semi-auto whatever they ares.
When Toyota removed the three pedal choice from Camrys a few years ago, I became less interested in a car that I was already less interested in. The new one is a great looking car but that aint enough
This worked over 100 years ago.
The vanilla toyota marketing folks need something interesting in 2018.
—————————————————-
“1915 Ford Model T Ends Cross-Country Trip in San Francisco Just as it Happened 100 Years Ago in Celebration of the 1915 World’s Fair”
I’d rather watch paint dry.
Drive one and push things a little — the drive by wire time lag on the throttle and shifter in ‘ manual mode ‘ is disturbing …….
oh , you want to speed up w/that open throttle ? OK we ( as in the ECU/TCU) concur that the car should speed up ….oh you want to shift to third ?
we guess that’s OK too. Really annoying !!!
.
At least the brakes actually work when you step on them …..for now
Nobody who actually owns a Camry will give a shit about this. It’s just a transportation appliance to them.