Toyota Camry 2011 review

This Camry is the most impressive new model in a very long time.

The bedrock car for Toyota in Australia - thanks to local production and extensive exports - has always been bland but effective, a result that's reflected in 17 years of sales leadership in the medium-car class but no real enthusiasm among people who like to drive.

This one is more adventurous in design, more luxurious in the cabin, and considerably more enjoyable to drive.

Highlights range from the six-speed automatic gearbox and whisper- quiet cabin to a boot that's both giant and easy to use. The new 2.5- litre engine, which goes into local production late in 2012 and will be added to the export roster, also brings better performance with a claimed economy improvement to 7.8 litres/100km.

But don't go looking for a manual gearbox. It's gone, as only two percent of Camry buyers wanted one.

PRICING

The range starts with the Altise which has an unchanged starting price of $30,490. Toyota has tweaked the model lineup and dropped the Grande - which could easily re-appear when the Aurion arrived in the middle of 2012 - in favour of an Atara SL at $39,990.

Among the buyer benefits are a seven-airbag interior, safety equipment that includes automatic high-beam and blind-spot monitoring at the top end of Camry, and capped-price servicing extended to four years and 75,000 kilometres at $130 a time for the whole range.

First impressions always count and the new Camry does well.

The looks is more modern and, once you get inside, the driver's seat finally sit low enough that you don't feel you're sitting on the car. It's only a 15 millimetre change but it alters the whole perspective. It's something driven by the Australian engineering team under Max Gillard that also got rear-seat air vents into the Camry, even though it meant convincing Japan that it was alright to cut CD storage space from 17 discs to 14.

DRIVING

Under way, the new powertrain makes the Camry a touch more lively in city traffic and - once you flick across to the manual mode - the transmission responds well to driver commands for twisty roads.

The cabin is more plush than before, and not just a sea a grey plastic, with a big new dash display that works well. It's a pity, though, that satnav is not standard and the punchy JBL sound system is not available on the sporty models.

The ride quality is a little compromised, too, on the cars that ride on 55-series tyres on 17-inch alloys. Actually, the ride is best in the basic Altise.

The boot is truly huge and a lid that swings right up - even on old- fashioned hinges - means it's easy to load and unload. The back seat has plenty of space.

It's going to take a Carsguide comparison to put the Camry into sharp perspective against cars such as the Ford Mondeo and Mazda6, but it's the seventh-generation car is a major advance and has real potential to win buyers.

This is the car Toyota has needed to finally bury the Camry Chicken, which starred for so long in Australian advertising because a stuffed puppet was more exciting than the car.