The Camry is a bit of a snoozefest because it was designed with three things in mind: affordability, reliability, and frugality. Equipped with a free-breathing V6 rather than a four-pot engine, TRD isn't as frugal as the Camry can be. However, it helps the segment's most popular sedan reach 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in 5.9 seconds on winter tires in relatively cold weather.
Pictured at Ontario's Dunnville Autodrome, the Camry TRD further asserted its dominance over the Honda Accord Hybrid and Nissan Altima SR with a quarter-mile pass of 14.5 seconds. Both the Accord and Altima use four-cylinder engines with displacement of 2.0 and 2.5 liters, respectively.
Sam CarLegion quotes 3,556 pounds (1,613 kilograms) for the Accord Hybrid in Touring specification, yet Honda claims 3,532 pounds (1,602 kilograms). Over at Nissan and Toyota, the Camry TRD and Altima SR are listed at 3,575 and 3,323 pounds, respectively, meaning 1,622 and 1,507 kilograms. It should be noted that SR is different from SR VC-Turbo, the latter standing for variable-compression turbo engine.
The Altima SR in the featured clip is equipped with all-wheel drive, meaning that curb weight goes up to 3,442 pounds (1,561 kilograms). Even so, the Nissan didn't stand a chance against the punchier Honda. The best quarter-mile and 0-60 times were 16.0/7.5 seconds for the Altima SR AWD and 15.6/6.8 seconds for the Accord Touring Hybrid.
However, the Nissan does win against the Honda from a 60-kph rolling start, which is 37 miles per hour in old money. Both the Altima and Accord use continuously variable transmissions, although the eCVT in the Accord Touring Hybrid is much superior to the Xtronic CVT of the rival sedan.
Photo: Sam CarLegion on YouTube
Only the Camry uses a good ol' torque-converter automatic, namely an eight-speed box that does not carry over to the 2025 model. Internally referred to as XV80, the all-new Camry is an eCVT-equipped hybrid in the United States market. Neither the V6 nor the automatic transmission will return for 2025 or future models, which is a bit of a bummer.
On the other hand, remember that Toyota and every other automaker in the United States are pressured by CAFE standards to increase their lineup-wide fuel efficiency. As long as the starting price is $30,000 or thereabouts compared to $28,855 for the outgoing Camry LE Hybrid, the switch to a hybrid-only Camry shouldn't hurt sales too much.
Last year, Toyota reported 217,975 deliveries in the United States market compared to 214,403 sales in 2022. Fellow Japanese automaker Honda moved 197,947 units of the Accord as opposed to 154,612 in 2022, whereas Nissan reported 128,030 deliveries compared to 139,955 for the Altima.
It should come as no surprise that all three play second fiddle to each automaker's compact-sized crossover, with the RAV4 selling 434,943 units in 2023 stateside. As for the CR-V and Rogue, they moved 361,457 and 271,458 units, respectively.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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