The Camry TRD: A Vehicle with Great Potential, But with Some Necessary Trade-Offs

As we sat behind the wheel of the Toyota Camry TRD, it was clear that this vehicle had been engineered to deliver a unique driving experience. The gearing on this car is better than its non-trd counterparts, making manual control shifting feel engaging and immersive. However, as we tested the car at various speeds, it became apparent that certain components were compromised in order to achieve the desirable price point of $31,000.

One notable example was the transmission performance. In second gear, which is quite tall on this car, the motor struggles to keep up with the driver's input. This seal felt like a weak point, causing the car to feel like it was being held back. As someone who has experience with similar vehicles, I couldn't help but think that this aspect of the Camry TRD was an area where Toyota could make some improvements in order to make it truly competitive with other sports sedans.

Another key component that was noticeable in our testing was the exhaust note. While not loud enough for any serious track applications, it did provide a welcome increase in character compared to the standard Camry model. However, this small change had significant consequences when paired with the car's existing gearing. This combination resulted in a lackluster power delivery that left us wanting more. In contrast, some competitors in the mid-size family sedan segment have made strides in improving their transmission performance and gearing, offering more engaging driving experiences.

Despite these compromises, there were still many aspects of the Camry TRD that impressed. One notable example was the exterior appearance package, which effectively added a sporty persona to this already practical car. The styling tweaks made it clear that Toyota had deliberately aimed to create a visually appealing vehicle that would appeal to enthusiasts and those looking for a mid-size family sedan with some personality.

However, we couldn't help but feel that certain aspects of the marketing campaign for this vehicle were exaggerated or even misleading. When pushed on its track day readiness, Toyota officials clarified that it's not actually a sports car intended for high-speed racing, but rather a car designed to handle spirited driving and provide a more engaging experience behind the wheel. This nuanced approach to marketing allowed us to better understand what the Camry TRD was truly trying to offer.

When considering its value proposition, the Toyota Camry TRD is undoubtedly an attractive option in today's market. With a base price of $31,000, it falls significantly below the average transaction price of new cars, making it more accessible to potential buyers. In terms of residual values, this car should hold up relatively well, providing a good return on investment for those who decide to sell their vehicle in the future.

However, there were some areas where we felt that compromises had been made in order to achieve the desired price point. One notable example was the audio system, which fell short of expectations despite being paired with high-end components. The result was an unremarkable listening experience that left us wanting more from this particular aspect of the car.

Ultimately, the Toyota Camry TRD is a vehicle that should be approached with a clear understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. While it may not have all the bells and whistles of some of its competitors in terms of performance and features, its value proposition, exterior design, and overall driving experience make it a compelling choice for many potential buyers.

The pros and cons of the Camry TRD

Pros:

- The gearing on this car is better than its non-trd counterparts

- It has a more engaging driving experience due to the sporty styling options

- Its value proposition makes it an attractive option in today's market, with a base price of $31,000 that falls below the average transaction price of new cars.

- The exterior appearance package effectively adds a sporty persona to this practical car.

Cons:

- Transmission performance is compromised due to the tall gearing and lackluster power delivery.

- Exhaust note is not loud enough for serious track applications.

- Audio system falls short of expectations, particularly in terms of bass response.

- The car feels like it's being held back at times, with certain components failing to meet our expectations.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, the Toyota Camry TRD is a vehicle that should be viewed as a more affordable and accessible option for those who want a mid-size family sedan with some personality. While its value proposition and overall driving experience make it an attractive choice, there are certainly areas where compromises have been made in order to achieve the desired price point. As such, potential buyers should carefully consider their priorities and needs before deciding whether or not this car is right for them.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe Toyota Camry TRD I've already done a video on the fully optioned access C model where I talked about all the benefits and the negatives and most of that's gonna carry over here but that's here D what Toyota's trying to do is add this trim level to invigorate and give the the camry further personality that it already has with this current generation I didn't think it needed anymore but clearly they thought it did and people are buying it and they're buying it for a few reasons but before I get into all the mechanical things I have to say most of the things that they've done here are appearence related they've stripped a lot of the more expensive features off to give you a $31,000 price tag and you get a v6 so in terms of the interior space let's let's talk about it to me what this feels like is a lot of what the FRS or GT 86 or 86 has going on in the interior it's reminiscent from the low glare dashboard and the low glare rubber or vinyl materials on the upper parts of the car the red stitching the way that it feels in many places is trying to give you that element of simplicity or more of that sports car feel traditional analog gauges even though technically they're not analog behind the scenes all the switchgear all the input points are very very toned down so if you're looking for something that is more back to basics old-school Toyota a lot of this is here let me roll up this glass for some privacy and I'm gonna say this interior in car as a whole is for a very specific demographic or market segment everything is just what you've expected in cars for the past 30 years HVAC controls are mechanical you're tuning in volume knob have good feel to them the only real negative here and this is just like the access see is this giant slab of black glossy plastic all over the center stack if you've ever owned a car with this stuff you know one it scratches easy to it always is dirty and three there's always fingerprints on it when you go mash your dirty hands on it the infotainment is dumbed down here it's the smaller screen and it looks funny specifically when you see everybody trying to put 50 inch screens in their cars so this looks a little bit awkward because there's so much bezel around here but they make up for it with all the geometry and the dash the way things are designed you have a mechanical shift lover with the TRD logo on it all the knobs around it are physical you have easy access to USB ports your charging ports your storage is pretty good in here it's a large car don't forget now let's talk about the TRD stuff very briefly as I said it's got red cross stitching it has these soft tech seats which is just pleather and cloth you have red seatbelts to make you feel like you're in a real sporty car and you know there's other touches like floor mats but mostly again this is an appearance package I'm gonna run this into the ground which I won't let's head into the shop and talk about some of the mechanical changes this is the second time I am underneath the new Toyota Camry based on the TNG a.k platform and the original Camry I went over all the details underneath so if you want to know more watch that but this we're gonna cover the TRD specific changes to this car so real honey of an automobile in Japan the turd is known as the Toyota Racing Development team they put millions if not billions of dollars of development into this Camry no they didn't but what we're gonna try to do is level the expectations about what this is and what it is not so tell me about what they changed so they lowered it by 0.6 inches it has specific turd sway bars springs and shocks they only come on this camera you can't buy them as accessories the front sway bar is 44% stiffer the rear sway bar is 67% stiffer it has larger brakes in the front going from a 12 inch on the X se to a 12 point 9 you have dual piste and front calipers in a retuned brake pedal feel you also have wider wheels that come on summer tires they are 8.5 inches versus 8 and they are so lighter by 3 pounds in each corner so not only you have more mechanical grip you have less unsprung weight so it leads to better turn in yeah and you make all these changes the other thing to note is it's on bridgestone potenza summer tires and you will notice first thing I noticed when I got in is the road noise that's generated from them these will not last like your traditional all seasoned if you want to tire the last two hundred thousand miles you can forget about it yeah so it's one of those things you have to know about this the second thing is brake pedal feel because it's been amped up with the dual piston caliper they want to set more solid brake pedal feel it's a little bit more touchy it's not like you know is easy to use so if you're looking again for a more comfortable braking experience that's not this car and then lastly because of the well the suspension changes sway bars the damper tuning you there's more rebound that they've added so when you get on the road you feel a little bit more bounciness from the body and I say bounciness just to describe it it's not unbearable it's not unbearable it's still on the softer side it's totally usable but again everything's been sharpened here they put the structural braces that have the TRD logos across the whole thing they wanted to just tighten everything up to give it a better driving experience but this is far far far and away from a performance car no they try to market this as a track-day vehicle and it's not though you're forgetting one real important piece of this automobile yes because they've lowered it so much and the side skirts that are on here it's really hard to get a jack under it when I put the Ben pack low profile arms to move the pads all the way down and then use pucks as risers because I didn't want to scratch up this thing so if you're constantly underneath this or if you're in an area with a lot of curbing be careful that's not even what I was talking about you're talking about practical things oh the honey of an exhaust back oh yes an echo exactly that's what everybody probably cares about with this it does sound better but something a Formula One car yeah Toyota's Formula One car now we just need to get this thing to rev out to 20,000 rpms that's a good time to take it on the road and see how it don't worry Jack I'll have you home in time for your swordfish dinner now with that gear change not what the auto upshifts that's not very enthusiasts inspired is it jack no but before we get into the negatives which I do have a couple let's talk about what makes the Camry TRD sporty alright let's talk about the good parts all the good things that you get with a traditional Camry is here it's quiet it's comfortable it's refined and it still maintains great ride quality whatever they've done with the dampers here and the firmness of the sway bars and all that stuff you barely notice it even on bad pavement and I think that's the biggest attraction that people are gonna be afraid of like whoo I don't know if I can handle how they've turned up the the volume on everything and it's really very subtle compared to the xse v6 it's very very similar convergently four-cylinder peasant model Camry it is a lot stiff all not a lot stiffer it is noticeably stiffer on the let's call it enthusiast car spectrum it's probably a touch softer than a base WRX yeah I think it's even softer than that like if here is like a track focused car and here's like ultra plush lux luxury car it's probably more on the softer side than it is to the middle and I think if you're an enthusiast looking for a sport sedan know if you're somebody that's never been in a sports car this is gonna feel tremendous to you and it really is and it's completely practical and usable every day there's there's basically no trade-offs of having this unless you can think of one no from a from a Camry buyers perspective if you're John Camry and you're gonna buy a Toyota product you want that safe reliable v6 that sounds not as good as the v6 in a Honda compared like compared to the pilot we had recently does not sound anywhere as good as the Honda's but it is so smooth yeah this is one of them the most smooth if not the smoothest v6 that you're gonna get for under maybe like sixty thousand yeah fifty thousand and in a segment where there are no six cylinders and yes that's the big draw so let's touch on that any Camry that you get with a v6 it's pretty much the lone goose at this time and that alone is a selling point the second part is you're getting this for thirty one thousand and the v6 is super reliable it's got more than enough horsepower the exhaust to me is a bit of a mixed bag it sounds alright but and here's my first negative the transmission gear hunts a ton and an auto up shifts so when you're puttering around and you're lugging the motor the exhaust has this tendency to drone a little bit and it's I mean it's not offensive it's not you know 1990s Honda Civic with a fart can but you always do hear it now you always hear it definitely it's just again its subtleties here this is what they were trying to do they're trying to sharpen things up it nothing stands out here that's grating in any single way and to me that's what's great about this for the traditional Camry buyer now it's time to talk about kind of from a performance perspective where this falls short where I think they could make some improvements so let's get right into it a manual mode stability and traction control or off and I'm gonna launch it okay it's a one wheel peel machine which means it doesn't it's got an open dev yeah and you know you can put summer tires on here you can put the better suspension and all of that but you can't make up for the fact that it's definitely it definitely needs a limited slip differential to take it to the next level that would be a low-cost option in volume to put a Torsen in the front and you know you you've made all these changes to the suspension and the way they've tuned it putting summer tires on there and you've completely obliterated all that as soon as you turn the steering wheel and push on the gas this thing just wants to light up its tires all the time and even when you have traction stability control off it's not really off and Toyota fashion correct so this leans far too much on the stability control system to keep the traction and shock and to me that kills it this do you do have a lot of mechanical grip though to be fair because of the summer time yeah but it's just it's not enough man I mean it most people are gonna take these off and they're gonna put us they're gonna put a traditional yes as soon as you put on it's gonna be even way worse so if you're gonna do it go all the way and putting a limited slip really wouldn't do anything for drivability except make it better I know that they probably didn't think a lot of people were gonna buy this and that's not the case at stake it's a huge tank rate for a Camry of this type so that could be a potential improvement and the biggest negative aside from that is they've made no changes to engine tuning or transmission to name for the TRD version and I think that's another lost opportunity because when you see like their Lexus F Sport products with the same or similar motor they allow you the ability to hold roughs the gearing is better it's a lot more engaging to manually control shifting and what you get here is you want to get that you want to get this thing going because the motor so good but second gear is so tall on this car I'm just gonna take off one more time so you can just have a listen to it it literally drops from almost 7,000 rpms to 3,000 rpms it's a seal and that's where this feels like it's being held back and I said this one I did my Camry review it almost forces you to go up to the Lexus products because they're stripping so much off the table here but the main thing is this is not a sports car it's not a track or anything like that they're adding the appearance package on to give you the personality and if that's what you're looking for and you don't care about all these things we talked about you're gonna love this but as a counterpoint what you've just said the marketing for this vehicle is ridiculous we took it to all these different racetracks it's track day ready the brakes are gonna handle a four hundred miles an hour down the backstraight it is not that car it should not be marketed that way it is a Camry who is some performance parts on it and that's it I don't disagree with you and again I don't mean that bad I'm just disagree with you and I think that's our job as doing this type of stuff is to be like this is what it is this is what it's not and overall I think for the price right let's get into that again if this was $45,000 we'd be having a different conversation but because it's 31 you'd probably get it a little bit less I I am okay with the efficiencies it's superb and it probably has the most personality in the mid size family sedan segment in my bedroom and with that said let's get into the final thoughts and talk about the pros and cons of the Camry TRD final thoughts on the Camry TRD now this is a vehicle that you have to approach with a different perspective if you just paid attention to their marketing you'd think it's a lot more than it is and what they've done here is they took all the good elements of the Camry something that's completely usable practical and reliable the things that people love about it and they've added a little bit more Flair and they've gone to the sporty side and you can tell an engineering and just based on the stuff I read they knew exactly that line they couldn't cross so the exhaust is a little bit louder the suspension is a little bit firmer the tires that they chose are sticky but they don't have an insane insanely stiff sidewall where you blast a pavement in perfection and you feel it throughout your body all of this stuff is - and carefully to deliver just a little bit more fun from a front wheel drive sport sedan whatever that's supposed to mean and I think what they set out to do they accomplished now the negative parts of it are you know if you're gonna market it as an enthusiasts product or something that an enthusiast would like you need to kind of fill a plug in the holes where they're missing out in and I talked about this already transmission performance needs to be retuned gearing needs to be changed it needs a limited-slip if you're gonna keep a v6 and you're gonna you're gonna do what they're trying to do here I feel like they're selling enough of these to warrant maybe a subtle change and it would just transform it completely and without hurting what they're really trying to do and I know it's a cost issue it always is I enjoy driving this car and I enjoy driving it from the perspective I know that most people can afford it at thirty-one thousand or thirty thousand dollars it's way below the average transaction price of a new car which is shot up to like 36 or $37,000 so it's nice to see them putting the money into something that people can actually buy and you're not gonna be totally bent over the residual values are good here you know it's not gonna break hopefully and that's where I liked it now little things like the bass audio that we tested is pretty much average or better than average for a bass audio system again that's there's little things they've had to take out of here to get the price down and I think that's where it's gonna maybe affect certain buyers because they're gonna want more attacks they're gonna want all this stuff and it doesn't have all that to accommodate the fact it just looks a lot cooler it's got a lot more personality and again that's what the Camry TRD is about thanks for watching I'll see you next time you\n"