Toyota Camry TRD – 2008 Detroit Auto Show
January 15, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Toyota Camry TRD – 2008 Detroit Auto Show
Toyota Racing & Development has its way with the humble Toyota Camry.
The end result is basically bigger wheels, leather seats and a sunroof with no power increase. A bit of a disappointment for a car with a TRD badge.
On another note Toyota and Microsoft seem to be having a bad partnership to lead the way…
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What are you on about BM? The Aurions better fuel efficiency? Toyotas still have far bette reliability then Ford? By all means bring it up. As for the test drive attack, that was the TRD, not the Aurion… maybe you should stick to painting your nails then commenting on vehicles haha ;)
Im off I will comment at a later date on the attacks to follow after this post
Oz, on my monthly drives from Perth to Kalgoorlie in a then brand new Commodore VS, I had to hang on for Dear Life as the old girl squirmed from side to side as the auto tranny lunged from fourth to second gear as I overtook semis travelling at 90km/h.
At times like those, I would have given anything for a bit of stability, which is what you get with front wheel drive. In blustery conditions with the rain coming in sideways, it’s the front drivers leaving the old Commies for dead at freeway speeds. Oh yes, the fwd/rwd was as alive then as it is now! For the record, I’ve owned both and enjoyed their respective merits. For example, somewhere along the Great eastern Highway, there was a massive gravel-surface rest area and I used to swing the Commy into there and let her off the rwd leash…ooh er!
As for this here Camry, you could achieve the look at a spoiler and mag shop. A nice advance on the far less-ugly-than-before current Camry, but nothing earth shaking.
What am I on about…..you telling Realcars that the FWD v RWD argument has been done……….
Yep true, when we bring up something that has been mentioned you want to move on…..the same thing about Reliability ,Efficiency and Toyotas history keeps getting mentioned by you ,when you see fit ,as you have simply just demonstrated ….
I know it was the TRD…..{WHY WOULD I EVER BE INTERESTED IN DRIVING ANYTHING LESS }Me go and bother test driving an Aurion…..hahahaha
Paint my nails…who does yours????
I would be interested to know whats the fastest car you have driven…cause I can tell you as a TRUE PERFORMANCE driver {that wears heels} once you move forward into real grunt ….you don’t want to step backwards!
Anyone got Dingos/Mikkas number…..
Good on u TP keep the Toyota reliability myth alive by making up stats about our big two. I take my hat off to Toyota they are definitely better spin merchants and I give credit where it is due as they have a dealer network that is more responsive to warranty claims than the others.
I think claimed efficiency gains of FWD over RWD are not as great as u claim.
The main advantage of FWD is that it is cheaper and thats it.
Unfortunately for the TuRD it’s all down hill from there.
First of the widebodies I bet.
TP is correct, they are more fuel efficient as not old hack design motor. Look at motor size, power, setup, and how efficient. The Toyota on current form shits over base model Falcon. Ford’s only hope is rechange majority of there shit useless designs on offer as I stated and get cars into a bigger range offering such as Verve, Iosis, Kluga. HENRY FORD must be turning in his grave. Bit like me when I build homes…I must put more inclusions, unreal price and jaw dropping design to get success. Aside from my Falcon, Fiesta, Mondeo, Ranger, updated Territory the future looks crap and will only widen against Toyota. THE SOONER ALL FORD SUPPORTERS FACE UP TO REALITY…THE BETTER AS LIKE ME YOU SHOULD BE FULLY PISSED AT RANGE AS TOYOTA AND MAYBE GM AND HYUNDAI WILL LEAVE FORD IN WAKE!
Ohhhhhhhh wide bodied ones…mmm they were attractive.
Hi Golfie…I’m with you there dude. My old fella when talking about FWD/RWD used to say horses pull carts not push them.
I remember being greeting by many a sideways sliding falcon or commodore in Mel on the wet spring days. RWD for the race track FWD for average drivers on the road.
Where’s Mikka hiding
As for the TuRD not really impressed looks decidedly dull to me. 4/10 see me. Teach
Hey BM you sure look good in the Pedal car.
No Paul, you lost, you were banned remember? Sucker!
hahaha…gee thanks No Name……I guess you now know what we export to you in the UK…..hehehe
Hey Golfschwein……..you go to Kal regularly..for how long?
I may come up with you one day ……my best friend lives up their!But what are we driving up their in???? hahaha
Hey Bav Mis, that was in a previous life. I used to be a sales rep for what is now Blackwood Atkins. If I try real hard, I can still remember Bosch 10 digit part numbers; 9001066236 for a Holden starter drive and 9001066239 for a Ford. Gosh, it WAS 10 years ago :)
Off to gym now. I’ve larded up horribly over Xmas.
holy hell this one has gone off!!!!!!
ill go have tea before i even start to read this.
please dont post too many more before im back
Toyota’s bolting on of sports bits and then referring to them as “sporty” without actually changing the mechanical components is becoming a bit tedious… I have nothing against the brand or the cars, but if other manufacturers can give you a power increase and better dynamics then why can’t they. Lets hope they realise this sooner rather than later.
Andrew, sometimes it’s hard to resist when TomBoy Puller is taking drugs. :)
Just thinking about it, I’ve not yet driven a modern, powerful Aussie rear-driver with ESP. So it’s possible that you no longer get the feeling that the back’s gonna overtake the front when you gas it whilst passing someone. I don’t know. It’s a fair call that, if so, fwd and 4wd have advanced similarly.
Nothing wrong with that feeling Golfschwein…at least you can steer with the throttle in RWD. Good fun…..I can see I need to take you for a run soon!!!!!
Ok AndrewM is either having a big tea or..hes madly typing!!
hahaha
ok before it goes any further i want something explained to me…..
if the FWD set up is soooo much more efficient then how come the falcon with 10kw less, more weight and RWD does the 0-100 in the same time?
also how come the heavier, RWD and larger motored falcon still only drinks as much as the Aurion?
i say the 6yr old falcon does quite well.
TP,
you change your story all the time. now cornering isnt as important as acceleration? WTF
NM,
what the hell is more fuel efficient?
ive done a quick comparison of economy through out toyotas range V fords range before and in some the toyota edges ford and in others the fords edge the toyota. toyota dont really extract more efficiency than any other maker (or specifically ford)
TP,
im still waiting to see this 6.9 secs from the aurion too.
when they are both tested using the same method the return THE SAME. have you ever heard of a “fair test”. you just finished UNI didnt you? anyone with a bit of scientific knowledge will tell you how important that is.
so this US camry has gone from high 5’s to low 6’s now has it? well it wont beat an XR6T. and if it does it will embarras a TRD Aurion
Hehe,
I dunno why Toyota USA showed this car…
seriously my colleagues here in Toyota USA, Love the look of the Aurion. Aurion was designed by my work there in Oz so.. props to them.
And someone bluntly saying RWD > FWD…. not necessarily… for sports/race cars you have a point.. but try driving a RWD car in the snow with family with you and you will crap your pants every turn… although it depends highly on driving style.. but FWD is not only more economically cheaper for manufacturers (hence most are opting for it, except for Australia’s Ford and GM, which is still sticking to the RWD platform, I dont blame them its their biggest selling point in my opinion)… FWD is all you really need for everyday driving… GM and Ford here in US are switching to FWD soon… Honda, Nissan etc best selling sedans are FWD… actually.. lemme double check on that… Honda for sure.
And oh… Lexus.. RWD platforms..
again supports my case that it is more economical for manufacturing purposes.
RWD setups are definitely better for sports/performance as I said above. But I’m just saying nothing wrong with FWD… if its simply an everyday car.
Nothing wrong with it at all….
slot the 3.5 aurion engine into the camry. or maybe just borrow liberty’s chassis slap on a camry look and put the supercharged 3.5litre inside.
Ummmm and the Falcon is a much bigger motor then the Camry /Aurion and has more power and that motor is more fuel efficient versus the Falcon. Even when driven in real world situations (off the showroom floor) it is better. Maybe Ford will replace its motor soon as read and that will change….where will that motor come from? Not Australia!
Lets just focus purely on Falcon and Camry / Aurion motors as thats what Iam referring too.
Let me start by saying WHY ARE WE COMPARING TOYOTA TO FORD, especially camry to falcon, They are completely different cars.
1. Camry is a mid size so its competition is Mondeo.
2. Both camry and Aurion are FWD sedans, never a good combination here, look at 380/magna.
To comment on the post, TRD need to do more than rims and sunroof, They are both optional extras.
TP,
Typical, straight into the personal attacks.
Don’t go acusing me of not doing my research, when you just regugitate any spurious crap you read on the ‘net. But then you probably don’t realise that “research” doesn’t mean “search the internet then quote it”.
Anyway, V6 Camry (Aurion in Aus) does not do high 5′ low sixes to 100 km/h (Oh “satellite” – inaccurate uless its uses Defence coding, and civilian CAN’T access that).
BTW US testers test 0-60 MPH (or 0-96.5 km/h), which can’t actually be compared. So 6 secs for 0-60 is not 6 secs for 0-100.
Its just a bloody sportivo. Same as an XR6 is just an XT falcon with the feel good bits, wing, wheels and seats.
What a waste of a TRD bagde. They could have just started selling this model as the new base model over there and no-one would have even noticed.
Not to feed anymore fuel to the fire but, Motor tested the Aurion and did 6.8secs to 0-100 having a V8 supercar driver behind the wheel.
As for this TRD, its quite the joke! Even Australia did better for a TRD.
Ummmmm
Good point David N….but the latest Wheels has them both against each other…..
Did ANYONE mention the cost difference between the two?
TRD?????
XR6T ?????
Yet again very boring Toyota much like the TRD Hilux and the Aurion. I have driven the crap out of an Aurion and was very dissapointed with performance, handling and braking. It was not up to par…..I did a direct comparison with a SV6 and reackon the SV6 would smash it in all areas. The Falcon is there with technology and handling but is due for the update which I think will be better than the SV6 and Aurion. Ford has had a years to review the opposition and should beat them. But the pathetic camry is just lame and a waste of time…..i can’t even put sport and camry together….
Which Aurion are you talking about Shane?
Andrew.M… you have trouble dealing with facts, such as FWD being more efficient, its just common sense. The fact is Aurion only has 10kw more to its advantage (weight offset by torque), yets its far quicker in accleration.
Bret… you wanna nitpick go around, the fact is as I stated the V6 Camry in the states is dam quick for what it is, just as quick as a 4L turboed Falcon!!! That is enough to make you laugh.
Anothonii he’s talking about the Aurion were the gear shifter is that cyclindrical object between his legs…I dont think Ive come acorss one person yet who has ACTUALLY driven the Aurion and been disappointed.
SRTargets,
did they test the falcon on the same day using the same driver and same equipment?
its simple……..
when ever they are compared together they seem to come out with the same numbers as each other.
so would you call it a fair test if wheels for eg took a falcon and tested it on a cold night down a slight grade and a 60km/h tail wind?
both comparisons must be done together
TP,
the official figure for the aurion is 7.4secs. read my above post regarding a “fair test”.
yes i know the theory behind a fwd is they are more efficient, but when i look at a aurion V falcon when it comes to fuel efficiency and acceleration i dont see a remarkable difference.
for this camry in the states to beat an XR6T it would smash an TRD Aurion which also has a blower. it wont beat a XR6T if it does run low 6’s any how.
im also assuming the camry motor you are talking about has direct injection?????
also is it 0-60mph or 0-100kmh times
No its the same engine as ours, Im assuming different tuning or lighter car. As for acceleration no, I linked the test Toyota did between them ages back, the Aurion convincingly beat the Falcon… alot of reviews now area also stating the Aurion is quicker, the Drive one was the most accurate given it used a number of measures. As I also said, given the U.S Camry with the same engine does the 100 in 6 seconds… FACT… then the Aurion must be relatively close, not in 7s.
well this sub 6 sec camry really makes the TRD look like a POS then hey??
Who gives a flying F..k what fuel economy it gets?
The XR6T is $12,000 cheaper than the AURION TRD..thats a lot of extra petrol you can afford……not to mention its quicker!
BM stick to the womans mags… we aint talking about fuel efficiency or the TRD.
Andrew.M… its all Toyota… its all better then whatever Ford can offer
Ok, if toyota offers better vehicle (performance wise) then ford, why does toyota need to get there performane arm TRD just to get close to the XR6Turbo. n even then its more expensive. If trd n toyota had a brain they would have taken there arion n let TRD put an all wheel drive system n some decent power n torque figures. If the XR^turbo can beat it, whats the F6 Tyhphoon gonna do to it, let alone the orion version of the XR6Turbo n F6 Tyhphoon. So BM can stick to this website n you can go to ur toyota website!!!
hahaha……Thanks Cobra 302
Ummm Paul so what the hell was this then
‘Andrew.M… you have trouble dealing with facts, such as FWD being more efficient, its just common sense. The fact is Aurion only has 10kw more to its advantage (weight offset by torque), yets its far quicker in accleration.”
Heres a tip for you next time Paul………when some one mentions PERFORMANCE CAR……..we don’t want any mention of bloody economy figures in it,please !!
So why are we talking about poverty pac cars in one breath and performance in another .Thought this was about a soooooooo called Toyota FWD Performance Car…..now that was an Oxymoron …hahaha
Oh and as for the mags………don’t read them !!!! Money on it there more of a range of car books on my coffee table than yours.. How many Toyota mags do they make?hehehe
TP,
just face it Toyota is just the poor mans version of a Lexus.
they take all the good bits out. in most cases the sheet metal is exactlly the same
“Andrew.M… its all Toyota… its all better then whatever Ford can offer”
^^^^ whats that mean? does that mean you love yourself? thats how i translate it
“just face it Toyota is just the poor mans version of a Lexus.”
Want to make a more obvious statement?????
The fact that Toyota owns Lexus ensures that Andrew M!! And technically, Lexus is a rich man’s Toyota, not the other way around…
lol at the “toyota is a poor man’s lexus” comment.
but just a tid bit on Shane’s post.
Care to elaborate on how you were able to “drive the crap out of the Aurion” and managed to compare it “directly” mind you to an SV6?
and still manage to claim that SV6 craps on it?
Our evaluation group drove them and tested both and they didnt notice anything significant enough… mind you they factor in, that one is FWD the other is RWD… for them to claim one “craps” on another… that wording just doesnt hold itself in engineering/evaluation.
built wise… SV6 has some good bits but as all cars have bad bits too. In the end, both cars are good for their purpose, again the buyer will choose which ever suits his/her needs more…. the RWD obviously biased towards RWD-fans.. obviously.
And for the price, TRD Aurion, Ford XR6 Turbo…. and Subaru Liberty Spec B GT… I’d get the Liberty to be honest. Aurion is nice, so is the XR6.. but Liberty is very under rated I think.
GEE COOL!
If it is a poor man’s Lexus…dam the quality is high! Must be fairly accurate as more written of them positive then negative. Finally the Celica is coming back in 2009, and yes I like its raw edgy look. Why……….well Toyota take the envelope on that model and set the pace and not just design same as opposition! WOULD NOT IT BE SO BORING IF ALL CARS LOOKED SORT OF SIMILAR! On that note, any car maker who does that deserves comment positive! MAZDA, HYUNDAI ARE TWO I SPEAK OF.
And by the way loved the Topgear trek on the North Pole, dam bulletproof 4WD and loved the look of it heaps! What did Jeremy Clarkson utter at end of show?????????
….oh yeah Clarkson and his trusty sidekick where in a massive Toyota Hilux. Top colour, wicked flares; and gee didnt he abuse the absolute crap out of it as was clearly evident. Some minor hickups with suspension but it was clear to see how that happened. The most barren harshest place on earth conquered first time with massive amounts of luck and a car that is built to take it! TOP SHOW THAT WAS! CONGRATS TOYOTA!
i drive a camry ateva,,my wife she is driving an aurion trd,,not big thing mat ,i lke more ateva is more secure ,,tha aurin is v6,,200 kw,,but it takes very hard,,i prefer more camry ateva,,if somebody nevare drive’s 1 of this cars dont wryte nothing
“Toyota leads the way!”………..with another unsafe overpowered FWD!
Look at the 3rd pic, “regenerate your thinking”. Yes they do need to regenerate their thinking, by doing something about unsafe overpowerd FWDs.
Why pay about………….say another $10,000 over a sportivo for no power all you are paying for really is the TRD Badge and different rims!!!!! WOW!!! What a waste of money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!