Helping the Avalon's situation is a five-speed "Super Electronically Controlled Transmission", which is really "super" gosh darn
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| The five-speed "Super Electronically Controlled Transmission" is velvety smooth no matter what it's asked to do. (Photo: Toyota Canada) |
it. OK, the name might be a bit silly sounding, but the gearbox is velvety smooth no matter what it's asked to do, and adding to the mix is a slick sequential manual shift mode. I made use of the do-it-yourself function when coursing through some twists and turns and found it easy to operate and effective in holding the appropriate gear when pushing the car through corners. It doesn't hold the gear at redline, a feature some of its peers offer to enhance the sporting feel, but rather shifts when hitting maximum revs. Speaking of driving on the edge, I was actually surprised at how nimble the Avalon felt when tackling tight corners at speed. Body roll has been minimized, allowing the car to maintain a fairly constant tire contact patch which, in-turn elevates grip. This was especially noticeable while pushing the Avalon through a makeshift autocross course, which started out with a long straightway that allowed velocities at greater than highway speeds, then a graduated
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| I was actually surprised at how nimble the Avalon felt when tackling tight corners at speed. (Photo: Toyota Canada) |
right turn ending in a dramatic stop. Toyota had us back the car up at this point, rotating the steering wheel to full lock in order to impress upon us the Avalon's extremely tight turning circle, after which we sped away into a series of slow, parking lot like turns before entering a high-speed slalom course, the entire procedure ending with an ABS brake test. I remember attempting something similar with the upgraded 2005 Camry last summer, and now have to say that the new Avalon is by far superior. This bodes well for the next-generation Camry, however, as it is slated to be built on a variation of the new Avalon's chassis architecture, and from what I've been told, feature a version of the powerful new 3.5-litre V6 in its top trim level.
