2007 Toyota Camry Preview

Bluetooth, JBL stereo, Smart Entry, DVD navigation - what more could you ask for from a family sedan? (Photo: Jonathan Yarkony, Canadian Auto Press)

The Hybrid, mind you, is just another piece of the Camry puzzle. Toyota has taken great pains to establish a clearer distinction between the different models that bear the Camry name than it did in year's past, and as in the past, the Camry fortunes will fare as well as its most basic form, the CE.

The CE benefits from a wheel upgrade (16-inch steels are the basic boots), a completely revised chassis, recalibrated suspension, enlarged 4-wheel disc brakes (ventilated up front, solid in back), seven airbags and an engine immobilizer. Other convenience features include automatic headlights, a tilt/telescope steering wheel and a six-speaker AM/FM/CD audio system with an auxiliary jack for MP3 devices.

From there, the list of features and options only gets longer (and the price grows fatter, no doubt), but some of the more exotic options include a 440-watt JBL stereo, Bluetooth capability, rear reclining seats, voice-command DVD navigation, and a "key in the pocket" Smart Entry and Smart Start system using Toyota's Smart Key. Boy, are those Toyota engineers ever Smart, or what?

Non-hybrid Camrys start with the 2.4L 4-cylinder engine found in

New to the Camry range is the Hybrid, which mates a 2.4L gasoline engine with Hybrid Synergy Drive. (Photo: Jonathan Yarkony, Canadian Auto Press)

many Camrys already on the road. This engine has been probed cylinder by cylinder, plumbed to its farthest depths and massaged to 158-horsepower, up 4 from last year. Ooooohh. No matter, that engine is spectacularly reliable and commendably efficient, improved to 9.4 L/100 km for city driving - down from 10.0 L/100 km - but it has actually lost ground while highway cruising at 6.9 L/100 km compared to last year's 6.4.

One thing I can add to the engine commentary is that the 2.4 I drove previously in the outgoing Camry is a smooth performer with ample power for daily duties in town or on the highway. Toyota is also standing pat on its similarly smooth five-speed automatic and manual transmissions.

The

Camry's interior is also revolutionized: cleaner, slicker, more minimalist in design. (Photo: Toyota Canada)

new Camry bypasses the odd availability of both a 3.0L V6 and a 3.3L V6 on former models by upping their game at the top end with a 3.5L V6 (based on the same engine found in the hot IS 350 as well as the much sportier new Avalon) that delivers up to 40 percent better acceleration over the aforementioned 3.3L. This engine features all of Toyota's latest bells and whistles, such as Dual Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (Dual VVT-i) for relentless power throughout the rev range.

And with that upgraded V6 Toyota has also busted out a brand new six-speed automatic transmission with sequential shift mode that can downshift in 0.5 seconds and has the ability to learn shift patterns (more intelligence). As important to the reliability-conscious brand, the higher-tech gearbox actually uses fewer parts so that hopefully even fewer things will go wrong with it.

Camry SE (pictured) has the suspension tweaks to keep sporty drivers happy. F1-derived aerodynamics? Well, that's another story.  (Photo: Toyota Canada)

The 3.5L V6 can be had in three trim levels. The LE is more basic, with only a couple of upgrade packages. The XLE throws the book at you feature-wise, resulting in what is sure to be one of the best-equipped midsize sedans around. And finally, the one variant that might really help break the Camry out of its utilitarian mold: the SE.

With the SE, Camry buyers get a totally revised suspension featuring springs, anti-roll bars and bushings set for more enthusiastic (i.e. faster) driving behaviour. The Camry family's black sheep is also lowered almost half an inch (10 mm) compared to other models, while extra bracing has been added to improve body rigidity and an underbody aerodynamics package was influenced by Toyota's Formula 1 Racing program. Toyota engineers applied lessons learned at the F1 level to help manage the SE's underbody airflow to decrease drag overall but also increase downforce when needed, improving stability at high speeds. Blatant visual cues include SE badges, 17-inch alloys, a blacked-out honeycomb grille, ground effects, smoky tinted headlamps, exclusive interior trim and amber-coloured readouts on gauges.