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"  On-Sale Date: October 2011 Base Price: $20,500 (estimated) Competitors: Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Chevy Malibu, Hyundai Sonata, Ford Fusion Powertrains: 2.5-liter I4, 178 hp, 173 lb-ft; 3.5-liter V6, 268 hp, 248 lb-ft; 2.5-liter I4 with electric\u2013hybrid, 200 hp (net system); six-speed automatic, CVT; front-wheel drive  EPA Fuel Economy (city/highway): 25 to 43/30 to 39 estimated What&amp;#039;s New: The arrival of a new Camry carries a sense of occasion. It has been the best-selling car for 13 of the past 14 years, and is the car that solidified Toyota&amp;#039;s dominance in the U.S. market. And because more people buy this model than any other, a new Camry is both a reflection and a prediction of what Americans want to drive. Under the more aerodynamic new skin, the Camry rides on an upgraded version of the same chassis. In fact, the Camry&amp;#039;s dimensions are nearly identical to those of the outgoing model. So for the first time in Camry history, the model hasn&amp;#039;t grown. But that doesn&amp;#039;t mean Toyota engineers haven&amp;#039;t carved out more room inside. Indeed, there&amp;#039;s slightly more headroom, legroom and shoulder-room. And though this Camry is the same size as the old one and packs more technology, it&amp;#039;s actually lighter by 150 to 200 pounds, thanks to the use of high-strength steel. In hybrid models, Toyota has modified the rear section of the chassis to accommodate a battery pack that&amp;#039;s been moved forward 5.5 inches to increase trunk space, improve crash performance and save weight, chief engineer Yukihiro Okane tells PM. As before, every grade of Camry gets the 178-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder as standard. The SE and XLE models have an optional 268-hp 3.5-liter V6 that became a Camry offering during the car&amp;#039;s previous redesign. Both engines are paired to six-speed automatics. But it&amp;#039;s the Hybrid Camrys that received the most attention under the hood. There&amp;#039;s a new 2.5-liter four cylinder with 156 hp and 156 lb-ft of torque (an increase of 9 hp and 18 lb-ft of torque), which uses cooled exhaust gas recirculation to improve fuel economy. Okane says his team went on a quest to reduce friction and find efficiency: They reduced electrical loss in the inverter, as well as mechanical loss in the transaxle. Though the battery pack itself is the same nickel-metal-hydride chemistry, there is new software to manage it and use electric power more efficiently. There&amp;#039;s also a new Power Control Unit that uses cooling technology from the Prius and combines the inverter and the DC/DC converter into one space-saving unit. The result, Okane says, is that you can hit speeds of up to 45 mph and travel 1.5 miles in EV mode\u2014though probably not at the same time. And he says that Toyota&amp;#039;s internal tests have found this engine&amp;#039;s minimum fuel consumption rate to be better than the Prius&amp;#039;s, and it shaves a half-second off the Camry Hybrid&amp;#039;s 0-to-60-mph time.  Tech Tidbit: Inside, the Camry team eked out every bit of room they could. The front A-pillars were reduced in diameter and reshaped, and the center B-pillar&amp;#039;s cross section was reduced to give the interior an airier feel.  Driving Character: If one word described the experience behind the wheel of the previous Camry, it would be &amp;quot;soft.&amp;quot; Camrys have always had a gentle, pillowy ride that dampens out the worst of the world&amp;#039;s nastiest roads, and they have always been quiet. That hasn&amp;#039;t changed. In fact, the enhanced rear-suspension geometry provides an even more comfortable ride. Up front, there are new inversely wound springs, new shocks and antiroll bars. The Camry hasn&amp;#039;t exactly morphed into a driver&amp;#039;s car, but it&amp;#039;s no longer a one-dimensional cream puff, either.  Few will find a reason to opt for any engine other than the standard four cylinder. It&amp;#039;s powerful and refined, and it moves the Camry with plenty of zest. But pushing a V6 Camry hard through a set of switchbacks is certainly entertaining. Actually, it&amp;#039;s kind of fun. It rolls a bit more than some of the best handlers in the class, but it never felt unstable or unsettled. And the V6 provides major-league thrust. As we passed a cop going the other way, he flashed his lights as a warning. Oops.  Regardless of engine choice, the most impressive model is the SE. You sit down inside this new Camry more than in the last one, and the steering wheel is nice and fat, which immediately puts you in the mood for fun more than the old SE did. The new sport package wears new knuckles up front, lighter and stiffer lower control arms, springs that are 15 percent stiffer and shocks with 50 percent more dampening power than an ordinary Camry&amp;#039;s. In the rear, SEs even have a new pillow ball joint in the control arms to improve handling, and retuned electric power steering. It all combines to make for a Camry that corners harder and responds with more athleticism than any before it.  Favorite Detail: The Camry hybrid blows the old one away when it comes to refinement. It&amp;#039;s nearly impossible to detect exactly when the Camry switches from pure electric mode to a mode in which the engine is running\u2014the car is just so quiet and smooth at this task. This is where Toyota&amp;#039;s longtime hybrid-development leadership pays off. The fact that the hybrid Camry delivers an estimated 43 mpg in the city doesn&amp;#039;t hurt, either. Driver&amp;#039;s Grievance: The new Camry is impressive\u2014underneath the metal. But we found the design to be a little too safe. Why can&amp;#039;t a Camry look as swoopy as a Mazda6? The Bottom Line: Toyota navigated a tricky road, making a new Camry that&amp;#039;s much better than the last model and doesn&amp;#039;t lose all the stuff that has made the Camry the bestseller all these years. The Camry will never be the sportiest or sexiest sedan on the road. But this new one offers a rewarding drive, especially if you opt for the V6 or the SE. Perhaps more importantly, with gas prices spiking, the Camry Hybrid delivers near-Prius mileage. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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