As the alternative propulsion sector stands now, Toyota has it pretty good. The do-no-wrong Prius is indisputably the eco car standard-bearer, and continues to sell in healthy quantities -- 83,918 through August 2011. But this is America, land of the pickup truck and midsize sedan. Fortunately for Toyota, it also knows how to build, market, and peddle cars like the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid.
We courted a Camry Hybrid in the past as a long-termer, and dated during the 2007 model year when the then-new Camry won Car of the Year. But times change and we all grow older. And given how the competition has been nipping at its green-sheened heels lately, Toyota is back spitting some high-mileage midsize game at just the right time.
Let's talk fuel economy. Whereas the old Camry Hybrid's 31/35 mpg city/highway pales in comparison to the Ford Fusion Hybrid's 41/36 mpg city/highway and the hybridized Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima (35/40 mpg city/highway), our top-of-the-line 2012 XLE tester does a cool 41/38 mpg city/highway on 17-inch alloys wrapped with low-rolling-resistance 215/55-17 tires. That's a 21-percent combined mpg improvement over 2011. A spirited 200-plus-mile dash of city, highway, and quick, undulating back roads left us with a real-world consumption of 37 mpg. Go with the more basic LE trim -- replete with smaller 16-inch steel wheels and narrower rubber -- and the EPA figure rests at 43/39 mpg city/highway (up 26 percent).
Considering Toyota didn't need to bet the farm on this revision, the changes to the Camry Hybrid's powertrain aren't radical, but they're effective. The gas engine portion of the Hybrid Synergy Drive system is now a 2.5-liter inline-four, replacing the former 2.4-liter. The cylinder bore is 0.06-inch bigger and the piston stroke is 0.06-inch longer, and as is customary with most hybrids it continues to run the efficiency-obsessed Atkinson combustion cycle. A new water-cooled exhaust gas recirculation system recycles a fraction of the engine's gaseous discharge, assisting the Atkinson process by allowing the air/fuel mixture to stay as lean as possible. The 12.5:1 compression ratio is untouched and the port-injected four-cylinder ultimately puts out more carbon-emitting power than last year: 156 horsepower (+9 hp) and 156 lb-ft of torque (+18 lb-ft).
The tailpipe emissions-less electric component of the power-split hybrid system is chiefly championed by the 141-horsepower tractive motor. If directed by the continuously variable transmission or slipped into the newly inserted EV mode, the motor alone can propel the Camry Hybrid with a not-unsubstantial 199 lb-ft of torque (peak torque available from 0-1500 rpm). Unless the 1.6-kilowatt-hour nickel-metal-hydride battery is at its most minimal state of charge, driving around town carefully and quietly as a bona-fide EV is a cinch, and doesn't feel particularly penalizing given the motor's output. Toyota claims there is less friction loss in the transaxle and better motor-voltage control aiding the relatively accomplished HSD system. Blending battery and gasoline energy sources in haste produces a net of 200 silky horsepower, up from 187. Powertrain integration is honestly among the best of any hybrid vehicle out there.
Weight reduction was always in the playbook with CAFE relentlessly pushing automakers, and at 3460 pounds, the new Camry Hybrid is 129 pounds lighter than our original long-termer. Thanks to different battery packaging, the trunk adds another 2.1 cubic feet of volume, expanding to 13.1 cubic feet.
The soft, floaty ride helps generate the illusion the Camry Hybrid is larger than it really is, a plus if you're constantly shuttling people around. There's sufficient space in the back seat to fit three average-size males abreast without the middle passenger having to curl into a ball -- taxi fleets operating Camry Hybrids should find welcome fares. On paper, the interior dimensions haven't drastically changed, with the biggest numeric differences highlighted in rear leg room (+0.6 inch) and rear hip room (+0.6 inch).
Performance, presumably a lesser worry for the hybrid midsize sedan buyer, improves in every testable way. Going from 0-60 mph takes 7.2 seconds, a half-second quicker than the 2007 model. The quarter mile is completed faster (15.5 seconds at 91.5 mph versus 15.9 at 89.1), the 60-0 braking distance is shorter (128 feet versus 134), and the figure-eight time is a full 1.1 second clear of the elder sedan's time (28.0 seconds at 0.61 average g versus 29.1 at 0.56). The electric steering has positive, linear weighting and the firm brake pedal offers a surprisingly short stroke with little of the grabbiness anticipated from a braking system with regenerative functions. And speaking of regenerative braking, it has also been optimized, per Toyota. Golly, is there anything the Camry Hybrid can't do?
Answer: Kind of. The interior design and build materials won't be winning any awards, not even in the pedestrian midsize segment. We found the revised color patterns a bit more inviting, and the ergonomics and controls placement and functionality to be well executed, but in the end there's a lack of intangible warmth in the cabin - it's appliance-like, if you will.
Then there's the pesky question of sales. The low-volume hybrid is expected to appeal to a slim customer range, but Toyota expects an upswing to accompany the lowered prices, with the LE starting at $26,660 and the XLE at $28,160. Groundbreaking it is not, but remember, the new fuel economy gains are the effort of what should fundamentally be prescheduled updates. Imagine what the next Camry Hybrid will be like...
