Is the Toyota Camry Hybrid All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

If you handed a pen and paper to a child and told them to draw a car, chances are they’d draw something that looks a bit like a Toyota Camry. This isn’t so much a rag on the Camry as it is testament to its popularity. It is the archetypical Car of our collective imaginations precisely because it’s not particularly distinctive-looking. This is true even of the new Toyota Camry Hybrid: no matter how many sporty lines or grills you add, it’s still a fairly average, unremarkable-looking car at the end of the day.

But this isn’t a bad thing at all! Driving a Camry is not about how it looks. What you’re looking for in a Camry is how it performs on the safety and reliability front, and how practical it is for the day-to-day.

Fortunately, the new Toyota Camry Hybrid delivers on all those fronts.

Image © Jerome Lee

A super smooth, comfortable ride

Similar to previous Camrys, the new Hybrid is easy and comfortable to drive, and it’s best-suited for city and highway driving. The word that springs to mind is ‘reliable’: it accelerates and brakes smoothly, and feels nice and stable, thanks to the weighted steering. The suspension is decent, and while roads in Singapore are generally good, the Camry will still sail over minor bumps on the roads with minimal impact. It’s also nice and quiet inside the car, thanks to its quality build and quieter hybrid engine.

One thing to watch out for: the brake pedal is super-sensitive at lower speeds, so it pays to be a little more careful when parking.

Image © Jerome Lee

Plenty of space

3 adults can sit quite comfortably in the back seat, and there’s a good amount of legroom for your rear passengers. We’ve upgraded the cloth seats to leather upholstery for additional comfort. The boot is spacious and well-shaped, and suitcases notwithstanding, you’ll be able to fit up to 4 golf bags inside. (How important is that?)

Excellent safety features

The new Toyota Camry Hybrid has a laundry list of safety features––an important consideration for everyone from first-time drivers to those with children. Here are a few we like: Lane Trace Assist (LTA): This is for all the drivers who can’t seem to stay in their lane. (You know who you are!) Don’t worry – Lane Trace Assist is here to help. This system basically helps the driver stay in the middle of the lane, even providing a little steering assistance when you’re on the highway! Great for newbie drivers.

• Vehicle Stability Control (VSC): VSC does what it says on the tin, which is to help your car stay more stable while keeping it going towards where your wheels are pointed. (Hopefully that’s straight and not off into a longkang!) When it’s on, the system applies brake pressure on up to 3 wheels.
  

• Traction Control System (TCS): This is for all those rainy days and slippery roads. Essentially, it sends your wheels and brakes enough power to make sure they’re moving at the correct speed for the right amount of traction. That way, you won’t go spinning off the highway when it’s thunderstorming outside. TCS is a pretty basic safety feature for cars these days, but you know what they say: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
  

• Active Cornering Assist (ACA): Like the name suggests, this helps you when you’re driving around sharp corners––you’re less likely to veer sharply off-course.

(Fun fact: these safety features don’t just belong to the Camry; they feature across the Toyota range of cars, like the Corolla Hatchback Hybrid.)

Bonus: the Camry Hybrids we’ve imported from Japan have folding side mirrors, which are great for preventing them from being clipped or destroyed by passing cars!

Image © Jerome Lee

Practical for the day-to-day

Practicality is one of the best qualities of the Toyota Camry Hybrid. This is the sedan for pragmatic people who need to get things done. It’s a good size for the average family in Singapore, and it’s competitively sized when it comes to storage––very important when you have strollers and family-sized grocery trips to consider!

As a free upgrade for our customers, we’ve jazzed up the Camry Hybrid a little, adding a wireless charging port in the cockpit. It charges relatively quickly, so you can be sure you won’t be stuck at 5% by the time you reach your destination twenty minutes later.

Image © Jerome Lee

We also really like being able to see a trip summary at the end of each drive on the dashboard––it’s nice being able to see how fuel-efficient your latest journey was!

Value for money

We love hybrids for their relative eco-friendliness––they straddle the line between combustible engines (petrol) and electric cars. But one of the top reasons many buyers love hybrids is their fuel economy. They’re much more efficient than conventional petrol-guzzling cars, and they’ll save you hundreds of dollars in petrol top-ups in the long run. Like the new Corolla, the new Toyota Camry Hybrid delivers on all these fronts.

(For more on hybrids, check out our post on why you should consider a hybrid car.)

To Camry, or not to Camry?

We’ll be honest here: the Camry is not the most exciting car in existence. Despite the sporty upgrades and sleeker lines, the Camry is at its heart a midsize family sedan. And that’s okay. This is what it’s meant to do, and decades of steady Camry sales reflect its status as one of the most well-loved cars in the Toyota lineup.

If you want a car that’s safe and reliable, with a good resale value and no nasty maintenance cost surprises, that’s exactly what the Camry offers. Good for first-time car owners and families.

Want to try out the Toyota Camry Hybrid? Head on over to ST Auto for a test drive with our friendly sales staff. Call +65 6464 9098 or email us at enquiry@stauto.com.sg