2025 Toyota Camry Review | Toyota's Finally Gone All-In On High MPG Hybrid Tech!

hey everybody today I am down in Southern California finally getting Hands-On with the 2025 Toyota Camry but before we get stuck into the latest generation Camry we need to back up just a little bit because Toyota's CEO has made waves he has said that he believes in a zero emissions future but he believes there's a different route to get there and this is the perfect example of his philosophy because for 2025 the Camry is going to come only one way every model is going to be a hybrid that means this is going to be the best selling hybrid in North America they expect to sell over 300,000 of them a year and that could logically have a bigger environmental impact than every electric vehicle that Ford has ever [Music] sold now note that I did not say bigger environmental impact than everything that Tesla has sold because that's a very different kettle of fish and maybe we'll talk about that in a future video Let's get back to the Camry itself because obviously this is targeting a different Shopper someone that just wants High fuel economy but it's still going to be burning gasoline now Toyota has said that they're calling this an allnew generation Camry before anybody gets offended in the comment section yes it does share an awful lot of its structure with the previous generation Camry but we get new Engines new electrical systems new Safety Systems a completely new interior and a pretty extensive exterior design change as well I think this design is much more attractive than the outgoing Camry but that's just me there are going to be several different grills up front because there's still a wide variety of Camry to choose from this particular model has this sort of combination diamond shaped element going onto the stripes there horizontally I think this is the more attractive front available and I really love this electric teal paint job that this model has on it it's an all new color and hopefully you'll be able to buy it in other Toyota models but at the moment it's just going to be on this one we get standard LED headlights the LED headlight designs change a little bit here and there but we have standard LED daytime running lamps standard LED turn signals Etc everything's an LED and then a little bit of additional cooling going on in that area right there I think it's an interesting combination of some previous generation Toyota products maybe a little bit of Prius going on there logically since this shares some of its structure with the previous generation model it's about the same size really the difference just happens in the bumpers this is 193 1/2 in long so slightly longer than the outgoing model but rides on the exact same wheelbase and the important Dimension that's the same for a lot of Shoppers is the roof line so we don't get any reduction or any increase in rear seat or front seat Headroom the sharper lines and refined styling continue out back where we find all new taill light modules full LEDs of course with Amber turn signals I do love the Amber turn signals something that is missing on the new Crown signia I have to say bottom of the bumper shiny black plastic that's something that we've been seeing in some new Toyota models lately my only concern about that is that that is going to scratch a little bit more easily over time and it's going to show those scratches a bit more visibly than the painted section of the bumper above there we have well integrated parking sensors in the back Camry spelled out nice and Broad the release for the trunk it's way over there by the Y and then over here we have the Beyond zero badge now if you're confused about a Beyond zero badge on a hybrid vehicle that is pretty literally before zero uh that speaks to Toyota's philosophy when it comes to zero emissions and electrification Etc they really want to go in a stepbystep program make everything hybrids make everything plugin hybrids then go full on on the zero emissions and of course it represents their holistic approach not just on vehicles but also where they Source their energy where the materials from the vehicle come from Etc so they say they're committing themselves to reducing their carbon emissions all the way down to a point where they get to zero and this is one of the vehicles in that program so that's why it wears the badge still think it's a little silly though under the hood we have the big change for 2025 the latest Toyota hybrid system and this is not using the somewhat controversial hybrid Max system that we find in the crown or the grand Highlander Instead This is using the classic planetary power split hybrid system that Toyota has been known for ever since the Prius first launched on this side of the engine bay we find a 184 horsepower 22 L 4cylinder engine on that side of the engine bay we find two electric motors and a single planetary power split system that really is the core reason that Toyota hybrids are so reliable they're mechanically very simple there are fewer Parts going on they're mechanically than in pretty much every automatic transmission vehicle available in North America today then to add all-wheel drive they add an additional electric motor to the back which is why the all-wheel drive system bumps power total up to 232 from 225 in the base model fuel economy pretty darn fantastic 51 MP gallon in the base version on up to 44 m per gallon for the least efficient version of the Camry that's why this is going to have such a big impact on Toyota's emissions rolling down the road going forward because they're going to be selling 300,000 Vehicles a year that will be getting at least 44 m per gallon and the previous generation of the Camry you know it could hit 20 to 25 M per gallon in real world driving this is going to be significantly better than that the other big change for 2025 is that they've gone to a lithium ion battery pack under the rear seats now I have always been a fan of the nickel metal hydride chemistry that Toyota has used but there are a few incremental benefits for using a lithium ion pack mainly having to do with drivability so Toyota says that they can give you a little bit better acceleration because they can draw a little bit more power from the battery they've been able to make things a little bit smoother improve the Regeneration potential a little bit but you notice the fuel economy is not vastly changed from the previous generations of Camry where you had nickel metal packs so maybe 1 mile per gallon or something like that curb weight is essentially the same because the battery pack in the rear even though it's physically smaller is actually not that much lighter than the outgoing nickel pack if you weren't a fan of the seating position in last year's Camry 2025 is not going to change your mind because it's essentially the same we get the same leg room Headroom figures and the same sort of seat geometry and steering wheel geometry that we found last year we get a pretty decent range of motion for this tilt telescopic steering column it is manual the seat however it's me re link two position lumbar support over here for the driver and decently long front seat track so taller drivers shouldn't have any problem finding a good driving position in the Camry however Headroom figures those could be a little bit higher one thing that I've noticed in the sedan segment is that seemingly without exception every time a sedan is redesigned the roof line gets lower and lower and lower and that hasn't reversed course it hasn't gotten worse in this Camry but it hasn't reversed course to give you more Headroom so certainly keep that in mind and even in this XLE trim we don't get a front passenger seat with the same range of motion as the driver's seat jumping into the back seats we still find one of the most comfortable and roomiest seats in this segment with the front seat adjusted me at 6t tall you can see I still have plenty of leg room left I would have no problem fitting a rear-facing child seat back here Headroom it's also pretty generous if I sit very upright my hair is just barely brushing the ceiling depending exactly how you're sitting maybe you could slouch and get a little bit more Headroom but over here in the middle seat definitely less Headroom available because of course this is a very bucket style outboard seating position Now versus the 2024 Camry you will notice that the Headroom and leg room figures are identical but the Headroom figures are not the same as the nonhybrid outgoing Camry that actually got a tiny bit more Headroom because of where the battery pack is located it's located under the rear seats the battery itself and I'm talking about the cells not the entire package that is smaller thanks to the lithium chemistry but the entire package deal is about the same size when we're talking about the cooling the structure everything that is the battery pack essentially occupies the same space under the seat as the nickel metal pack did so they didn't drop the seat down for this generation now on the other hand having a seat that's slightly higher off the ground is actually going to be a little bit more comfortable people that are a bit taller because you'll find more leg support you just won't find quite as much Headroom rear seat passengers get a fold down armrest with two cup holders a USB A and C charge port two air vents there and we still have of course 60/40 folding rear seats they don't fold flat with the cargo area in the back however it's about a 7in ramp or so up the trunk that's basically the same size as before just over 15 cubic feet and you can't fit some of these roller bags like this 22in roller bag in the vertical position like that like you can in some Nissan and still close the trunk lid if you love spare tires and honestly who doesn't then under the floor and under this foam divider we do find a temporary spare tire it's a T1 15517 but you know what I'd rather have a tiny spare than no spare at all as we take a look around the interior keep in mind this is an XLE trim so obviously there going to be things here you won't find in the base model and this is one of the more expensive ways to get the Camry we have this big two pane power moon roof the front pane opens then back there near Travis's head we have a slightly smaller pane as you can see his hair is also brushing the ceiling back there but definitely a bit more room than you'd find in some of the swooper and sleeker vehicles in this segment up here we have height adjustable shoulder belts and height adjustable headrests they've also switched things up when it comes to the upholstery both in terms of the colors and the textures I really like what's going on with this model it's sort of a felt looking sort of microfiber suede kind of thing here on the side of the seats perforated leather facing on the seats here these seats are both heated and ventilated and then if we move over to the front doors you notice that in addition to that microfiber sort of uh fabric there we get added texture to it so it's kind of a crossweave kind of texture here's a little bit of a closer look over here on the dashboard I don't know how easy that is going to be to clean but they do say it has been stained treated so it should be a little bit easier to clean than most fabric seats without the stained treatment moving back to the front doors we do have a reasonable percentage of hard plastics that insert right there around the window switches that's hard but the upper section in the doors that soft as is the armrest we get bottle holders that are about the same size as the outgoing bottle holders in the doors moving on over to the dashboard again we have a slot style glove compartment that's not my favorite but I think that you maybe could squeeze an 11-in tablet computer in there if you tried the big design difference on the dashboard has to be if I zoom out of course the big screen in the middle of the dash but also the way that it's integrated into the dashboard this gives me actually some Lexus Vibes with the way that we have these Stripes over here we have a soft touch injuction molded upper section of the dash that fabric portion there and then of course hard plastics lower on the dash as you'd expect now getting to the screen in the middle of everything this is basically the same LCD that we find in a variety of different Toyota products only it's arranged in the dashboard a little bit differently you'll notice that they don't just stick all the screens on in exactly the same way some of them have different bezels some of them stick up like tablets some of them are more or less integrated depending on what you're looking at uh the same software is running on all of them however so if I go over here to the main Toyota menu you'll notice we have Factory navigation there everything is internet driven and it's all voice commandable as well moving over here to the car options you have your typical things like climate Comfort trip information vehicle alerts Etc this is not quite as fully featured as some but it's pretty simple and easy to use so if you prefer something that's a little bit simple and intuitive you might want to take a look at this if you like more features and maybe you're okay with a more complex menu structure you can check out some other options down here we have controls for the Dual Zone automatic climate control I really appreciate the fact that we have lots of physical controls for this system here including toggles for the temperature that's pretty natural to use then we have toggles for the fan speed and just a one down press sort of piano key like thing for the heated steering wheel there big air vents right in the center of everything USBC charge only ports right there usba a interface port for the system if you'd rather connect your carplay or your Android auto in a wired fashion wireless charging mat right there it is charging my phone through its thicker case I am happy to see that over here we have some storage where you can put I don't know uh sunglasses things like that two big cup holders there you can see that the key that hasn't really changed it's the same as other versions of Toyota's keys that we've seen some of their other products we have a pretty typical console shifter here so not the joystick style shifter we find in some of their hybrids drive mode selectors here Eco normal and Sport EV mode obviously brake hold there as well and and then a soft touch Center armrest it's really really long and that's actually made possible by the way that they've actually shoved everything up there closer to the firewall so the cup holders I think in a more usable position closer to the front of the vehicle and then the charger and everything that's been pushed further away that also has the effect of giving us a bigger storage compartment right here in the middle you see this is where we find the 12volt power port moving on over to the driver side we have a heads up display up here something that we don't find in in all of the models even in Toyota's lineup so I'm surprised that it made its uh return here we then have a full LCD instrument cluster nice touch highly configurable basically the same one that we see in a bunch of other Toyota models moving out from there we have a slightly different steering wheel Design This is similar to what we find in the crown I find that these spokes are just a little on the thick side but overall it's a pretty comfortable steering wheel and definitely uh pretty attractive here on this side we find the controls for the multi-function LCD cluster up there on this side we find the controls for the standard adaptive cruise control you'll find the infotainment buttons on the bottom of the steering wheel this little guy here which has sort of the devil ey staring at you that's part of the driver attention monitoring system but we don't have any blue Cruise or super Cruise like functionality in here to the left of the driver we have an additional bank of buttons just under that fabric insert on the dashboard and one of them is the 360° camera button if your camera is so equipped one of the coolest features with Toyota's 360° camera system is obvious when you're in Reverse if I start moving you'll notice that that little black box it's actually going to sort of roll up like a window shade and it's actually going to be showing you on the screen what's under the vehicle now it does time out so if I drive forward here for a while and then put it in reverse again it's going to remember that but if I stay parked for too long it's going to turn black or turn car colored it kind of helps you see exactly what you've rolled over or are about to roll back over it's done by image processing from the front camera and the back camera it stitches them together into that image pretty cool touch not everybody's interested in a fully loaded model so here's what the interior looks like in an Le trim we have a regular sized sunroof instead of the panoramic moon roof right there still hi adjustable shoulder belts but obviously fabric upholstery different fabric than we found in the other model we have some texture and pattern going on in this upper section and then more of a pretty traditional fabric right there for the middle we then find that same fabric as an insert on the doors instead of that sort of alcatara or sued like material very similar treatment to the dashboard over here on the passenger side there's that fabric insert running across that portion of the dashboard as well we then have dual zone climate control right here in the center heated but not ventilated seats and the smaller LCD up here it's still running essentially the same software with Factory connected or sorry Internet connected navigation right there but on a smaller screen obviously it's going to support Apple carplay and Android auto the center console it's basically the same as the other model we get more of a rubber texture to the center console armrest and then on the driver side we find a smaller LCD instrument cluster you can see that we have a full LCD for most of the functions but then LED gauges for things like the fuel level and engine temperature the steering wheel it's basically the same as the rest of the lineup though all right it's time to get the pulse quickening Camry Hybrid out on the road 0 to 60 you know it happens it's probably going to be around 7.5 seconds or so about the same time as the last generation Camry because because we have very similar power output if you get the all-wheel drive option you get a little bit of a power bump in the rear but it's probably not going to be enough to compensate for the added weight of the electric motor so it's actually probably going to be a little bit slower 0 to 60 in that model dynamically the Camry is always done relatively well but in this generation we're not going to get the TRD Camry which was the sportier version with improved driving Dynamics in this generation it's all about fuel economy but that doesn't mean that it handles like a wet noodle it actually still does pretty well out on winding roads like this obviously we don't have any official scores at this time you're going to have to wait until we can get this back at home for complete testing but at this point I should mention that Andre and Roman are hanging out back there in the rear seat so uh hey say everybody there we have a fully loaded car there are four of us in here and this is of course a fully loaded Camry as well and that's going to take a toll on the acceleration of course but thanks to the hybrid systems design it feels pretty py especially in passing Maneuvers we're going 20 mph here and I floor it we don't have that rubber Bandy feel like you'd get in something like a Nissan Sentra or a Honda Accord with an actual CVT that's because we have that electric motor that has a decent amount of low-end torque and thanks to the lithium ion battery pack under the rear seats it can give you a little bit more oomph than the outgoing nickel metal hydride pack now on the battery chemistry front it honestly doesn't make much of a difference and it's not really going to have a huge impact on your fuel economy this is right around where the previous generation Camry was as far as efficiency 51 MP gallon in the best model about 44 in the least efficient and currently we are driving driving the least efficient trim Toyota says that they have also worked a little bit on cabin refinement I think that the cabin seems to be a little bit quieter than the outgoing model although the difference is probably minor enough that I shouldn't really be able to tell until we can get this at home and run it through those usual battery of tests I will say that the engine is a lot less Gruff than some of the competition and certainly less Gruff than the 2.4 L 4-cylinder turbo we see in the Toyota lineup I think this 2.5 comes across as a little bit smoother and a little bit more refined than some not the most finded in this segment mind you but certainly more refined than average as before Toyota is offering two different suspension Tunes there's essentially the sporty suspension tune and the regular suspension tune you'll find the regular one in Le and XLE the sporty one logically in SE and Xs you're not going to find that much difference between the suspension Tunes however you will notice that the xse tune delivers a few more of the small imperfections through the road into the cabin but it's not really going to turn this into some sort of you know tooth Sha ing event when you go over a pothole or something like that it's not that firm that makes a lot of sense of course because even in xse guys this is still going to be used for your daily commute shuttling the kids to school picking up your grandmother Etc and for those kind of use cases you don't want something that's rock hard you don't want BMW M5 or M3 you want something that's a little bit more daily driver relable now there have been plenty of rumors out there that maybe we're going to find a sportier version of the Camry at some point in the future the previous generation did sell a decent number of TRD models and I wouldn't be surprised if maybe at some point we saw a return for the TRD moniker of course with a hybrid system so I wouldn't be surprised if this at some point got the hybrid Max system out of the crown jammed under the hood for maybe a limited edition run of trds but we have absolutely no visibility on that I wouldn't expect to hear anything for a few years bottom line the Camry did not turn over a new Leaf for the ninth generation and really in many ways this is Camry 8.1 it's a redesign of a lot of the Camry's compos a lot of the user interface components but the bulk of what the Camry feels like out on the road is exactly the same so if you currently own an eighth generation Camry and you like the way that it drives you're going to like the way this drives with the extra fuel economy and a little bit of added performance if you were not a fan of the way the Camry drove before this is probably not going to change your mind so how much will the new Camry set you back well unfortunately it is going to be a bit more expensive than the 20124 model year now base model to base model that's where you're going to see the biggest price bump about 2 ,000 up to 28,400 plus a $1,095 destination charge if you want all-wheel drive that's $29,995 in the Le trim all-wheel drive is an approximately $1,600 upgrade across the lineup and you can get it in every trim including a base Le trim I've actually moved over to this LE model it's the one I showed you the interior of earlier you can see on the outside it is very similar to The XLE you saw earlier we get different wheels of course different badging on the back and the less expensive interior ior quite frankly but it's still quite comfortable so as comfort level goes it's basically the same functionality level it's actually very very similar because we get the exact same software on that infotainment system just on a smaller screen and we get basically the same software on the instrument cluster just on a smaller screen I think actually the lle trim is a really good deal if you want to step up to the XLE that's $33,500 the xse trim is going to be the most expensive way to get your Camry it's going to start around 34,0 00 and head on up to around $41,000 or so versus the competition it's right in line with most of the hybrid entries in this segment but it does mean that the Camry has become more expensive as far as the base price versus a lot of the competition I know that the hybrid system is going to be controversial in some circles but this was exactly the right thing for Toyota to do not just because obviously this is going to result in lower carbon emissions for the life cycle of the vehicle and the Camry life cycle generation in this generation C as well but because it's simply less expensive to you as a shopper and that's going to be a big big deal for a lot of Toyota Shoppers this drive Trin is going to save you between $600 and $1,000 a year on fuel versus the outgoing non-hybrid 4cylinder and up to $1500 a year versus the outgoing V6 it is significantly more efficient and it's not just about efficiency it's also about maintenance costs and long-term reliability statistically Toyota's hybrid systems have been the the most reliable drivetrain option in every vehicle that have been offered in although it's clearly too early to tell exactly how this hybrid system is going to go they have a fantastic track record and if I were a bing man which I'm not my money would be on this being the most reliable entry still in the midsize sedan segment so lower long-term maintenance costs are definitely a big thing also wear items are going to be a little bit cheaper on this vehicle you aren't going to have to replace your brakes as often because of the regenerative braking system oil actually lasts longer in a hybrid because the engine is not running all the time so a lot of those shorter term maintenance costs are also going to be lower on the Camry hybrid versus the non-hybrid Camry so I think this was exactly the right direction to go not just because it's more environmentally conscious but also because it's financially conscious the average person is going to save the difference between this and the cost of a non-hybrid 2024 within the average lease cycle so just 3 years and if you plan on owning one of these for 10 or 15 years we're talking about6 to 7,000 just on fuel savings versus the outgoing four-cylinder model and that is a huge huge deal so be sure and sound off let me know what you think about all that down there in the comment section below did Toyota go in the right direction with just this hybrid system or should they have also offered the less efficient hybrid Max system in the Camry lots of rumors point to that possibly coming at some point in the future that's that 366 horsepower system that we find in the crown of course in the crown fuel economy drops down to about 27 m per gallon so still better than the outgoing V6 but obviously not as fuel efficient as this model which could get you up to 51 m per gallon and honestly at 51 m per gallon the question of why does the Prius exist is a completely valid question to ask because this gets almost Prius likee fuel economy with a pretty decently sized trunk a much much bigger back seat more Headroom and more comfortable front seats and certainly more of a traditional car feel as well I do like the style on the new Prius I think it's really sexy really futuristic looking but I think if my money were on the line I would probably end up with the Camry instead let me know what you think about that as well find us over on Facebook Twitter Instagram all that other social stuff and I'll see all of you next week [Music]

Channel: Auto Buyers Guide | Alex on Autos

Views: 320,114

Keywords: Alex On Autos, Alex Dykes, Review, Detailed Review, Road Test, Driven, Drive Review, car, cars, auto, EVBuyersGuide

Id: cGM6hd8tXZQ

Length: 25min 6sec (1506 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 18 2024