Gadgetory

well it's got a few more creases and some sharp pointy things on it but it's still the Camry the car you buy bring home and don't call and brag to anybody that you just bought it's the most maligned really good car in the world let's drive the 2012 Camry Hybrid and check the now because we have an xle that means extra luxurious etc or something you can tell this cabin is not your typical rental car Camry I mean nice stitching and different textures and good quality materials everywhere but again this is the high trim car we're here really though to check out the Entune head unit we've also got a separate video on this check that out it's seen at tv.com just type in Entune en tu na it's all about these five apps they've got here Bing radio movie tickets open table Pandora and all of that is going to give you access to those through a single sort of uh what I call it a bridge app you put here on your phone but the gripe I've got about that app is that it doesn't seem to be shut down a ball even when I have Bluetooth turned off I'm nowhere near the car I'm in a different zip code that damn in tune out keeps trying to run but here's where in tune got tripped up by the Toyota lawyers and I get it Toyota Motor Corporation doesn't want anymore headlines for being dangerous on the road these days but this went too far once you get rolling as in some other cars a lot of things get locked out but the problem is this voice button over here doesn't work within - oh I know I'm supposed to pull over and use it well I've got news for you if I take the time to pull over to use an online service I'm going to do it on my phone where it's got a better touchscreen better graphics better apps faster processor and a direct connection to the Internet the one exception here is being luckily does have its own voice command on an icon right here but the rest of these apps are voice dumb now because we've also loaded this guy up with one of the confusing packages that Toyota offers it's got almost everything that includes JBL audio what they call green edge audio it uses less current so more recharge can go to the battery this being a hybrid of course beyond that it's the usual complement of the right things you've got a USB and aux jack here iPod or USB Drive Bluetooth hands-free also has streaming Bluetooth support and beyond that what do you care no HD Radio most Americans couldn't give a rat's ass anyway and those top-end packages on this car will also give you blind spot detection but not prevention and also a backup camera but there's no lane departure technology coming on your camry now here was a problem with the last Camry Hybrid it wasn't all that efficient not compared to its newer competitors who came along and made its mpg numbers look bad but not tremendous this one's trying to correct that first of all the car went on a diet lots of weight loss two hundred and fifty pounds lighter than the outgoing Camry Hybrid that is a big difference on a car that weighs thirty five twenty or so now two and a half litre inline-four and an electric motor they're only quoting a total horsepower number of two hundred combined and not even telling us what the torque spec is on this car we'll figure that out when we get on the road in a moment but this 3500 pound guy gets up to sixteen about seven point six seconds while delivering 40 38 mpg and as we're about to see it really does that that's the key oh and check this out this engine is beltless now there's an empty pulley down there on the crankshaft but the power steering AC compressor and water pump are all electric not belt driven that further frees up the engine to sip gas with less drag okay under way notice we have a one choice only gearbox as you might expect the CVT not a cog automatic which is what you would get on a gas engine Prius but this Hybrid has a CVT only you've also got an eco mode and Evi mode evie makes it run electric only the most that it can until it starts to deplete the battery and eco mode softens up throttle response to again give it the lowest dynamics for the least interesting driving but the best mpg very interesting thing here you've got a gauge on the far right that shows historical mpg since reset it's odd to use a needle for that normally you see a number on a display which I also have here in the middle it's redundant and you'll notice that's a good number and I've been getting 33 34 average on a tank the whole time and driving this car because we've got an electric motor in here the performance is actually quite good around town everyday driving I don't know what it's like on a skid pad or a track and I don't care it's a Camry but I do know that it's got the snap power delivery when you need it like right now I've got to make a little hole here in traffic get through that and it's all over it my gripe is they went too far in getting rid of the Camrys floaty Bodhi image of having a big soft suspension that kind of wallows they went the other way it still wallows a little but the ride quality to me is too harsh for this vehicle I'm getting too many road inputs stupid road inputs like manhole covers and pavement patches it's just plain sprung hard and I don't want that in the Camry all right bottom line on the Camry Hybrid this is a hybrid xle high trim but I really like the interior so I'm going to say go xle it's about twenty-eight three then you've got to add about $5,000 worth of options to get navigation in tune the nice JBL audio system the rear camera the blind spot tech the keyless technology it's kind of full boat at that price it's not a cheap date but it's a really nice car and those mpg numbers may actually do a little bit to help you earn back the price you