9th Apr 2005, 23:55

I test drove a manual Camry at my local dealer a while back. Everything seemed alright to me except for the engine responsiveness. It seems to lag a bit after the pedal's been pressed; not too big of a deal, but I had 80s EFI cars way more responsive than that, and it's very hard to tell how far it will go since the pedal travel was kind of short and the power wasn't coming linearly as the pedal's being depressed. And the RPM drops very quickly while the shifter won't go half as fast. So I had to watch out for the tachometer, re-rev the engine, then engage the clutch... (this happened when I shift around 3K rpm, high tech drive-by-wire..) Does the transmission gets smoother as it breaks in?

20th Oct 2005, 06:01

Have had my Camry v6 since Nov 2003 and have done 130,000Kms (approx 81,000 Miles) No problems, apart from the radio antenna got swiped by a tree!( I accept responsibility.) A pleasurable drive, smooth, responsive, but not very involving. Have driven it on mostly highways, but feel that on smaller winding roads its body-roll would pose a bit of a problem.

Wind noise to the extent that it virtually feels like a 'bee in the ear' comes in at about 200Km/h (approx. 125 MPH), but it doesn't pose a problem if you don't do that speed (done it once to 'put it through its paces'. All in the name of science!).

The tyres supplied with the car (Yokohama's) did a perfect job. I got them changed at about 75,000Kms(Appro 48,000 Miles) and put on Bridge-stones (still running on them and they still look good). No tyre noise to date.

By the way, I'm writing from the Middle East where the summer climate is harsh (often above 50 degrees cent.) and feel that the car has served well under these conditions.

A satisfied customer who would buy again.