Camry flaunts its hybrid twin
The Age
Saturday September 12, 2009
Move over, Prius, your Australian-built big brother has finally arrived, writes JEZ SPINKS.IT'S not quite the historic moment, though it's still significant. Drive is one of a select band of motoring media outlets to drive Australia's first locally built hybrid car.The metallic paint has barely dried on what is only the seventh Toyota Hybrid Camry to roll off an assembly line that clicked and whirred into action just a few days ago.While the new petrol-electric medium car doesn't go on sale until February next year, we've got behind the wheel of pre-production versions that have yet to undergo the process for Australian Design Rule compliance.So we're away from public roads but on the next-best thing: Toyota Australia's own motoring playground, more formally known as the Australian Automotive Research Centre, in Anglesea, Victoria.Before we tell you how the hybrid Camry compares with the petrol version just updated, some key facts.The Hybrid Camry employs a slightly different version of the regular Camry's 2.4-litre four-cylinder like the Prius running on the more efficient (but less powerful) "Atkinson" combustion cycle.Toyota has yet to release official details for the engine, though it's based on the US Camry hybrid's petrol unit that has 110kW and 187Nm. That compares with 117kW and 218Nm for the regular four-cylinder Camry.The addition of an electric motor, however, ensures the hybrid has the greater overall power output.Fuel consumption is expected to be about 7.0 litres per 100 kilometres, which equates to a 20 per cent fuel economy advantage over the petrol Camry (which itself just reduced its consumption from 9.9L/100km to 8.8L/100km).Based on a pump price of $1.30 a litre, that will save Camry hybrid owners just $6.75 a week in fuel costs. So it will take a while to offset the $3000 premium expected to be added to the equivalent petrol Camry.There's more to the hybrid Camry than just improved economy, however. We can tell you it's also slightly faster than the petrol model, based on our provisional testing.According to a GPS-based stopwatch, the hybrid sprints from 0-100km/h in 8.6 seconds four-tenths quicker than the petrol version. That's despite carrying up to a 70-kilogram weight penalty as a result of its hybrid parts, notably the 50-kilogram battery.Despite the electric motor's instantaneous torque delivery, the hybrid Camry is slower initially off the line before reeling in and then overtaking the petrol model just before the ton mark.Toyota claims the hybrid has about 30 per cent more maximum torque than the petrol model and our testing seemed to validate that claim.Running hybrid and petrol models parallel on a two-lane closed highway section of the proving ground, the petrol-electric Camry was noticeably quicker in rolling acceleration from 80km/h-120km/h.The hybrid is helped partly by not having to change gears, thanks to the use of a seamless, continuously variable transmission instead of the petrol's conventional five-speed auto.The CVT contributes to a quieter drivetrain, too, while a bespoke-for-hybrid "acoustic film" windscreen insert reduces tyre roar noticeably.The acoustic windscreen is a local touch by Toyota Australia and it's not the only one. The company's local engineers have taken advantage of Japan HQ's decision to build the hybrid Camry in Australia by fine-tuning the suspension and steering.When deciding whether to make the hybrid version sportier or comfier, Toyota Australia perhaps inevitably leaned towards a more highly specified model with an eye on luxury rather than taking a Sportivo direction.The result, however, is that the hybrid Camry feels better to drive.Where the regular model's hydraulic steering is aloof around the straight-ahead position, the hybrid's new electric-steering rack is both more linear and more accurate.Its improved feel and precision give the driver more confidence when taking on corners, as does the improved body control. Toyota has stiffened springs and dampers on the hybrid and the battery in the rear brings weight distribution closer to the optimum 50-50, front-rear.Although the Camry leans less in corners, this is still relative in dynamic terms. This is no Mazda6. And driving enthusiasts will still find Toyota's stability-control system is too eager to nip driving enjoyment in the bud by cutting engine power during even the slightest slide.The brake pedal has a firmer and more confident feel with a stronger initial bite than the petrol's and is more progressive than the regenerative braking systems on other hybrids.The ride is firmer but while it was slightly more jiggly over the proving ground's strip of replicated Melbourne potholes and tram tracks, it was also quicker to settle the suspension over rougher surfaces.There's bad news in the boot, though. The large battery pack along with cooling duct chops luggage space virtually in half.There are more subtle differences inside. The hybrid features an eco gauge instead of a rev counter, an "Eco heating/cooling" button to reduce the air-conditioning's burden on the engine for more efficiency and the trip computer ahead of the driver features a mini version of the Energy Monitor System, which shows the power flow between the petrol engine, wheels, battery and electric motor.On the sat nav-equipped Grande version expected to be one of two trim levels, including a base model aimed at fleets/governments the hybrid Camry features the same EMS display from the second-generation Prius.Using either display reveals it's likely the hybrid will be harder to keep in electric-only mode than the Prius. While the latter can get up to about 45km/h on a light throttle without engaging the petrol engine, the Camry struggled to reach 25km/h in silence. There's no Prius-like EV (electric vehicle) mode, either.The Hybrid Camry the official name is expected to have the nameplate second in response to customer feedback may not shout I'm a hybrid like the Prius but there are a number of details designed for owners to display their environmental awareness.The front end will take cues from the Prius's grille and bumper, while blue headlight housings are a nod to Toyota's Hybrid Camry Concept.There are hybrid badges on the flanks and rear and the LED tail-lights have a different colour arrangement: red border around clear lenses.Toyota Australia plans to build 10,000 Hybrid Camrys each year. While that's about 10 per cent of local Camry production (much of which is exported), the petrol-electric version will account for about one in four Camry sales because 60 per cent are exported.
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