2007 Toyota Camry XLE V6 Test Drive

No more boring cars, said Toyota, as it launched the audacious new 2007 Camry. With more interior space, more power, more standard features, the champ stands ready to beat off all comers. The tested top-shelf XLE with V-6 and 6-speed automatic delivers 268 hp and starts at $27,520. Ten grand less will get you a 4-cylinder, 5-speed base Camry that's easier on fuel and is more fun to drive but if you like luxury and don't mind bulk, the XLE's your car. We wore your shoes for this 600-mile test.

Let's call her "Okanagan Lady," in deference to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada, where I was testing the Camry XLE. She was fueling an aging Dodge Shadow, clean and dent-free, while I gassed up the Camry. As she was about to open the Shadow's door, Okanagan Lady glanced back at the Camry, paused for a moment, gave it a thorough going-over, and said to the world at large, "Great-looking car!"

This was a brief stop in a 600-mile round-trip journey from the coast to the BC interior, Canada's only desert, home to one hundred and ten wineries. When I parked at the Black Sea Motel in Penticton, across the street from the beach at Okanagan Lake (go figure!), a fellow vacationer immediately compared his Pontiac G6 Coupe with the Toyota Camry XLE. "Both cars look alike," he suggested. At the finish of a long drive I was less than sociable and merely agreed "Yeah... they're both black." I was getting the impression that Toyota's move to make the Camry look less like an appliance was succeeding. As Okanagan Lady murmured before she drove off, "It has style."

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Still, style alone does not make a great automobile. My youngest son owns a Camry of two series ago, a loaded XLE. It was an ideal car for two adults and two tiny children. It still is. How would Sean assess the new, more spacious Camry? Well, the new-generation V-6 has more power and certainly the 6-speed auto adds a flexibility that his 4-speed lacks. The trunk (link goes to photo) is considerably larger, helpful when transporting kiddie stuff. As for handling the twisty mountain roads my buddy and I were experiencing, what does that mean if you live in congested Toronto?

It certainly meant something to me, presented with some of the finest driving roads in North America: if you've done California's Hwy 1 on the edge of the Pacific, try BC's Hwy 97 on the shores of the Okanagan. The new Camry, especially our XLE test car, was stable, secure and yet... not much fun. Yes, I blasted up to 110 mph for a few, brief moments, only to wonder what Sean or any intelligent family car driver would make of that. Not much, I suspect. Suffice to say that if you purchase a Camry XLE as a sports sedan, you'll get a cake without the strawberries.

On the other hand, the Camry XLE is sufficiently loaded with luxury features as to make one wonder why anyone would buy a Lexus. Our test car came with a 6-position power driver's seat which, when combined with a tilt/telescoping steering wheel, made finding an ideal driving position easy. Fellow traveler Mel Satok, a brilliant architect but a hopeless driver, was delighted with the up-high seating even as I kept calm by concentrating on the passing scenery.

Among the other technological miracles the Camry offers are: "washer-linked variable intermittent windshield wipers with mist cycle, auto-dimming rearview mirror with compass, digital odometer and twin tripmeters with outside temperature display, manually retractable rear window sunshade (which I only discovered at the end of our hot weather trip), multi-information display with outside temperature, average fuel economy, driving range, average-speed and travel distance since start," and... oh heck, may as well admit it, I didn't write those colorful descriptions! They came from Toyota's website. I'm just a simple guy who appreciates the basics.

In spite of the new Camry's greater bulk, I couldn't enter or exit without messing my silver locks. Once in, the Camry is spacious in all dimensions; back-seaters will find acres of room. The trunk is big enough to carry all of Mel's luggage (he's famous for traveling in the grand old style of steamer trunks and railway porters). Father of 4 plus grandkids, I value his opinion. He likes the new Camry.

On the road the V-6 proved a powerful sprinter, aided by a 6-speed automatic that offered the option of manual shifting, a feature I normally ignore but used to effect on the Okanagan's twists and turns. The Camry exhibited more tire noise than wind noise and proved a relaxing drive. ABS with electronic brake-force distribution is good to have but stability control, the genie that keeps you out of the weeds, is unfortunately optional.

Such lengthy trips, rare for us automobile testers, should have a happy ending. This one did. As I backed into my condo parking space, a fellow tenant with a few more years than Okanagan Lady exclaimed "So you're the one who drives all those new cars?" Flattered to be noticed I replied, "Yes ma'am. Do you like it?"

Her smile was worth a thousand words.