Toyota Camry Hybrid Test Drive With Review

By: Bill Waters
Staff Writer
Published: Jun 13, 2009

Toyota Camry Hybrid ran smooth and quiet during our test drive and review.

The Toyota Camry Hybrid has been one of the top selling cars of all-time. The sedan is powered by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine producing 147 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque. The electric motor produces another 45 horsepower.

The Toyota Camry can operate on any combination of the two power sources. Its power is transferred to the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The CVT was chosen for its ability to keep the gas engine in its most efficient power band.

Our Camry Hybrid test drive found that the combination of the gas and electric motor felt surprisingly robust. The acceleration seems much better than most four-cylinder vehicles and within the same limits of a six-cylinder. The automobile can go from 0-60 mph in just 8.3 seconds.

Camry offers various packages and some options include sunroof, leather upholstery, heated front seats, a four-way power passenger seat, a navigation system, satellite radio and a JBL sound system with a six-CD changer and Bluetooth. We sat in one of the cars with the high-end package and fell in love with the leather seats. The seats felt very comfortable and were well fitted for any person.

Toyota built this vehicle to perfection as we could tell by the quality. The automobile can operate on electric power at speeds up to 30 mph. However, rapidly acceleration will automatically turn on the gasoline engine.

The Toyota Camry Hybrid has an advanced Technology Partial-Zero Emissions Vehicle rating. This is the cleanest possible rating for a gasoline-burning car in terms of air pollution. In some cases, a city's air could actually be dirtier than what's coming out of this vehicle's tailpipe.

Toyota Camry features standard front-seat side airbags, full-length side curtain airbags, a driver knee airbag, anti-lock brakes, stability control and traction control. In the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash testing, the car received five out of five stars in all front and side collision categories. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also awarded the vehicle its highest rating of "Good" for frontal-offset and side collision protection.

The Camry Hybrid provides plenty of headroom and leg room. The sedan provides a serenely quiet environment when running on its electric power. It is so quiet, that it's difficult to tell if the vehicle is still running.

Overall, Toyota continues to build a great car while maintaining the Camry tradition. The automaker didn't cut any corners with this vehicle, but provided quality and great fuel economy.