MT Editor-At-Large Arthur St. Antoine evaluates Toyotas entry in our 4-cylinder family sedan comparison
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MotorTranscript
00:00 Behind me is one of the most popular cars in the United States, the 2008 edition of
00:09 the Toyota Camry 4-door sedan.
00:11 This car won our 2007 Motor Trend Car of the Year award, so you know going into this competition
00:15 it's going to be a strong contender.
00:17 The engine in the Camry is a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder with double overhead cams, making 155 horsepower
00:23 and 158 pound feet of torque.
00:26 It's noteworthy too to also being a partial zero emissions vehicle, very clean running
00:30 this Camry.
00:31 The engine mates to a five-speed automatic and together when you look at this car in
00:36 total this is quite an unbelievable value.
00:38 Base price is just under $21,000.
00:40 Now this is the only car in the group that has steel wheels as opposed to the alloys,
00:45 but still a tremendous amount of car for that money.
00:48 Even as tested, just under $23,000.
00:51 This is for again the 2007 Motor Trend Car of the Year winner.
00:55 It's an incredible price and the car has a lot going for it.
00:59 This Camry being an LE edition, there's pretty no frills.
01:02 Inside is air conditioning, power windows, and a nice CD player with MP3 capability.
01:08 Cloth seats, but everything is beautifully put together.
01:10 One of the first things you notice when you climb aboard the Camry is how everything is
01:14 the fit and finish is just outstanding.
01:17 Beautiful materials, the quality is evident, the pieces all move with a nice liquid smooth
01:22 feel.
01:23 There's a lot of room inside as well too.
01:25 People are going to appreciate that, both the driver and front passenger and the people
01:28 riding in back.
01:30 Styling wise, the Camry is a bit anonymous.
01:32 Not really one of the standouts.
01:33 A clean looking vehicle, but maybe not the most exciting car on the road today.
01:37 Kind of the same way on the inside.
01:38 A few of our drivers commented it almost looks bland.
01:41 Very simple looking materials.
01:43 However, it's almost refreshing nowadays with so much gadgetry in today's cars to see a
01:47 car that has nice simple controls, rotary dials, very easy to use, very intuitive car
01:52 that way, very friendly.
01:54 Out on the road, what you really notice about the Camry first is how smooth and quiet it
01:58 is.
01:59 The engine is hushed, the transmission works fluidly, the ride is very soft.
02:03 This is probably the single most comfortable vehicle on our handling loop.
02:07 Very cushy ride, quiet, low wind noise, lots of room in the seats, very effortless car
02:13 to drive.
02:14 And again, given the price, it's really a stunning value for just under $23,000 to have
02:18 a car with such a luxury feel.
02:21 What did the 2008 Toyota Camry LE do at the test track?
02:24 0 to 60 in 8.5 seconds and the quarter mile in 16.6 at 84.6 miles per hour.
02:32 And in the braking test, the Camry posted a number of 124 feet from 60 to 0 miles per
02:38 hour.
02:39 Through our patented figure 8 test, 28.9 seconds at 0.56 G average and around the skid pad,
02:47 maximum grip is 0.78 G.
02:52 How does the Camry measure up to this tough field?
02:54 Well, for sure it's the most comfortable, plushest car here and a very, very nice car
03:00 to drive, but maybe not the most exciting.
03:02 For drivers, they might want a little bit more edge in their car, a little bit more
03:05 handling finesse, a little bit more power from the engine.
03:08 But for most driving tasks, this Camry is going to be extremely hard to beat.
03:12 The price, there's just very few cars in the world that offer such a quality feel.
03:17 (rock music)