Our OpinionWe Like:Smooth engine/drivetrain, excellent compromise between ride and handling, good space utilisation for size We Don't Like:Lacks mid-range urge of rivals, exterior/interior presentation still at bland end of spectrum
Small things sometimes add up to more than the simple sum of their total. The Camry Azura is a classic example. It is a car born of necessity and perhaps expediency. The birth of the Avalon forced the abandonment of the Vienta range lest Toyota V6 sedan cannibalism became unfashionably popular. But Camry still required a flagship model, and because of Avalon's senior citizen target market, one that appealed to a younger audience in their 30s and 40s. The solution was to drop a semi-luxury interior inside the Camry's body and drape the sheetmetal over the V6 engine and four-speed auto transmission, the lot riding on a more sporting version of the all-MacPherson strut suspension developed by Toyota Australia's chassis engineers for the Touring model. The result? Undoubtedly the best Camry ever. Full stop. Bar none. No arguments. The Vientas were soft, wobbly things that took their inspiration from American boulevarders like Cadillac and Lincoln. Political correctness within one of the world's most bureaucratic car corporations forced that mindset on Toyota Australia. Come revamp-by-necessity time three years year on and the noose was loosened - not freed mind you - enough to allow the Aussie team under suspension guru Graeme Gambold to replace bounce and wallow with trim and taut. It may sound criminal to mention them in the same sentence but Azura is evocative of BMW's superlative 5 Series sedan in its intent, if not reaching the same exultant levels in its execution. From the outside there's few hints of the Azura's abilities. The exterior remains Camry-esque. But attractive 16-inch alloy wheels with a new 5x2-spoke design wrapped in Michelin Vivacy rubber fill out the guards nicely and give a hint of the potential. The Azura's borrowed suspension means that compared to a standard V6 Camry CSi it has gas-pressure shock and about 20 per cent firmer spring rates. Compared to Gen 1 Touring suspension which appeared in 1998, this version has slightly recalibrated shock absorbers to cope with the change from 15 to 16-inch wheels. But the changes are hardly dramatic. They didn't need to be. The Azura provides a quite exceptional combination of ride quality, handling asurety and quietness. No, it's not a sports sedan, but it's only a rung below. The steering, while low on feel at the best of times and prone to traditional Camry kickback over bumps, turns accurately and inspires confidence. But there's little torque steer and wheelspin isn't much of an issue - certainly not as noticeable as the other large front-driver, the Mitsubishi Magna. Grip levels are high, slowly degenerating into understeer (front wheel sliding) as the speed increases ... and increases. Courtesy of the semi-sports suspension the car continues to sit flat through this, yet still retaining an excellent ride quality - not as pillow-soft as a Vienta but certainly not uncomfortable. Combine that with the Azura's silky-smooth 3.0-litre V6 scissor-cam engine and electronic adaptive four-speed transmission and your progress is made all the more unfussed ad oh-so impressively quiet. Like every other Camry 1MZ-FE V6 engine, the Azura unit produces 141kW at 5200rpm and 279Nm at 4400rpm. The difference is, the Azura retains the Vienta's level of sound dampening, which makes progress swift and quiet. The engine doesn't have the guts of its larger rivals, but with the exception of the Magna's exceptional 3.5-litre V6, nor does it have their vibration, noise and coarseness. The transmission is also a sweet unit, again if not quite in the class of Mitsubishis' INVECS II transmission. It shifts without drama, usually to the right gear, rarely thumps or bumps and adapts quickly to the driver's style. The peculiarity is the push button top gear detente which you either love or hate. Only on dirt roads or extreme bumps does the package become phased. On the former rocks and gravel drum under the guards and body creating more noise than is acceptable, while on the latter the short travel of the firmed up suspension starts to crash and feel stressed. But almost all of the time this is a city and suburban commuter or cross country cruiser of real substance. And the interior specification level backs that up. Most things you would want are there - climate control air-conditioning, a powerful and crisp stereo system with CD player (curiously a single in-dash and a six-stacker in the boot), semi-leather interior matched with velour, powered front seats, dual airbags and anti-lock brakes. But it's still a Camry. Which means the interior presentation remains functional rather than expressive, the seats flat rather than supportive and the ambiance plain to the point of sonambulence. That interior does have its advantages though, like plenty of space for four adults, each with a lap-sash seatbelt and headrest as well as the less fortunate middle rear passenger, and a commodious boot made all the more useable by a 60/40 split-fold rear seat. Will it work? Maybe, maybe not. It's a Camry you need to want, rather than just need. And that could be the drama, for Camry's aren't seen as desirable commodities among young thrusters. After all, for the same money you can buy a WRX or an MX-5, even Holden's brutish SS Commodore is within easy reach. The Azura can't match any of them for romance, sexiness or machismo, but it is a remarkably sound package which shows both the Camry and Toyota Australia's engineers in their best light. Bravo. . |
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