In my last post, I mentioned that on first impression, our Toyota Camry Altise seemed to have a little more power than I thought it would. Having driven it for a couple of months now, I can confirm that it does have a little zip.
When I put the foot down, it goes! I'd never mistake it for the 200SX I used to own, but it certainly exceeds expectations for a mid-size 4 cylinder family car.
When you're taking off from the lights and you plant your foot, it leaps forward - sure, not as much as turbo powered car would, but you can feel the speed. The power is maintained through the mid range (say 2000 to 4500 RPMs), but it drops off sharply after that. That’s when you realize that you are in family car after all!
In the higher gears, there is plenty of power there for overtaking maneuvers. If you’re cruising along the highway and need to overtake, simply put your foot down and you’ll be able to fly past the car you’re overtaking.
Although the Sportivo's name sounds like it may be faster, it doesn't have any more power than the Altise model. In fact, the Altise model is probably slightly faster because it doesn't have the extra weight of the Sportivo's body kit. I can’t confirm that, but I know that holds to be true in other cars with a ‘Sports’ model that actually has the same engine size as the standard model.
I know that cars have come a long way in the last 10 years and that a lot of cars in this class have more power than they used to, but it's made me a lot happier about owning a family car, which let's face it, a Toyota Camry is.
If you buy a Toyota Camry Altise, you won’t get a sports car, but you’ll be presently surprised by the power it does have – at least I was!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
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