Video: 2025 Toyota Camry: Long Live the Sedan!

And you know, that is enough sales success to earn it another generation, but not without some key changes to bring it more in line with Toyota's current MO. We are here in beautiful sunny San Diego for our first on-road crack of the superstar sedan. And let's talk about why maybe you should or shouldn't ditch the crossover. Fuel efficiency is the name of the game with the new Camry, which means that aerodynamic efficiency is equally as important and you're gonna notice a lot of interesting aerodynamic effects on the camera that you might not see on other cars of this price or segment. Starting up front with, well, these outer cool aero blade canards on the outer portions of the front fascia, along with the interesting aerodynamic effect of the lower portion of the front hammerhead grill. Now, beyond the aerodynamic effects, there's a lot of stylistic touches, not just in the front. This is a sportier, more aggressive in appearance at least, SXE trim. So we've got new wheel designs there. Look very nice. Moving to the back, we have a, because of the, we have a trim-specific, gloss plastic trunk lid spoiler there. We've got new tail lights, but that's shared across the entire Camry range. A little bit more aggressive exhaust tips there and an interesting lower fascia diffuser there for extra aero effect. But all of this is peanuts compared to the Camry's most significant change. And you're gonna find that, well, you're gonna find it right here. Gone is your choice between a base natural aspirated four-cylinder, and a range topping V-6. Now no matter which trim of the Camry you get, it's gonna be a hybrid, specifically a 2.5 liter natural aspirated, hybridized four-cylinder. That means average efficiency across the range is way up. But when you compare it to the V-6 performance, well, it's significantly down. All front-wheel drive Camrys like this XSE here, buzz around with 225 horsepower, which is not bad. But the juiciest one is gonna be the all wheel drive, which only boosts it up to 232 horsepower, thanks to a little bit larger motor. Yeah, not super hot. You'll find the biggest stylistic changes on the inside where Toyota has developed what it likes to call an open style cabin. Now it's a little nebulous as to what that actually means, but we're gonna take that as referring to the, well, the general dash structure. And starting with the passenger side, looks like there's a little bit of a scalloped area here for more knee room for your passenger. But I really wanna say that the open style is here on the center console or rather the center console stack. The air vents are kind of a floating design and there is a kind of a cutout area going underneath the dash that has, well on certain trims, wireless charging pad for your phone, dual USB C charge ports and a USB A charge port along with a kind of a deep storage dish next to that, two cup holders and nice center console. Not bad. Toyota certainly upped the tech game for the new Camry starting with, well, the infotainment. We've got a nice large infotainment screen here in the center console. And remember, this is all trim-dependent. Your mileage may vary. We are in an sporty XSE trim. So like I said, big infotainment screen in the center console here, running to Toyota's familiar shared infotainment architecture. You have a nice clear high refresh rate, digital display for the driver. And it is semi configurable, not as configurable as I'd like, not as customizable. I'd like a little bit more options there, but hey, it's nice that we have it. So there's a lot of screen real estate, but thank God there are still hard buttons, especially for climate control. You have all of these standard controls here, even though you do have a small display screen right there, but you've got buttons for recirculate, temperature, fan, and for, at least for this trim, heated and cold seats. Not bad at all. Interior materials are not bad, but that's okay. They're not meant to blow your mind. It's not a Lexus, it's a Camry. Pretty good in here. We've got a leatherette material here on the XSE, sporty XSE. It's kind of darker in here a little bit. Unfortunately, this is not a showcase for the Camry's new microsuede quilted pattern material that we have seen on other trims that extends to the door and the seats. It's kind of nice looking. We're looking forward to getting more time with that. But overall beyond just upholstery, the trim plastics and the plastic controls, not bad. They're not textured. They don't feel cheap. They feel fine. You know, no real complaints there. Alright, now that we're out on the road and I've put a few miles on the new Camry, there's no points awarded to you, if you can guess what it drives like. That's right. It drives like a Camry. What a revelation. That means if you liked the previous generation of Camry and how it drove, well hey, everything is right where you left it. It still feels very much like the old Camry and that's certainly not a bad thing. We liked the way the last Camry drove. I especially did. And I will admit, although I do miss the V-6, this new updated hybrid powertrains pretty good. There is more than enough power for daily use, more than enough power for daily use. You're not gonna get the same performance level as the V-6. Toyota did do some configuration work with this carryover hybrid powertrain because it is from the last generation. They wanted to make sure that the four-cylinder portion of it was not as thrashy when you really got on the power. So when you do get into it when you're merging or when you're trying to pass somebody and you really get into the throttle, it's not gonna be nearly as thrashy as the prior generation was. And that's pretty great. I do believe one of the most effective ways to elevate an otherwise unremarkable experience or to push a vehicle beyond its price point is to really work on the isolation of the noise and the vibration and the sometimes harshness of the powertrain. And it's job well done for the new Camry. It's quiet. It's got plenty of power. And overall I like it. And overall, it's really gonna be what the Camry buyer likes. I mean, and especially since it's now standard across the range, I mean that's a absolute win in my book. This new generation does mark the first all-wheel drive application of a hybrid Camry, which is pretty interesting. And you know, fundamentally, it is a little bit better to drive on these curvier roads than I was expecting. Though I will say I'm not that surprised, given that underneath, this is still Toyota new global architecture. I call it TNGA, which we had in the previous Camry, we had on the old Prius, the current Prius. Feels very unified. It feels very confident. It rides nice, handles well beyond what it's, well, should is required to handle like. Now that being said, this is the Camry XSE, so it has what Toyota calls the sport suspension. But yes, it's quieter than I've ever experienced in a four-cylinder Camry, of course does come down the hybrid drivetrain. Steer's fine. Brake's fine. Plenty of power to accelerate. Very impressed. Now what I'm about to say definitely applies to prior generations, but I will say that this new, all hybrid Camry, with all the refinements they've made and the changes, it really does feel like a spectacular all rounder. And pretty much, I can't think you would, if you would need anything else, if you just needed basic transportation. And this is really, this is beyond basic transportation at this point. I mean, this has got a bunch of tech in it. It feels nice to drive. It handles nice. It rides nice. It's extremely fuel-efficient. It's just a great all rounder. What else do you really... This is the platonic ideal of a car. This is perfect for, I would say, 95% of people's needs. Nice car. Though it is down on both power and engine options when compared to the previous generation, the 2025 Toyota Camry is a stylish and well-equipped, mid-sized sedan that should prove to be just as if not more popular than ever. And you know with that, long live the sedan. Oh hey, I am still out driving the new Camry. But for my full thoughts and review, you gotta go to cars.com/news. See you later. (soft music)