One other long-termer, one other journey to Mahabaleshwar. Barely had I acquired the keys to the Toyota Camry Hybrid when its sharp nostril was pointed eastwards in the direction of the Mumbai-Pune expressway and my favorite hill station.
The Camry Hybrid had arrived on a Friday afternoon simply in time for my weekend journey, which has change into so routine that it virtually feels impolite to not invite a newly initiated long-termer to what’s my second dwelling up within the hills, in Mahabaleshwar.
However I wasn’t certain if the Camry Hybrid can be proud of the invitation, as a result of the reality is hybrids don’t really feel at their greatest on highways. Hybrid vehicles, by their very nature, are best at metropolis speeds, or in stop-and-go visitors when the electrical motor pitches in to take over propulsion duties from the interior combustion engine every so often. In truth, the Camry Hybrid’s change from electrical to petrol engine and again to electrical is so {smooth} that you may hardly really feel it. And, with the air-con blower cranked as much as max pace (my default setting for the most popular March in current reminiscence), you couldn’t hear or inform if the engine was on or off. So, the one signal that the engine was operating on pure electrical energy (or not) was the inexperienced EV gentle within the instrument cluster.
SMOOTHIE: Electrical motor and engine seamlessly built-in.
The Camry Hybrid’s totally seamless energy supply, which most homeowners take without any consideration, is one thing that impressed me probably the most. Getting the 2 powertrains, a 178hp, 2.5 petrol engine and a 120hp electrical motor to work in excellent unison, with no jerk or jolt when switching from one to a different or working collectively, is the end result of the work of hundreds of engineers and many years of expertise. It’s additionally a continuing reminder as to why Toyota is absolutely the grasp of hybrid know-how. The e-CVT transmission additionally performs a key position within the linear, uninterrupted energy supply that I’ve rapidly come to understand because the hallmark of the Camry Hybrid.
Depart the gearbox to its personal gadgets, which basically means leaving it in D, and this Toyota sedan has the stepless lope of an electrical automotive. Besides that it’s not all-electric, particularly on the freeway.
Coming again to my Mahabaleshwar journey, earlier than I acquired gobsmacked by the Camry Hybrid’s ultra-smooth character on my approach out of city, it’s on this maiden outing that I additionally realised that it feels similar to a daily petrol sedan on the freeway.
HIGHWAY DUTY: Engine has to work arduous on the freeway and may be heard.
Driving at freeway speeds, the Camry falls again on good outdated inner combustion. For one, all-electric drive is proscribed to 50kph; past that pace, the engine kicks in. Additionally, whereas acceleration is {smooth}, it’s not totally easy and the naturally aspirated petrol must be pushed when overtaking on single-lane roads or powering up the ghats.
Sure, the electrical motor does give a little bit of a nudge, but it surely’s the petrol engine that’s doing many of the work. This four-cylinder unit turns into audible when stretched, a attribute made extra apparent by the CVT’s penchant for holding the engine revved at a continuing RPM. I discovered myself reaching for the paddle-shifter for a greater sense of management on the windy Wai Ghat, and I have to say the ‘shifts’ are properly simulated and provide the sensation that the gearbox is definitely shifting gears.
QUICK SHIFT: Paddles really feel good to function, properly mimic gearshifts.
It does take a whole lot of vitality to whisk this 1.66-tonne sedan from imply sea stage to over 4,000 toes, and to sort out three ghats alongside the way in which, interspersed with frequent bursts of acceleration to overhaul gradual shifting visitors. And that leads us to some vital questions. Simply how gasoline environment friendly is the Camry Hybrid? Does it reside as much as its promise of delivering huge financial savings in operating prices?
In all equity, the freeway shouldn’t be the place a hybrid automotive shines as a result of the engine is continually operating. However regardless of not with the ability to save gasoline in a approach you’d anticipate (from a hybrid), the freeway gasoline effectivity of the Camry Hybrid was removed from dangerous.
GREAT WEIGHT: Hybrid system makes Camry heavier than c/onventional rivals.
For the 600km spherical journey, which included some fairly heavy-footed driving up the ghats, the Camry Hybrid sipped petrol on the price of 13.4kpl, which is kind of good when you think about our long-term Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace gave simply 9.6kpl for a similar spherical journey.
Okay, a Very good is a extra like-to-like comparability, however the level is that the Camry’s powertrain is round 25 p.c extra fuel-efficient than an equal turbo-petrol. And on the freeway that makes it about as environment friendly as a contemporary diesel, and, if something, makes the case for diesel as the perfect freeway possibility.
Within the metropolis, it’s a special story altogether and neither a traditional petrol nor a diesel is prone to come shut when it comes to effectivity, refinement, and total ease of driving. That’s what we’ll be focussing on in our subsequent report.
For extra on the Toyota Camry, click on right here
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