2012 Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry is not only America’s favorite car, but has long been the benchmark for mid-size family sedans. But, in recent years, recalls, natural disasters, and new rivals like the Hyundai Sonata, have put the Camry on the defensive. Well, now the Camry is switching to offense with an all new 2012 edition. So let’s see if the Camry should stay a winner.
The 7th generation, 2012 Toyota Camry aims to keep you safe, secure, but also entertained during your efficient everyday drive. That last part foretells an alteration in Camry philosophy as Toyota wants this new era sedan to attract a younger, more tech savvy, as well as environmentally conscience, family car buyer. But, the new Camry has to first appeal to the visual senses before it can lure more youthful customers into the showroom. Rather than go for a swoopy look like the Hyundai Sonata, the Camry designers took an edgy, if still very evolutionary path.
Our Red Metallic Camry SE test car exudes modern cues with strong character lines, flatter sides, and a wider stance. The front end looks ready to inhale the road with an aggressive, spoiler-style, three port lower inlet. The wide, sharply contoured headlights connect a shorter mesh grill. Other Camrys, including the Hybrid, have an attractive two-bar chrome grille and a large single port lower opening. Wedgy fog lights are standard only on the SE and XLE. With a full length shoulder line up top, rocker panel extensions below, supported by handsome 18-inch alloys, the SE’s profile looks appropriately sporty. Same for the rear view with a trunk lid spoiler, sculpted lower facia, and dual chrome exhaust tips. Other models are less overt, but all include huge, talon-shaped tail lamps that are definitely distinctive.
Unlike newer competitors the Camry still offers a V6. The carryover 3.5-liter in our SE rates 268-horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque. The base engine is the familiar 2.5-liter I4 with 178-horsepower and 170 pound-feet. Both the 4 and 6 are manual mode 6-speed automatic only, although the SE does add paddle shifters. The Hybrid’s 2.5-liter has been revamped for more efficiency, with a combined hybrid drive CVT output of 200-horsepower, a boost of 13.
Hybrid fuel economy jumps to 43 City and 39 Highway, now handily beating the Ford Fusion Hybrid. But, that’s due more to the new Camry losing weight, honing aerodynamics, and adding more efficient tires, than just powertrain tweaks. Even with carryover engines the I4 government ratings of 25 City and 35 Highway are up 3 mpg each, with the V6 gaining one each at 21 City and 30 Highway.
Every new Camry generation brings more comfort and luxury. While both exterior and interior dimensions have barely changed, the cabin feels bigger and is richer. The handsome dash is dressed with better materials and even real stitching. Details are more artful. The hooded, overlapping gauges with twin LED readouts are crystal clear. Switches are oversized and easy to reach. The user friendly center console puts the shifter and cupholders side-by-side. Bluetooth is now standard on all Camrys, along with a USB port with full iPod integration. But, a backup camera is an option.
SE and XLE V6 Camry’s includes a 6.1 inch touch screen for navigation, stereo, trip functions, and Entune. Entune, Toyota’s new multimedia system, links with smart phones for apps access to and Pandora and Bing as well as traffic, weather, and sports schedules. 10 airbags protect all those front and rear, while all seats more comfortable. Rear legroom is up slightly in the back, with standard split 60/40 folding seatbacks. Cargo volume is up slightly to a reasonable 15.4 cubic feet.
Driving alongside the Columbia River and on the twisty roads near Roslyn, Washington, we were impressed with the Camry’s effortless ride and competent composure. With the hybird’s electric steering now across the board, we found quick response and good feedback. The front strut, rear dual link suspension is up to every mission this car should typically endure. The car is also amazingly quiet. Our SE is the sportiest model, with a firmer suspension tuning and tauter ride, yet it still delivered a drive you can handle all day without fatigue.
And, here’s more good news. Most 2012 Toyota Camry prices are the same or lower than last year. The high volume LE drops $200 to $22,500. The SE at $23,000 is $965 less, while the XLE dives $2,000 to $24,725. Even the Camry Hybrid begins lower at $25,900, or $1150 less than before.
The 2012 Toyota Camry continues as a well focused solution to American family sedan needs. Only now it’s younger looking, more luxurious, more tech-savvy and more fuel efficient, plus for core buyers, less expensive. If that doesn’t put rivals on the defensive, we don’t what will.
Specifications
- Engine: 3.5 liter
- Horsepower: 268
- Torque: 248 lb-ft
- EPA: 25 mph city/ 35 mph highway
2025 Subaru WRX tS
Subaru’s “World Rally eXperimental” Gets Tecnica-Tuned Tech
Building on its global rally heritage, WRX has been a standalone Subaru nameplate, marketed separately from garden variety Impreza, for two generations now. And while the current WRX still lacks the full STI treatment, this WRX tS serves up some of that high-performance spice we’ve been longing for.
Before we go flat out into our Track Test of this 2025 Subaru WRX tS, lets open the Subaru dictionary so we’re all on the same page. “tS” stands for “tuned by STI;” and “STI” is an acronym for “Subaru Tecnica International,” the brand’s high-performance sub-group best known for upgrading the WRX— oh, that stands for “World Rally eXperimental,” in case you didn’t know.
All that said, STI has been largely dormant for this WRX generation, but this tS sprinkles more of their engineering magic into the mix. No, that doesn’t mean extra power, but does mean significant chassis-related improvements.
First, electronically controlled dampers, adjustable through the 11.6-inch tablet-style infotainment screen. That meant a softer “comfort” mode on the 10+ hour commute to and from Savannah’s Roebling Road Raceway. But once we were there, it was the firmer “Sport+” setting all the way, heightening response from the WRX’s throttle and already quick dual-pinion power steering system. There’s still some body roll for rally-esque weight transfer, but it’s well sorted and provides the “toss-ability” you want in a WRX.
Though if you do autocross your tS, which we implore you to do, you might feel the six-piston front, two-piston rear Brembo brakes first. The bite is strong, giving good rotation in the corners and plenty of “halt” for this 3,400 lb. compact with minimal fade, keeping us on track all week…until some unfortunate winter weather passed overhead. No worries here, as Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive system got us to the track for some powdered deserts: Frosted donuts served up Michelin style, a set of winter tires different from the grippy Bridgestone Potenza S007 rubber the tS typically rides on. Some prior hot laps of California’s Sonoma Raceway gave credence to those Bridgestones, and showed us what this hot-compact can do in ideal conditions.
It’s well sorted and provides the “toss-ability” you want in a WRX.
Other tS enhancements are cabin-based, namely these beautiful blue Recaros. Most of our staff appreciated their moderately-aggressive bolstering on both street and track. And they’re even heated, too. Another tS-only appointment is this 12.3-inch digital gauge display. It mimics the standard analog gauges with some additional info, but can switch to a navigation mode for more convenient route guidance.
We do wish our tS came in the new Galaxy Purple or the trademark World Rally Blue, but this Crystal White paint wasn’t too shabby, contrasting its Cherry Blossom Red badging and blacked-out lip spoiler. Otherwise, the tS is like any other WRX, down to the hood scoop funneling air to the top-mounted intercooler.
Underneath is the same turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four in all other trims, boxing at 271 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The freak winter weather stopped straight-line testing, but a 0-60 time estimate of 5.5 seconds is about as spry as you realistically need, pulling strong through most of the tach; though the 6,000 RPM redline required attentive shifting of the six-speed box, which the tS comes exclusively with. The throws are precise, if a little long, and the clutch is wonderfully weighted.
With discontinuation of the Base trim, pricing for the WRX now starts with Premium at $36,920. The tS is at the top of the lineup with the automatic-only GT, both starting at $46,875. All WRXs continue to be made in Gunma, Japan.
If you’re an enthusiast itching to do the tuning yourself, perhaps the 2025 Subaru WRX tS is not for you. But if you want a plug-and-play experience, this is it. While it won’t exactly bestow the loose-cannon, top-level driving skills exhibited by famous WRC drivers upon you, the tS moves this WRX’s game in a direction we’ve so desperately wanted Subaru to take.
Specifications
As Tested
- Engine: 2.4-liter flat-four
- Tranmission: 6-speed manual
- Horsepower: 271
- Torque: 258 lb-ft