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Just be sure to refill with the genuine Toyota ATF. You are correct; the manual recommends no changes for typical service.
Premium gas is recommended in the V6 for top performance but isn't required, as it is for some engines.
(consumer reports Nov 2005)
P.S. if you can wait a little longer why not test drive the 07 ??
I'm Japanese auto fan.
In Japan, the famous reviewers have expressed the impression of camry is sober, but better vehicle.
In NA, how about impression of '07 camry ?
I'd like to know.
Thank you.
We have decided to buy a Camry. I think we'll be buying the LE w/ 4 cyl automatic. We've got 2 small children and In-laws who live 3 hours away. I like the economy and reliability of the camry. We've never owned a toyota or an import for that matter.
So I'm asking you. What advice would you give for a first timer? What options are, in your opinion, a neccessity/ not a neccessity? Any advice on when to buy this year? I see the '07's are coming out soon so I assume the dealers will be trying to sell out the older models.
Thank you for your time.
That is what I thought. Let's wait and see. Good luck.
Unless you have extensive experience with FWD or front biased AWD, especially during the winter months when the roads might be slippery, this could be a BAD move.
With the engine weight in the front the Camry will have better traction than an equivalent RWD vehicle, up until you need to turn while accelerating, or begin to understear due to insufficient traction at the front.
Take one of those sprint cars and convert it to FWD and see if you can be even close to competitive.
NOT!
As you may well know, if your expedition begins to overstear you can quite readily recover from that circumstance by lifting the throttle and turning into the direction of the skid.
The equivalent loss of traction on a FWD vehicle most often results in understearing. With an automatic transmission your only options at that point will mean quick action on the e-brake provided it's rear implemented, and as the AAA is now recommending, a quick shift into neutral to alleviate the engine compression braking that resulted from your instinctive lift of the accelerator pedal.
It gets even worse if you happen to have the need to use snow chains on occasion. Can you imagine what might happen with tire chains only on the drive wheels if you inadvertently lift the throttle quickly going down a steep slope on a slippery roadbed?
Offhand I can't think of a RWD car equivalent to the Camry but were I you I would spend some time looking for one.
And don't forget to search around and read up on the engine/transaxle delay/hesitation seemingly involving the entire Toyota/Lexus fleet of FWD and front biased AWD vehicles. The clear majority of owners/drivers of these vehicles have no problem with this issue. But the relatively few that do claim that the vehicle is unsafe, even hazardous. Given the circumstances in which the Toyota TSB indicates the delays most often occur, and assuming the owner claims of 1 to 2 second delays are correct, these are patently unsafe vehicles.
So buying one might turn out to be much like playing russian roulette but with a "gun" having 1000 chambers, and only one with a bullet.
Statecat, buy the Camry if you like it. They're great reliable cars. Any Camcord will give you many trouble free miles. Almost 1,000,000 owners per year can't be wrong!
The Sandman :confuse:
There are probably very attractive prices available on the 2006 models since the 2007s will be showing up in a week or two.
You should also look at the Accord. Very similar size-wise but with a bias toward better handling at the expense of ride comfort. A little more power from its 4 cyl engine. I'm sure you will be happy with either one, especially after driving that giant truck.
I just talked to a dealer and he shows the 07's being in transit to his dealership. Hopefully, it wont be too long before they start pushing to get the 06's off the lot.
That business about front-wheel drive being dangerous is pure hokem. But you ought to know, since you have had one (your Grand Prix).
Geez, when's the last time I had to use the e-brake to get out of a skid because my front end plowed straight ahead?
You mean you don't do that instinctively? :P
"...pure hokem...."
Before you decide that then you might want to take some time reading up on how VSC/Trac interact with AWD, or their equivalent, operate in the following:
Volvo XC90 AWD system
Ford Freestyle
Acura RL & RDX
Lexus GS & IS
All of these only allow engine torque to the front during straightline motion. The instant any significant level of the front tires' roadbed traction needs to be allocated to directional control the engine torque is quickly biased to the rear.
Acura is even going the extra mile and eliminating the propensity of FWD to understear during a turn, they not only bias the engine torque to the rear, 30/70, they also force up to 100% of the rear torque to the rear wheel on the outside of your turn.
Who would have thunk it, an Acura with more tendency to overstear than understear!
Maybe there is some small grain of truth to the old saw that the money'ed seem to be smarter. Or maybe the real truth is that the older you are the "smarter" you become and being money'ed is only a side effect.
With only one exception these are all upscale vehicles.
All of the awd vehicles you cite are based on front-wheel drive platforms. When the going gets tough, obviously some or most of the engine torque is going to be transmitted to the rear wheels (that is, you get all-wheel drive). That's the whole point of buying awd. But they're not set up to deliberately oversteer the vehicle, which definitely wouldn't be a good thing.
Understeer is inherently safer than oversteer for the average driver, before stability control came onto the scene. The "natural" tendency is to lift the throttle, which slows the car down and helps the front end to regain traction. When a car understeers, it simply runs wide of the turn or in extreme cases, plows straight ahead.
Oversteer must be corrected with a quick countersteer. Remember the Corvair? This car was dangerous because most drivers were unaccustomed to oversteer, even in the RWD domestic cars of the era. Today's cars, FWD or RWD, tend to understeer, unless you goose the throttle in the latter.
If FWD was so dangerous, why did it become so commonplace over the last 30 or so years? Have crash rates, injuries, and deaths gone up? I think not.
With that said, let's get back to the Toyota Camry, a wonderful car!
The main reason is the lower manufacturing cost which also resulted in savings to the customer. The public accepted it because it eliminated the "hump", more useable interior space. The majority of the public had little or no experience with driving in adverse roadbed conditions, let alone with FWD and therefore could make no buying judgment initially.
But the good side is that out of the now declining (thankfully) FWD era has come Traction control, anti-lock braking, and maybe even VSC.
With the public's "need" for HP in these FWD vehicles something had to be done about the rising rate of accidents due to loss of directional control arising out of applying too much throttle, especially while turning tightly. So many manufacturers began dethrottling the engine when wheelspin developed at the (front) driven wheels. ABS allows you to maintain directional control during braking and traction control, engine dethrottling, prevents loss of control by alleviating the loss of traction due to engine torque.
The electric power stearing on the new RX400h and HH will actually "resist" the driver turning, entering into a turn, during high engine torque development by reducing the level of assist in that circumstance.
Due to laws over which none of us have control the effects of braking have always been heaviest at the front. If one happened to want, need too, stear the vehicle during heavy braking the front wheels could not be allowed to stop rolling entirely.
With the advent of FWD the equation became incalculable. Throw in FWD engine compression braking when the driver suddenly releases the gas pedal in order to quickly slam on the brakes severely and you have a recipe for instant loss of directional control.
And no, not all of those vehicles are natively FWD, the GS & IS for instance. I could add the "RWD" 4runner as the description of its AWD is much the same.
The XC90 and FreeStyle AWD system will allocate engine torque primarily to the rear as you enter a turn and then back to the front as you reach the apex and exit the turn. Brilliance of that is second only to the Acura method IMMHO.
FWD vehicles are more dangerous than RWD in the same way as true 4X4, locked center differential. Both will give you "extra" traction over an equivalent RWD for initially getting up and going, acceleration. But once the traction coefficient becomes marginal you cannot "drive" and change directions simultaneous without the threat of exceeding the traction coefficient of the front tires' contact patch.
"...."natural" tendency"..."
"...which slows the car down...."
Obviously you have never experienced an actual, serious, understearing "event". The most serious of understearing events occur because the front tires do not have enough traction with the roadbed to move the cars weight, and lets not forget inertia/momentum, SIDEWAYS.
And now if you lift the throttle on a FWD the INSTANT result is a higher requirement for roadbed traction at the front. Obviously that would, exacerbate, the understearing circumstance.
Since your Corvair (and my 78 911) is rear engined and RWD lightening the throttle only affects the tires that have NOT lost traction and yes, that would/will help to slow the car and thereby allow the front tires to regain traction and bring the car back under control.
Stear: to guide.
Steer: a neutered male bovine.
It is not dangerous.
If you are accelerating with enough force to break traction while you are turning it can be dangerous as you will understeer around the corner. Of course in RWD you will oversteer around the corner in the same situation and that is just as dangerous. In both cases taking your foot off the gas will bring things back in line.
Keep in mind that it is counterintuitive to accelerate with that much force in a turn when conditions allow for wheel spinning. Also keep in mind that traction control will limit or eliminate wheelspin.
If anything, it is dangerous to go from a nimble FWD car to a large and ungainly 4wd SUV because it will not be able to avoid many accidents and will trip and flip if it hits a low obstacle.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
When will the final pricing come out for the '07's? I'm hoping they will start hitting the dealerships this week or so. And is the dealer allocation really dependent on what was sold last month or a year ago at this same time?
The pics I've seen look great but I hope it'll look much better in person.
The Sandman
Common useage, you and I, not the dictionary, determine what words are in the English language, and how they should be spelled.
:P
I went with Yokohama Aegis replacement tires for my former '97 Camry and was quite pleased with them overall. They did generate a noticeable hum though, especially on smooth blacktop.
I have heard some people post that certain versions have less snow traction. I wonder if it's from having been worn partly and then when you replace with new deeper treads those deeper tires do a lot better.
I do realize other tires have stickier rubber, quieter rubber, and may not last as long--you give up something to gain something. Those tires serve many people needs better than Michelins do.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I just bought a used 2001 4-cyl. Camry Gallery Edition. I was so excited to buy my first new(er) vehicle in 16 years, I forgot to ask if it had ABS. It didn't come with an owners manual, either. I think ABS was an option at the time, but I don't know if the Gallery Edition had it standard, or if the previous owner added it as an option. Is there a way I can tell without slamming on the brakes on wet pavement? :-)
EDIT: I just remembered that it has drum brakes in the rear, so I can't count on the 4-wheel discs as a visual cue.
I love everything else about the car (except the lack of power, but with my driving record, that can be a good thing), so even if it doesn't have ABS, I'd keep it. I'm just wondering if there's a way I can tell. I don't want to find out the hard way, but I'm not exactly changing my driving habits just because it might have ABS. I still drive like I'm behind the wheel of my old Mitsubishi 4x4 -- with plenty of room between me and the car in front of me.
Any input is appreciated.