Sunday Drive – 2020 Toyota Camry TRD – Daily Herald

Forty years ago seems like such a long time. We were just getting into high school. The president was Jimmy Carter. Voyager was able to show the world the rings of Jupiter and The Knack had the top spot on Billboard with the hit song My Sharona. For some it seems like forever ago but for Toyota It marked the year that the brand TRD (Toyota Racing Division) had made and appearance in the U.S. of A.

Over those 40 years the TRD division has been involved in everything from NASCAR and drag racing to making some of the most popular pickup trucks on the market with the Tacoma and Tundra. It only seemed to make sense with all this diversification of product and brain power that they make the jump into the consumer sedan market.

So after a 40 year presence here in America with the TRD brand the folks at Toyota have given their two most popular sedans, the Camry and Avalon an injection of muscle and coolness, and pinning both with the TRD logo!

Right off we were quick to notice many design changes on the exterior of the TRD Camry in very visible aero elements that have been added. Most striking was the addition of a wing across the back on trunk line giving us pause, as we called it our racing Camry for the week.

The designers from Calty Design Research, Toyotas design studio have also given the sedan a more aggressive stance by lowering the body 0.6 inches, adding red brake calipers and an impressive TRD badge for each new Camry.

As an instant testament to the awesome new design, as we pulled into the parking lot of CupBop Korean take-out restaurant stand near Brigham Young University on the Friday night of our test drive, two students appeared almost as if on cue. Both began to question us as to the availability and what it was like to drive the TRD Camry.

Its always a great opportunity to talk with folks about the vehicles we review and test each week but this reaction was not what we had expected from a Toyota Camry. At the end of the 20-minute discussion they both wanted photos of the new TRD-enhanced vehicle to send to their friends and family!

We had to admit after just a few hours of diving the new Camry who really wouldnt want a 300-horsepower sedan, with looks to back up that kind of power? It also comes to reason that there are already many aftermarket parts available for the TRD including a new performance exhaust system. It shouldnt be long until 300 horsepower is just the benchmark for buying a new TRD.

The new Camry comes with a DOHC 3.5-liter V-6 power plant that is tied to an eight-speed automatic transmission and that has a sport mode and paddle shifters on the steering column. The engine also has a specially tuned cat-back dual exhaust that we found gives the TRD a very nice exhaust note. This was especially evident every time we started the sedan in our garage but was also a great edition out on the open road if we gave it just that little extra push for speed.

Over the week of driving and almost 500 miles in mostly an urban setting we did average a very nice 26.5 mpg. We also found the Camry with all of these great additions not only way more fun to drive but it also had some great road manners staying very planted and controllable even on very twisty turns.

Other additions that made for this awesome sport drive were a unique set of TRD shock absorbers along with summer tires that are included on the Camry only. Sport enhanced black alloy wheels rounded out the exterior, and coupled with the dual piston brakes made the Race Camry even better.

The design folks did not leave out the interior when they started changing things around for the Camry, as the red theme played out throughout along with the TRD concept. Red stitching in the seats and on the dashboard along with red TRD logos in the headrest add to the look.

Red is also the theme in the drivers console with red speedometer and tachometer. And if that were not enough, red seat and shoulder belts really made us feel even more like racing around in the Toyota.

The seats were very comfortable and made from a black SofTex with fabric inserts. The only downfall was that they were not heated as Mother Nature finally added a little fall to our weather the day after the Labor Day holiday.

After our week with the TRD version of the Camry we were very impressed with not only the design and handling of the Camry but with how it now stands out in a crowd. Our hats are definitely off to those at Toyota for making this happen.

It has to be hard to take what has become an icon in the automotive world and make something new and exciting with that product. For years the Camry has been the bread and butter sedan for the company, now through the use of the TRD division they have taken the Camry right off the NASCAR circuit and put it right in anyones driveway.

Check out the new Race inspired TRD Camry and add a little excitement to your life. We sure did at least for a week!

Link:
Sunday Drive - 2020 Toyota Camry TRD - Daily Herald