New Camry: It's a suspense story

AUSTRALIAN buyers of performance cars are soon to be offered another locally-built alternative - the Toyota Camry.

That may be a hard concept to grasp, but Toyota Australia says it has succeeded in turning the new 380N Camry into a driver's car.

The driving force behind a change in direction for what is regarded as the most conservative of vehicles is that the new generation Camry is almost identical in size to Toyota's other locally-built car, the Avalon.

The two also share the same V6 driveline, although the Camry will also get the choice of an advanced new four-cylinder, 2.4-litre, all-alloy, variable valve timing engine.

The key to the two cars living alongside each other is differentiation in character and the marketing strategy is to sell the Camry to a younger market.

And the way to do that, it has been decided, is by injecting sport into Camry.

Fundamentally, the standard 380N Camry will have the same feel as the current Touring model, while the new generation sports variants will "push the envelope that bit further", Toyota Australia senior test engineer Paul Diamandis said last week, when the company previewed the new car to the media.

Mr Diamandis and his team evaluated Australian driving styles and decided we wanted increased initial steering response, a flat ride, neutral chassis and more grip. It was also decided that the steering rack kickback level and understeer had to be reduced.

It was a delicate balancing act because the Camry still had to be acceptable to a wide audience. After all, the average buyers of both V6 and four-cylinder Camrys are in their 50s.

"We are talking about balancing that paradox of ride, handling and NV (noise and vibration)," Mr Diamandis said.

"So we don't want a car that sits flat and confident but rearranges your vertebrae, or shakes out your fillings, or makes you go deaf when you are on a coarse chip road.

"We have to give our cars that level of refinement that our customers are used to and expect these days." Mr Diamandis said the targets had been achieved thanks to the Australian-developed Toyota Modular Platform (TMP) that includes lighter subframe assemblies, re-tuned spring and damping rates, a new 15-inch tyre and a new power steering and pump unit.

The TMP is an updated version of the Avalon platform that is stronger than its predecessor. But it is the four-sided subframes - also carried over in a modified form - which are crucial here.

The engine, MacPherson strut suspension and steering rack are all mounted to the front subframe, which in turn is bolted into the car through four rubber bushes which can be tuned individually in the vertical, lateral and longitudinal planes.

At the rear, the suspension also attaches to a subframe, which in turn mounts into the car through infinitely adjustable pillow bushes.

Using the TMP rather than the standard 380N platform means the Australian Camry employs parallel dual link arms in the rear suspension, while other versions employ non-parallel dual links.

The result is the Australian Camry has less compliance steer which in theory at least means less understeer.

Spring and damper rates are a further example of the sports honing of the Camry, as well as the increased size and weight of 380N.

Total roll stiffness in both standard and sports oriented Camry models is up about six per cent compared to its predecessor, while springs themselves in the standard car firm up 10 per cent in the front and 15 per cent in the rear.

Sports variant spring rates are up 17 per cent and 21 per cent respectively, while there's a strut brace added under the bonnet for more rigidity at high speed.

A lot of attention has been paid to compression damping, with an increase over 100 per cent dialled into the sports specification at low-mid piston speed, while it is up 50-80 per cent in the standard car. Rebound damping has only been slightly retuned.

The new 15-inch tyre is a Dunlop SP Sport 300, which replaces the eight-year-old Bridgestone RE92. The Dunlop uses the latest Silica/carbon tread compound technology which Toyota claims boost dry and wet grip, damping level, steering response and rolling resistance. The 16-inch Michelin continues to be the Michelin Vivacy introduced in late 2000.

The move to a new power steering and pump unit had the advantage of mounting bushes six times stiffer than its predecessor, which allowed lighter steering effort but retained steering feel, Mr Diamandis said.

A hydraulic check valve also dramatically reduces steering kickback, which Mr Diamandis admitted had been a bugbear of the current Camry.

"The car is now more communicative, more precise and more responsive," he said.

"There is certainly an improved balance between parking and driving efforts ... if we can go light and keep the feel then we'll do that, and this steering system has allowed us to do that." * On Thursday read about the development story behind the new Camry's brakes, electronics and seats.