Camry Has Designs on Sub-50 Buyer

Toyota wants to be hip and cool. And in pursuit of that goal it is sponsoring computer games, movies and entertainment parks and publishing CDs that mate the Toyota message with music from youth-market singers.

The auto maker’s marketeers tout the lumpy but strangely cute Echo, the hybrid gasoline-electric Prius, the sporty Celica and the flip-top, two-seat MR2 roadster as examples of their ability to dance on the cutting edge.

There’s even a special Toyota team, Genesis, charged with developing youthful products.

Then there’s the Toyota most people know. The Toyota that builds high-quality, dependable cars and trucks. The company whose vehicles many shoppers find as familiar as flannel pajamas, as comforting as warm milk. The company songwriter Huey Lewis must have been thinking of when he penned that memorable line: “It’s hip to be square.”

That’s the hip Toyota, the company that makes the country’s best-selling family sedan, is going after with the newest version thereof: the 2002 Camry.

There won’t be a lot of competition from the new Nissan Altima--and certainly not much from the Audi A4, a car Toyota engineers say they used as a benchmark in setting their goals for the new Camry. Those are positioned as drivers’ cars; the Camry is transportation.

But boy, is it good transportation. And with the 2002 model, Toyota took that good thing and made it better--to paraphrase another songwriter whose work is familiar to the generations that shop for Camrys.

The goal in bringing out a redesigned Camry--on the model’s first new platform in a decade--wasn’t to introduce a whole new car, but to “sharpen the focus in order to broaden its appeal,” said Toyota division General Manager Don Esmond. He described the target market as “the big middle.”

Or, as Toyota division marketing chief Steve Sturm said, today’s typical Camry buyer is a 51-year-old woman, and the company wants to keep her while attracting 41-year-old male buyers to the fold as well. (Youth, after all, is relative.)

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Toyota would have an easier time achieving its goal had it added a dash more pizazz to the new Camry’s exterior. If the 2001 model was plain vanilla, the 2002 is French vanilla: perkier but hard to get really excited about.

Still, it is a skosh more stylish than before, with a strong, upswept line along the flanks, a bold stance and a sleeker roof line. If Old Camry was the choice of school librarians and chemistry teachers, New Camry might attract the gym coaches and drama instructors.

But styling statements aren’t what Camry is all about.

This is, after all, the best-selling passenger car in the United States--it has been for four years running and probably will be again when the numbers for 2001 are tallied (quite possibly by Camry-driving accountants).

Toyota didn’t want to mess with success and risk scaring away the huge cadre of loyalists and comfort seekers who have put the Camry atop the heap precisely because it does make them feel safe and secure and wrapped in a nonthreatening package.

So no hood scoops. No fender flares. No air-gulping maw up front, no ear-splitting roar out back. There is, however, a sportier SE model with white-faced gauges, brushed-chrome interior accents and a spoiler atop the trunk lid for those with an enthusiast gene or two hankering to break free.

No, it is underneath the sheet metal, not in it, that the new Camry really shines.

Archrival Honda gets lots of credit for engineering prowess, but Toyota is no slouch.

The base Camry for 2002 uses the same platform introduced last year in the Highlander crossover utility vehicle and brought back last month for Camry’s upscale cousin, the 2002 Lexus ES 300. Ultimately the platform will provide the underpinnings for half a dozen or more Lexuses and Toyotas.

The 2002 is stiffer and quieter than any previous Camry--no mean feat--and longer, wider and stronger. Yet it also is lighter, thanks to the use of lightweight materials and computer-assisted design and engineering.

That longer wheelbase means an additional half-inch of legroom up front and 1.5 inches more in back. The space between front seats is three-quarters of an inch wider; there’s a bit more headroom as well, to accommodate a slightly higher seat cushion that provides an improved view of the road and makes it a bit easier to slip in and out of the car.

The suspension (struts front and rear) has been retuned for a smoother ride, the shock absorbers redesigned to absorb more jolts under a variety of road conditions. The SE model gets slightly stiffer suspension and shock tuning, modified wheel alignment and even recalibrated power-steering response for a sportier ride, improved cornering stability and a bit more feedback from the road to the driver than is common in a Camry.

On the road, the Camry rides well and handles nicely (speed-sensitive power steering helps). It delivers plenty of power to do what you would expect of a family sedan. (In the four-cylinder SE with five-speed manual transmission, it even starts feeling a bit like a performance sedan.)

The Camry won’t stick to the road like a Porsche, or even a sporty stablemate such as the Lexus IS 300, but it isn’t meant to.

The V-6 engine that Toyota figures will appeal to only about 25% of all Camry buyers is the same as used in the 2001 model. It churns out 192 horsepower and 209 foot-pounds of torque. Although it won’t win many races, it will get you where you want to go with dispatch.

The base 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine is a new power plant that weighs 58 pounds less than the smaller 2.2-liter in the 2001 model. It pumps out 157 horsepower (up from 136 in the previous four-banger) and 162 foot-pounds of torque.

An electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission is standard in both V-6 and four-cylinder models (different gearing, though). A five-speed manual is optional with the four-cylinder engine in the base LE and sporty SE trim levels.

Pricing is what Toyota calls value-oriented.

On a same-equipment basis, Camry prices are a bit lower for 2002 than for 2001. But the low-level CE model has been eliminated, and the lowest-priced Camry--albeit loaded with standard air conditioning, CD player, power windows and other goodies--is $19,455, including the company’s $485 delivery charge. That’s $1,325 more than the base 2001 CE.

But Toyota executives say they didn’t sell many of the stripped-down CEs anyway--that Camry buyers are seeking value, not basics.

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Wanna talk technology?

The transmission is smart, sensing hilly conditions and holding itself in the most appropriate gear while climbing or descending to avoid that rapid gear hunting that is so annoying in so many automatic trannies.

Toyota engineers eliminated the mechanical links between heating and air-conditioning control knobs and the devices they control--it’s all done with electronic signals now, eliminating noisy vibrations that can travel along mechanical control linkages.

The engineers also gave the new Camry the industry’s first true “throttle by wire” system, which uses electronic signals to replace the mechanical linkage between accelerator pedal and throttle body.

The principal gains are noise reduction, better control over fuel economy and more flexibility in packaging, because designers didn’t have to make room for a solid throttle linkage.

The system uses electronic chips that sense the driver’s pressure on the accelerator (which is spring-loaded to feel as if it is connected to something) and transmit the information to the engine control module, which adjusts the fuel flow accordingly.

A complex system of backup sensors duplicates everything. Emergency programming in the engine control module ensures that if both the primary and backup throttle systems were to break down, the module would sense it and take over fuel management to enable the car to proceed in what engineers call the “limp home” mode.

The engine control module itself uses 32-bit processors that can be reprogrammed at the dealership, eliminating the need to replace them entirely in case of a breakdown or a programming update.

The automatic transmission--actually a transaxle--is a new compact design that cuts friction to provide almost the same fuel economy as the five-speed manual on models equipped with the four-cylinder engine.

Toyota even dialed back the idle to help with fuel economy--it’s about 800 revolutions per minute at a cold start, versus 1,000 rpm in most cars and light trucks.

All of that goes to making the new Camry not only more fuel efficient but also less polluting. It is rated a ULEV (ultra-low-emission vehicle), California’s second-best standard for an internal-combustion engine.

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Final words: If you loved the last Camry, or the one before that, you’ll really love the 2002 model.

If you never bothered with one before but find yourself in the market for a nicely crafted, highly engineered mid-size sedan that looks nice and is a good bet to be running well when you are ready to trade it in, you owe it to yourself to put a Camry on your consideration list.

If you want head-turning style and vertebrae-popping performance, or a bargain-basement price, best look elsewhere.

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Times staff writer John O’Dell covers autos for Highway 1 and the Business section. He can be reached at [email protected].

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2002 Toyota Camry

Type

* Front-engine, mid-size sedan with seating for up to five. Models include base LE, upscale XLE and sport-tuned SE.

Cost and Equipment

* Pricing: $19,455 to $25,890 (includes $485 destination charge).

* Standard equipment: LE base model includes four-speed automatic transmission, front disc and rear drum brakes, P205/65R15 tires, rack-and-pinion steering, independent front suspension, front air bags, air conditioning, power windows and door locks, power outside mirrors, cloth seating with front buckets and 60/40-split rear bench, six-speaker AM-FM stereo with cassette and CD players, full-size spare tire. XLE adds rear disc brakes, P215/60R16 tires and 16-inch wheels, power adjustable driver and passenger front seats, automatic climate control, chrome side molding and inside door handles, wood-grain interior trim, rear sunshade, key-less entry, upgraded cloth upholstery. SE drops power seats, chrome and wood-grain trim, sunshade and remote entry; adds fog lights, blacked-out grille, rear spoiler, chrome exhaust tip, leather-wrapped shift knob and steering wheel, brushed-chrome interior trim, white-faced gauges, sport suspension tuning.

* Options: Include 3.0-liter V-6 engine, five-speed manual transmission (four-cylinder LE and SE models only), anti-lock brakes (standard on XLE), side-curtain driver and passenger air bags (standard on XLE), skid and traction control on V-6 models, power moon roof, in-dash navigation system (SE and XLE models only), premium stereo with CD player and remote six-

disc changer, alloy wheels, heated front seats (V-6 SE and all XLE models), leather seating surfaces with power front seats (SE and XLE only), rear sunshade and key-less entry (LE and SE models).

Engines

* 2.4-liter, 157-horsepower inline-4 or 3.0-liter, 192-horsepower V-6.

Performance

* 0 to 60 mph, manufacturer’s figures: V-6, 8.3 seconds; four-cylinder manual, 9.1 seconds; four-cylinder automatic,

9.9 seconds.

* Tow capacity: up to 2,000 pounds

* Trunk volume: 16.7 cubic feet

* Fuel consumption, manufacturer’s estimate: V-6 with automatic (requires 91-octane gasoline), 20 miles per gallon city, 28 mpg highway; inline-4 (87-octane fuel), 24/33 with manual, 24/32 with automatic.

Curb Weight

* Ranges from 3,086 pounds for four-cylinder LE with five-speed manual transmission to 3,362 pounds for V-6 XLE with automatic.