By Theodore Opara

Barely three years after its introduction, Toyota Motor Company has given the Camry a makeover, thereby maintaining its leading position in its class. The Camry competes in the same segment with the Honda Accord, Nissan Teana and Volkswagen Passat in Nigeria but the refreshment has given it lift. The redesign has given the Camry a complete look both inside and outside as nearly 2000 new parts were completely changed from the 2014 Toyota Camry model.

2015 Toyota Camry model.

The sweeping redesign has brought the best in the 2015 Camry in terms of look, performance and interior beauty. Looking more aggressive in front, with LED headlamps, the rear also look more sporty and appealing to the eyes. The touches reflected on the dashboard with a high-tech look for the centre stack and new materials used. Upper dash areas now have soft-touch trims and the area just ahead of the shift knob now has an enclosed bin for personal electronics, with a USB port and wireless charging pad.

Many things are new in the 2015 Toyota Camry except the roof. According to Toyota, nearly 2,000 new parts out of more than 6000 total parts in the 2014 model are new. Change too have been made to improve Camry’s responsiveness and road handling. Camry owes its improved handling to a new calibration for the electric power steering and a retuned to brake-booster system, though it retained its MacPharson strut multi-link rear suspension layout.

Toyota has added noise insulation at the floor of the Camry, as well as improved window and door seals. Also the side mirrors have been redesigned for better airflow. The Camry retained its two powerplants, a 2.5 lire four cylinder engine and 3.5 litre V6 with a six speed automatic transmission. Also, retuned in the 2015 edition of the Camry is the stability control system in the SE model for smoother handling.

Based on the success of the Sporty SE model, a new XSE model has been added to the line up and it is the sportiest Camry ever with 18-inch rim, unique shocks, firmer suspension bushings, and stiffer springs.

Adaptivecruise control

The  new Camry is offering a lot in term of safety features. These include lane departure alert, a pre-collision system with auto high beams, blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert as well as adaptive cruise control. Infotainment has been taken to the next level in the new Camry. Infotainment systems have been fully upgraded in the 2015 Camry. And they work, without the now almost expected lag and latency, and with intuitive menus.

Even at the base level, you get an Entune touch-screen audio and infotainment system with a CD player, auxiliary audio input, USB port, voice recognition, Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio streaming, and six speakers. Top models get an Entune Premium Audio system with audio playback capability, HD predictive traffic, doppler map overlay, and the Entune App Suite, which lets you run Bing search, Pandora, Yelp, and others on the touch screen, using your smartphone’s connection.