The Camry That'll Blow Your Doors Off!

Here in the United States, it seems like the Toyota Camry exists to make Accord drivers feel better about themselves. Ok, maybe I'm oversimplifying things.  The Camry is, by most metrics, a great car.  It is comfortable, reasonably priced, unbelievably dependable, quiet, good on gas, and has great resale value.  Unfortunately, it's about as interesting as watching paint dry.  Numb steering, sewing-machine engines, a tupperware interior, squishy brakes, automatic transmissions - it was designed to remove you from the whole business of driving, rather than connect you to it.  I realize that to some people (certainly not us, and I hope not our readers!) this is actually a good thing.  But to car guys, we would rather be fixing an Alfa Romeo than driving a Camry.

However, the Australians are a clever bunch.  When it comes to cars, they can seemingly make something from nothing.  Remember the Holden (VT) Commodore HSV GTS?  The 402 horsepower 4-door sedan powered by a tweaked LS1 with a 6-speed that many magazines compared favorably to the E39 M5?  Well, it shared large amounts of it's underpinnings with the Opel Omega, which spawned the piece-of-junk Cadillac Catera here in the US.  Sow's ear, silk purse, etc.

When Toyota realized that the Avalon was selling poorly in Australia, they set about creating a replacement that was still based on Camry guts.  The Aurion was actually styled by Toyota of Australia, based on the new (XV40) Camry chassis that debuted in 2006.  While we get the Camry with our choice of 2.4L I4 or 3.5L V6, the decision was made to split the engines up between the two models - the Camry would only get the four and be the bland value leader, and the fancier Aurion would only get the six.

Since the Aurion was primarily designed to compete with larger cars like the Commodore and Falcon, it was decided that a performance variant was needed.  After all, there are numerous different FPV Falcons and HSV Commodores with heaps of power, racy body kits, tight suspension, etc - and Australians eat that up.  So why not a hi-po Aurion?  TRD (Toyota Racing Development) was set to work on making a faster, meaner Aurion.

The most obvious difference with the TRD version of the Aurion is the Fast and Furious looking body kit.  It seems like a mixture of HSV, Lexus LS460L, and knife wounds.  It's a bit boy racer, but it certainly made sure the TRD Aurion wasn't a boring looking car.  The front valence is bottom-feeder deep, the rectangular exhaust outlets are integrated into the bumper, the split-spoke 19" wheels are wrapped with 35 series rubber, and you sort of look at it and nod, then shake your head and realize it's a Camry underneath all that!  A damn good looking car of surprising parentage.

The real magic is under the hood, though.  All the Australian Aurions come standard with Toyota 2GR-FE 3.5L port-injected V6.  This is already a pretty healthy power plant, with dual VVT-i, 24 valves and 4 cams, and 270 horsepower.  On top of this, TRD added an Eaton TVS (Twin Vortices) supercharger, the same kind used in the ZR-1 and CTS-V.  Interestingly, the TRD Aurion was the first production-car use of a TVS supercharger.  This quick-spooling unit gives the engine a very broad power band, with 300nM (221 lb-ft) of torque available from just 1250rpm all the way to redline.  Peak torque on the TRD engine is rated at 400nM (which is 295lb-ft) at 4,000 rpm.  Max power?  241kW (that's 323bhp to the rest of the world), making the TRD Aurion the world's most powerful production FWD vehicle, if memory serves me correctly.

Power was sent exclusively through a 6-speed automatic transmission with manumatic shifting capabilities, and to the ground via 245/35/ZR19 performance tires.  The brakes were larger, 325mm front with aluminum 2 piston calipers, and 310mm rear with single-piston calipers, both ends ventilated.  The car used Ferodo HP1000 pads at both ends for higher friction, as well.  The TRD used the same basic suspension setup as the non-supercharged Sportivo (where do they come up with these names?) but 12mm lower, with higher spring and damper rates.

The interior did not escape unscathed.  Although I'm sure they're comfortable, those red and black sports seats are just painful to look at.  The rest of the interior is pretty much standard Camry/Aurion, meaning it's comfortable, well built, and modern.  There were two trim levels of the TRD Aurion: the basic 3500S and the better-equipped 3500SL, which added more leather, more seat adjustments, a smart key fob, and other small things.

So, as the world's most powerful front-wheel drive car, how did the TRD Aurion perform?  Well, it was right quick: Toyota quoted a 0-100km/h (62.5mph) time of 6.1 seconds and a quarter mile of 14.2, although owners report that if you defeat the traction control system (which has to be done via a complicated process since there's no switch) they're capable of mid-fives to 100km/h and mid 13's in the quarter, which is pretty damn quick.  The TVS blower makes considerably less noise than older-style superchargers, so it wasn't a whining buzzing thing under the hood - just tons of power.  The problem was the front-wheel-drive - journalists who drove the TRD Aurions reported rampant torque steer and wheelspin.  Sounds sort of like a Saab Viggen!

A road test by Australian publication CarAdvice gave the car a 3/5 rating, and was not exactly filled with kind words for it's driving dynamics.  To wit: "Toyota has missed the mark with the new TRD Aurion. It’s impossible to drive this car hard without fearing which direction the car will send you in. There is simply far too much power being pushed through the front wheels to make this car viable."

And, to be honest, the TRD brand itself in Australia didn't live an easy life.  Toyota launched a partner model to the Aurion, a supercharged TRD Hilux (which is very similar to the US-market Tacoma) with a blown 4.0L V6 as well.  Issues cropped up early.  Toyota delayed the Aurion two quarters while they eeked more power out of the engine, and then issued an embarrassing stop-sale as soon as it hit the market, when an early production model blew it's engine.  All the issues were sorted out, and the TRD Aurion went on sale towards the end of 2007...

...And the entire TRD operation was canned towards the end of 2008.  With a total of 537 TRD Aurions (as well as 351 TRD Hilux models) sold throughout the whole life span, the operation wasn't exactly a success.  Critics pointed at the high price tag, pedestrian underpinnings, and front wheel drive architecture.  I think maybe the world just wasn't ready for a blown, badass Camry.  Either way, watch the way the speedometer needle sweeps the scale and honestly tell me we're better off without it.  I certainly don't think so.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wouZm9WIYyM

Perhaps Toyota would get a bit more credit as a maker of cars people want to drive if they strapped an Eaton TVS on a Camry V6 here in the 'states?  Not likely, but we can keep dreaming.  Hey, I"d drive one.