2018 Toyota Camry Review

SPEAKER 1: Mid-size family sedans have been losing ground to small SUVs. So what better time for two of the most significant sedans to go through major redesigns. Here we have the recently overhauled Toyota Camry. SPEAKER 2: And behind me is the 2018 Honda Accord, now in its 10th generation and it's all new from the ground up. I'm really curious to see how it stacks up to the new Camry. This is a CVT. With a 1.5 you get a CVT only. There's an optional six speed manual gearbox. But when it comes to the automatic, it's just a CVT. SPEAKER 1: Nobody's going to be buying this in a manual, except for maybe the automotive journalists pretty much. SPEAKER 2: But I'm glad that they offer a manual gear box. SPEAKER 1: OK. Well, the CVT tends to suck some of the life out of some engines. But just leaving that stop back there I didn't get a lot of delay. I felt a good response. SPEAKER 2: I think the CVT's have come a long way. And particularly, this CVT that Honda offers in the Accord and in the Civic is a really good example of how to do it right. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And visibility's actually really good. This A pillar is probably one of the thinner ones I've seen in a while. I like the shape of the seats. I'm getting a little bit of intrusion in my shoulder blades. But, you know, it's barely even worth mentioning. SPEAKER 2: And the seats are pretty plush too. I feel like they have a good amount of give. SPEAKER 1: I do have the ventilated seats on their maximum right now. Kind of doing the job that I think other cars do on medium. SPEAKER 2: It's a little feeble then? SPEAKER 1: It's a little weak. This feels buttoned down. And even on some of the rougher stuff that we're on on the other boulevard, it was smoothing it over to a, I think, a more than acceptable degree. SPEAKER 2: I agree. I think this is a good example of Honda the way the Hondas used to be, where they had a lightness to them but they also would pick up their feet and feel supple, but still had a connection to the driver. It still feels like it's responsive, not in an overtly sporty way, but just in a way that tells you that the car is with you without ever beating you up about it. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. The pedal's a little soft but appropriate for this kind of car. I would personally prefer just a little more effort in the pedal. But nit-picks, when I'm nit picking a car it means I actually like it. SPEAKER 2: Feels a little bit firmer on the ride but it's not an objectionable ride by any means. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. It's compliant enough. But it still feels like it could be buttoned down a little more compared to the Accord. SPEAKER 2: I mean, the routine driving of this car it's nice. I mean, just pick which one you prefer between the Accord and this Camry SE there's nothing at all wrong with the way this goes down the road. The steering is pretty responsive. It's all just different flavors of preference I think. SPEAKER 1: I also think they're so close in many ways that the way they drive might not even be a factor for a lot of people. SPEAKER 2: Definitely not. Yeah. Dipping into the gas right there it feels like-- SPEAKER 1: Yeah. I felt a little bit of a hesitation. SPEAKER 2: But it did downshift. I'll give it that. It did kick down pretty responsibly. Visibility is pretty good. It looks like they've done a good job of keeping the belt-line here low, so the window edge on the bottom kind of dips down. If you were to look at the current in profile you'd see this sort of scalloped bottom edge of the greenhouse, which helps you see out over the side of the car. The [INAUDIBLE] I think is probably a little bit higher. This top of the dashboard maybe it's a touch higher than the Accord. But it's certainly not so high that it's going to cause people any sort of consternation. SPEAKER 1: Right. SPEAKER 2: This also has a hard key based periphery to its touchscreen. These are better labeled, I think, than in the Accord. SPEAKER 1: One thing though, the screen is a few inches lower than the Accord's. Because they have the vents up top. Even though initially when they started putting those tablet looking screens on the top of the dash, aesthetically I wasn't all that happy with it. But very quickly I realized that visually and having it in your sight-lines is worth that kind of aesthetic sacrifice. SPEAKER 2: Yeah. They look tacked on. But I think functionally they work better than one that's lower and more buried into the dash. Another thing that I think the Accord has going for it is that the Toyota you can't get Apple Car Play or Android Auto compatibility. SPEAKER 1: I know. SPEAKER 2: I mean, that's sort of an across the board Toyota thing. SPEAKER 1: And I'm at the point now where I'm reliant on Apple Car Play. And if a car doesn't have it now I'm almost getting to that deal breaker territory, where if it doesn't have it I don't want it. SPEAKER 2: It pulls hard above 5,000. But below that it's not quite as urgent. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. You have to wait for it to boil. SPEAKER 2: Yeah. But once it gets up there it moves out nicely. But I think the low end torque of the turbo engine in the Accord delivers a little bit more of that initial thrust better than this car does. The previous Camry felt a little bit more plasticy than this. They certainly paid more attention to materials in this new Camry compared to the old. But the Accord's in another class above. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. There's something about the Camry that I do like. There's a certain honesty about it. It feels good. It meets expectations, certainly. The Accord, I think, exceeds expectations. SPEAKER 2: Yeah. Functionally, there's nothing wrong with the Camry's cabin. I mean, it's-- everything is placed where you want it. There's a big volume knob that's on the correct side of the screen for the driver. The buttons are well labeled. There's big fonts everywhere. Everything falls to hand the way you expect. But that sense of occasion that the Accord has just puts it over the top for me. Infotainment-wise it's a no brainer. And the Accord has it all over this one. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. Absolutely. SPEAKER 2: And this is a comfortable cabin too. The seats are comfortable. The touch points are soft. The leather feels good, whether it's on the shift selector or on the steering wheel. There's nothing wrong at all with this cabin. Here we are in the back seat of the Camry. SPEAKER 1: And, you know, it's got enough space for me. SPEAKER 2: I'm in the same boat. I can fit my toes underneath the front seat. And I've got a few inches to the seat back in front of me. And what I should point out also is the driver's seat is all the way down. It's as low as it can go and there's still room to put your toes underneath. Some cars when the seat goes all the way down all the toe-room in the backseat goes away. But that's not the case in the Camry. So that's a good detail. They didn't miss that. SPEAKER 1: All right. Well, it's well-padded. I mean, that's really cushiony. That's nice. SPEAKER 2: There's no storage on the back of the console. We do have vents back here, which is nice. We can't really control them other than they're on they're off. SPEAKER 1: Right. SPEAKER 2: But that's not that unusual. SPEAKER 1: Map pockets behind the front seats. But yeah the lack of a USB port or even a 12 volt plug is, I think, maybe a misstep. Especially since if this is a family sedan and all the kids have their faces plastered into a screen nowadays-- well actually maybe it's not a bad thing if they don't have power. And they run out on a road trip. Maybe you actually have to talk to them. SPEAKER 2: Imagine that. I don't feel cramped back here. But if this was a light interior I think it would feel that much breezier. So that's just one thing to keep in mind, I think, as we're comparing these two cars. SPEAKER 1: Totally agree. Let's just start in the middle here. The infotainment screen placed high up on the dash on this little tablet looking thing, these knobs like you pointed out before, they're really, really nice. SPEAKER 2: Yeah. It shows an attention to detail that goes beyond just the basics of what you'd expect in a midsize sedan. SPEAKER 1: We made a lot of noise about the lack of a volume knob and that ridiculous volume control on the steering wheel. SPEAKER 2: I mean, I know I did. SPEAKER 1: They have actual volume buttons here now and the scrolling wheel for the multifunction display. It's all falling to hand really nicely. SPEAKER 2: And the screen flow too, both on the center screen and in the instrument cluster, it's really intuitive. And it happens quickly. It responds very quickly. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. SPEAKER 2: I think it's a really nice execution of that sort of thing. SPEAKER 1: They made the improvements. They got rid of the things we hated. And they kept the things we liked. SPEAKER 2: It feels good in here. I like how they've echoed the design theme here. If you look at the front of the car and the back of the car and then this dashboard, you'll notice that there is this emphasis of width. And by that I mean, look at how these vents on the side are protruding into the doors. The headlights do the same sort of thing. SPEAKER 1: They wrap around. SPEAKER 2: The headlights protrude and wrap around into the fenders. And the tail lights are doing a similar sort of thing. So again, they're kind of going beyond just the basics of what you can expect in a mid-sized sedan. And adding a bit more attention to detail and style. SPEAKER 1: So under here we have a wireless charging pad. The Camry also has that. A USB port there. Another one under here I believe. SPEAKER 2: Yes. There's a PowerPoint and a USB. SPEAKER 1: Nice sliding tray here that I believe is also-- and rubberized so phone won't slide around. I've got some good bins here. Actually, the pockets in the doors I think are better in here than in the Camry. The Camry you can get one water bottle in and it has to be at this angle to put it in. This you have a pocket and a water bottle holder so. SPEAKER 2: Yeah. Seems to be a little bit more small item storage here in the Accord than the Camry. SPEAKER 1: But I just feel like I have more space in here. SPEAKER 2: Yeah. And this dash is a lot slimmer. If you look at the height of this dash compared to that of the Camry, which is much more monolithic. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And it kind of tapers down nicely as well. But the materials they're using this-- I don't even care if it's real wood. It looks great. SPEAKER 2: And this brushed aluminum again, it just has this class. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. It's premium without the price. And all these buttons on the steering wheel they're easy to use. You know, there's no stretch or anything. You don't even have to look down on it. But yeah, they really did a great job with this. I feel like I can see better out the front. I mean, I'm getting such an expansive view of the dash as well, that I wasn't getting in the Camry. Now these obviously aren't deal breakers one way or the other. But what might be is the amount of room I have back here. SPEAKER 2: It's big back here. Between the Camry and the Accord headroom-wise yeah, they're comparable. My head's brushing the headliner in this one as well. But I think leg and knee room it's all Accord. SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And like the Camry, we have harder plastics back here. SPEAKER 2: Different surfaces front and rear. SPEAKER 1: Now, like the Camry this doesn't just kind of stop or have a detent or something. It just kind of flops onto the seat. And it's a little bit of an angle. It's not a big deal to me. SPEAKER 2: It's comfortable I think. It's the right height. SPEAKER 1: We're missing something. SPEAKER 2: We're missing the USB ports and PowerPoints, just like in the Camry. So there's no advantage to smartphone charging or anything in the Accord compared to the Camry. This also, same deal, it has vents that you can control on off but that's it. Storage-wise a similar situation. You've got this cup holder. You've got the door pocket. That's kind of it. Although, you do have the map pocket in the back of the door. So in terms of rear seat storage I think it's a wash. SPEAKER 1: Absolutely. I thought it was going to be a closer fight. But the Accord is the clear winner in my book. SPEAKER 2: I agree. The Accord is the clear winner. And for me it comes down to primarily the cabin, the design, the sense of space in there. It's just a nicer place to be inside the cabin. SPEAKER 1: I agree as well. I give a clear-- a definite advantage to the infotainment system in the Honda. SPEAKER 2: There's a winner here. And we're in agreement that it's the Accord. But what do you think? SPEAKER 1: Let us know in the comments below. If you want to see more videos like this, hit subscribe.