2020 Toyota Camry Review

The Toyota Camry is one of the best-selling midsize sedans in the USA. The Camry was redesigned in 2018, Apple CarPlay was added in 2019, and now Android Auto and Amazon Alexa follows suit for model year 2020. While we won't see any additional upgrades for the rest of the lineup, we do get a new, sportier TRD trim.

The TRD comes standard with the Camry's 3.5-liter V6 engine. There's no increase from the normal 301 horsepower, but there is an upgraded sport exhaust to add some noise to the proceedings.

Toyota has also added additional bracing to stiffen the chassis, stiffer suspension, lighter 19-inch alloy wheels, and grippier tires to improve handling. Additional stopping power will be provided by the TRD's two-piston front brake calipers. And, of course, there's a big wing and blacked-out styling on the outside, along with red seat belts on the inside.

Nevermind being one of the best-selling sedans in the USA, the Camry is one of the best-selling vehicles, period. But Camry sales have fallen off a bit over the last few years, so Toyota needs to keep the car exciting and find ways to tempt new buyers. Adding some performance parts and doubling down on this generation's already more aggressive styling might help.

The 2020 Camry TRD will also provide a more affordable entry to buyers looking for extra power, undercutting the XSE V6 by a few thousand dollars and stacking up more directly against the Accord Sport 2.0T.

The current Camry generation, particularly in the SE trim, provides pleasing handling characteristics. Yet this new 2020 Toyota Camry TRD is a step above that. Body solidity, turn-in, and sharpness of response in the Camry TRD are all enhanced. The brakes feel firm and responsive, and the car definitely has more lateral grip. This is what you can start to consider as a sporty sedan.

The credit for that handling response can be traced to the numerous Toyota Racing Development (TRD) upgrades. The new parts include: new shock absorbers, stiffer springs, larger front and rear stabilizer bars, a V-brace (which lies across and behind the rear seats and eliminates the ability to fold them down), a new exhaust, larger and more powerful front brakes, wider and lighter wheels on all four corners, and (optional) Bridgestone Potenza RE050 summer tires. The TRD also comes with Active Cornering Assist, which helps with handling on tight corners.

Though the ride is indeed stiffer, the suspension remains pretty compliant. Over rough surfaces, there is a little bit more communicated to the driver through the wheel and behavior of the vehicle. There's also a bit more road noise with the summer tires installed. That being said, the Camry TRD maintains a fairly comfortable ride over most surfaces. There's a nice balance here.

The Camry TRD comes standard with the V6 engine that provides 301 hp and 267 lb-ft of torque. That 3.5-liter V6 is mated to an eight-speed transmission and receives three preconfigured settings: Eco, Normal and Sport. This powertrain gets the car down the road quickly. The new TRD exhaust sounds throaty on start-up and delivers a nice growl on throttle applications. Pleasingly, there's no annoying drone while driving normally on highways.

The Camry comes with a 7-inch touch-based infotainment screen that integrates well into the dash. But it has a maddening volume/tuning knob combo, in which the larger volume knob is slightly out of the driver's sight line and located above the smaller tuning knob. The natural reach area for the tuning knob is where you expect the volume knob to be. Android Auto and Amazon Alexa are welcome additions to the infotainment system, though we haven't had a chance to test those out.

The seats offer nice support when executing spirited driving maneuvers. The TRD comes with a lot of red accents to indicate its sporty attitude. Red accent stitching located throughout the cabin, red seat belts, and red accent lines on the seats are specific to the TRD, as are embroidered TRD logos on the front seat headrests. The rest of the interior remains relatively unchanged.