2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid Review

The 2010 Toyota Camry hybrid benefits from exceptional reliability, excellent gas mileage, a long list of standard safety equipment, and a 100,000-mile warranty for hybrid components.  Overall the Camry hybrid is a very refined vehicle. It is a sedan that brings the quality and reliability of the Camry together with increased fuel efficiency. The 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid has been redesigned. Now in its fourth model year since its last redesign, the 2010 Toyota Camry received a number of mechanical and styling tweaks as part of a mid-cycle update. The Camry Hybrid's drivetrain carries over unchanged, but it does get a few unique styling cues. The Camry Hybrid's tweaks are more noticeable than the regular Camry's. Its gets a more aggressive front end, with a larger center air dam that covers much of the lower bumper. Fog lights sit within vertically slotted outboard sections, and last year's bladed grille has been replaced with a single unit. Both the grille and bumper differ noticeably from the non-hybrid Camry's, which wasn't the case before. It is a five passenger, four door, front wheel drive sedan, and is available in one well appointed trim. A moonroof, navigation system, leather seats and heated front seats are optional. Standard safety features include stability and traction control, seven airbags, and a tire pressure monitor. The 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid comes in at $26,150 - $26,150.  It gets an estimated 33 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. The only downsides to the Camy Hybrid are its low trunk vloume, its higher price (but to be expected with a hybrid), and some interior pieces that fall a bit below the overall feeling of the cabin.   

2010 Hybrid Design

Another change for the 2010 Camry hybrid is that it has been developed to be aerodynamic, although this is not obvious to the eye.  Engineers focused on making the underbody as flat as possible to smooth airflow under the car and reduce noise. Sixteen-inch alloy wheels are standard. With the Camry Hybrid, the aerodynamic focus was on better efficiency. Unique wheel spats and underbelly pans reduce the coefficient of drag (Cd) to a low 0.27.This reduces the amount of energy required to move the Hybrid at a given speed.  Noticeable taillight lenses mirror the outline of the headlights, angling down and inward across the trunk lid seam.  The bumper wraps around the back end, capping the corners beneath the taillights and sweeping into a soft, horizontal indentation that, on the V6-equipped models, finishes in cutouts for the chrome-tipped dual exhausts.

Hybrid Power

 For the 2010 Hybrid, a 2.4-liter four-cylinder running on a more efficient Atkinson cycle couples with an electric motor to produce a combined 187 horsepower. Drawing power from a dedicated battery that recharges off braking friction, the drivetrain can run solely on electric power at low speeds, and it nets an EPA-estimated 33/34 mpg city/highway.
It comes standard with Hybrid Synergy Drive, a combination electric motor/gasoline engine fitted with an efficient, continuously variable transmission. The standard warranty for hybrid-related components is 8 years/100,000 miles. The Camry Hybrid uses a 147-hp version of the four-cylinder engine, mated with a 40-horsepower electric motor and continuously variable (CVT) automatic transmission. The motor augments the gas engine's performance and captures energy that would otherwise be wasted as the car slows and brakes, so it can reduce fuel consumption substantially.

Camry Driving

 
The Hybrid is equipped comparably to the XLE four-cylinder, and adds Toyota's Smart Key pushbutton-start feature. The Camry Hybrid features a combination electric motor/gasoline engine powertrain and a super-efficient continuously variable transmission, or CVT. The Hybrid is a good performer and one of the most fuel-efficient mid-size vehicles anywhere. It's also a great statement for environmentally conscious buyers, though it's worth noting that all Camry models offer good EPA mileage ratings and low emissions in their respective categories. The Hybrid version of the Camry drives in a similar fashion to the gasoline models.  It is extremely quiet while idling, as the gasoline engine is turned off.  The Camry Hybrid switches from gas power to electric power almost unnoticeably and accelerates, even at highway speeds, well.

Inside the 2010 Camry Hybrid

Rather than a conventional tachometer, the Camry Hybrid includes a gas mileage gauge. Toyota says the gauges have a new design. With the navigation system, the center display can show power flow between different drivetrain components.  It's equipped with cloth upholstery, air conditioning and pollen filter, cruise control, power windows and mirrors, manual tilt-and-telescope steering wheel, a multi-function information display with outside temperature, a 160-watt stereo with six speakers, single CD player and auxiliary jack for MP3 devices, a 60/40 split-folding rear seat and 16-inch steel wheels. The cabin carries over form 2009 largely untouched. The stereo offers USB compatibility for enhanced integration with iPods and other MP3 players. Express up/down operation for all windows, a feature typically reserved for premium brands, is now standard. The car can have leather upholstery, heated power seats, dual-zone automatic climate control and a navigation system. Although the rear seats fold down, the trunk pass-thru is quite small. Due to the drivetrain's high-voltage battery pack, which sits behind the rear seats, overall luggage volume is less than the regular Camry's.

Summary

Safety features on all Camrys include a full complement of airbags: dual-stage front impact airbags, a driver's knee airbag, upper body-protecting side-impact airbags for front passengers, and head-protecting side air curtains for the front and rear seats. All Toyota Camry models come with anti-lock brakes (ABS), which aid steering control during a panic stop. The ABS features Brake Assist, which applies the brakes more quickly and consistently when it senses the onset of a panic stop, and electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), which balances brake application front and rear for optimal stopping distance. A tire-pressure monitor is standard. Toyota's Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system proactively governs the stability and traction systems to maintain control; it's a feature unavailable on the regular Camry. For more research, visit the official 2010 Camry Hybrid page.