Starting its ninth generation for the 2025 model year, the Toyota Camry is now exclusively hybrid. But it also looks and drives much better than before.
| What’s Good: Vastly improved styling over 8th gen model. Improved vehicle dynamics. More engaging to drive. Never wanting for power. Available AWD. | What Could Improve: Panoramic moonroof pinches headroom in the second row. A Low seat bottom combines to make it barely adequate for adults in back. | My Conclusion: Intelligent to make the Camry hybrid only. No compromises. Good power and excellent fuel economy. All-wheel-drive offered on every trim is a plus. |
OVERVIEW
The Toyota Camry starts its ninth generation for the 2025 model year and brings revolutionary change with it. You choose between front- or all-wheel-drive, but every Camry now relies on the fifth generation Toyota Hybrid System for propulsion.
Other changes include updated technology inside, including Toyota assistant and extensive wireless phone connectivity. And the Camry catches the eye with a more sinister, squint eyed look and broad grille down low. It’s a departure from the past and a welcome one at that.
Powertrain
Under the hood lies a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine attached to electric motors, which themselves get fed energy from a lithium-ion battery pack. The engine produces 184 horsepower and 163 lb.-ft of torque. But the main drive electric motor holds its own, delivering 134 horsepower and 153 lb.-ft of torque.
If you stick with front-wheel-drive, that combination uses an electronically driven continuously variable transmission to transfer up to 225 horsepower to the front wheels. Toyota won’t say peak torque, but I bet it’s at least as much as peak power.
And that’s true if you pay the additional $1525 for all-wheel-drive. It nets you another electric motor mounted on the rear axle, which delivers another 40 horsepower and 62 lb.-ft of torque. Peak horsepower for the entire powertrain raises to 232 along with it. And I bet peak torque does the same.
Now these number fall well below the V-6 Toyota offered in the Camry through 2024, but you feel good pull from behind the wheel. Thanks to electric torque, initial acceleration comes quickly and continues relentlessly until you let off the accelerator. It won’t blow you away, but if will get you up to speed in a hurry.
And, even in the worst performer of the lot, my XSE AWD test car, you still manage fuel economy in the mid-forties.
Chassis
Toyota vehicle dynamics engineers put a lot of work into improving the ride and handling compromise in the Camry, especially in the SE and XSE trims. All trims, including the other two (LE and XLE), get the same strut front suspension geometry and multilink rear. But the SE and XSE receive a unique—firmer I presume—shock absorber tune and a larger front anti-roll bar.
That work results in a much better controlled Camry when the going get twisty. Massive amounts of understeer and a rolly polly body all met the garbage bin with latest Camry. You get reasonable responses to your inputs and a rear-end that’s better connected to the front. The Camry still understeers at the limit, but Toyota vastly improved front-to-rear chassis balance. It’s even a bit of fun!
And the Camry still rides fine in my opinion. Absorbing bumps and lumps in the road with little trouble. It’s firmer, but not to the point of ever jostling its occupants over rough pavement.
Details and Inside
Passengers split up 99 cubic feet of interior space. At least in my test car, which included a panoramic glass roof. If you go without, you get an extra cubic foot of space. Unfortunately, that space would come in handy for the heads of second row passengers. At five-feet, 11-inches tall, I needed at least an additional inch of room to avoid slouching.
Up front, seats feel plenty spacious, thankfully. And with enough headroom, but only just. But, in the top XSE trim at least, you get quite a lot of useful tech. Several usb ports, a wireless smartphone charger, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Toyota voice assistant, and two, 12.3-inch screens to view. One for the instrument cluster, the other a center display. Thanks to the $4075 Premium Plus package on my test car, I also viewed a 10-inch color head-up display while driving.
I also enjoyed the heated seats and steering wheel in the early mornings and the ventilated seats in the warmer afternoons. The seats themselves provided nice levels of power adjustment. And, a personal favorite of mine, copious amounts of lumbar adjustment.
Moreover, even at highway speeds the cabin stays nice and quiet. For a family of four—as long as the kids are not quite adult height—it’s a perfectly pleasant highway cruiser.
in conclusion
The 2025 Toyota Camry provides a lot of good. Good fuel economy and power. You also get a comfortable and quiet cabin that offers plenty of the modern creature comforts I look for in a car. You even get all-wheel-drive traction for folks that live in the snow-belt.
Even better, the Camry is a nice car to look at and offers good driving dynamics. Those two really turn up the desirability quotient for me, as Toyota’s midsize sedans traditionally fell short here.
25 years of development in hybrid technology managed to take away just about every demerit these powertrains endured. They’re just better now. And now the Camry is as well.
Check out my written review of the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV For Gear Junkie
COMPETITORS
SPECIFICATIONS
2025 Toyota Camry XSE AWD: 4-door, 5-seat, sedan
Base price: $37,260
Price as Tested: $45,471
Powertrain: 2.5-liter I-4 hybrid
Engine Power: 184 horsepower at 6000 rpm
Engine Torque: 163 lb.-ft at 5200 rpm
Front Elec. Motor Power: 134 horsepower
Front Elec. Motor Torque: 153 lb.-ft
Rear Elec. Motor Power: 40 horsepower
Rear Elec. Motor Torque: 62 lb.-ft
Total System Power: 232 horsepower
Total System Torque: NA (I bet at least 232 lb.-ft with two electric motors)
Transmissions: electronically controlled continuously variable transmission
Drive: All-wheel-drive
Fuel Economy in MPG and range
44 city
43 highway
44 combined
Driving range: 572 miles
Dimensions
Length: 193.5 inches
Width: 72.4 inches
Height: 56.9 inches
Wheelbase: 111.2 inches
Weights and Capacities
Curb weight: 3682 lbs.
Interior volume: 99 cu ft
Trunk volume: 15 cu ft
Calculated weight to power (lbs./HP): 15.9:1
Mfr’s claimed 0-60 mph: NA seconds
Mfr’s claimed Top Speed: NA mph
Government classified size: midsize car
Options: Premium plus package, $4075; 19-in dark grey metallic finish, $1500; two-tone midnight black metallic roof, $500; special color (heavy metal), $425; front accent lighting, $399; dashcam, $375; connected services trial offering, two additional years, $325; Door sill enhancement, $199; Mudguards, $150; black badge overlays, $89; black rocker applique, $80; rear bumper applique, $69; trunk LED bulb, $25
Looking for something similar? Check out the Honda Accord
