2023 Toyota Camry SE Hybrid Nightshade Review: Calmly competent
This is a standard, everyday review about a standard, everyday car: The Toyota Camry. The photos are unlikely to widen your eyes. Just garden-variety snaps that show what you need to know about the 2023 Camry, a garden-variety car.
The words won’t be fancy. No thesaurus needed. Just the facts, ma’am.
With three exceptions.
First: Though Camrys are common as personal injury attorney ads during Jeopardy!, this one is pretty. Dark Blue—that’s Toyota’s no-nonsense, to-the-point name on the window sticker, but it’s really Reservoir Blue if you order one—with 19-inch matte bronze TRD alloy wheels, part of the Nightshade package. As Camrys go, it isn’t the fanciest, yet you wouldn’t at all mind being seen in it.
Second: This is a Camry SE Hybrid. With the ultra-high compression 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, plus the Hybrid Synergy Drive system, total horsepower is a fair-to-middling 208, connected to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with shift paddles and programming that mimics the behavior of a six-speed automatic. There’s enough shove for merging into traffic, but you won’t be winning drag races.
You will win with infrequent visits to the pump, however, thanks to an EPA-rating of 44 mpg city, 47 highway, 46 overall. Even more victorious: In about 400 miles of driving, in city traffic and on the highway, we averaged a downright-remarkable 47.2 mpg, and we were by no means hypermiling. The Camry LE Hybrid is even more of a mileage champ, with a manufacturer-estimated 51/53/52 mpg city/highway/combined rating. If you really need all-wheel drive, Toyota has a Camry with that, too.
Third: With a full roster of equipment, including a blind-spot monitor with cross-traffic alert ($600 and worth every penny), Sirius/XM radio with a serviceable six-speaker stereo, radar-connected cruise control with lane-departure alert, a power driver’s seat with lumbar support, and pretty much everything you need but a navigation system (remember, your phone has one), the list price is $32,909, including $1095 shipping.
Specs: 2023 Toyota Camry SE Hybrid Nightshade Edition
• Price: $30,615 / $32,909 (base / as-tested)
• Powertrain: 2.5-liter four-cylinder with Hybrid Synergy Drive
• Horsepower: 176 hp engine alone, 208 hp combined with hybrid boost
• Torque: 163 lb-ft
• Layout: Front-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger sedan
• Weight: 3535 lbs
• EPA-Rated Fuel Economy: 44/47/46 mpg (city/hwy/combined)
• 0-60 mph: 7.3 seconds
• Competitors: Hyundai Sonata, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Kia K5
As you have likely heard, the average price of a new car, said Kelly Blue Book in January, is $49,507. For $16,598 less, this Camry SE Hybrid Nightshade gives you plenty of room for four six-footers, a cavernous trunk and—if you’re into this sort of thing—a respectable-looking rear spoiler.
Inside, the cloth interior is handsome and feels durable. If you want leather, it’s available, but we respect the a low-price theme here (the steering wheel is leather-wrapped, however). The front seats are adequate: After a quick 300-mile trip, the Camry and I were still friends. Instruments and controls are easy to figure out. There’s a 7-inch touchscreen in the center of the dashboard that handles most functions. Ten airbags are standard. It’s a safe, unpretentious car.
Rear seat room is plentiful for two, passable for three. There aren’t many amenities back there, but it is a comfortable place to sit. There’s a lot of plastic inside, especially in the doors, and way up front, a manual prop rod holds up the hood. No expensive gas struts here. There are a few cost-cutting areas like this, but not many. The ride is very quiet, and wind noise is minimal; Toyota did not skimp on sound deadening.
On the road, the Camry SE Nightshade handles better than you’d expect, given the cushy ride. Enter a corner too quickly and there’s a mild and predictable push in the front end from the conventional “sport-tuned suspension” and the P235/45 all-season Bridgestone tires, just what you’d expect. The electric power steering is light and linear, nicely balanced. Brakes are good enough, maybe a little better, even. There are more spirited Camry models, including with a 301-horsepower V-6, but, of course, you’ll pay more.
The bottom line is the bottom line: $32,909 for an attractive, well-equipped, four-adults-and-five-in-a-pinch family car that should average 46 mpg and last as long as a typical Toyota. The EPA helpfully points out on the window sticker that at an optimistic $2.95 a gallon, you’d save $3250 in fuel over the next five years, and that it’s rated an 8 out of 10 (10 being the best) on greenhouse gas emissions, and a 7 out of 10 in the smog rating.
A number of political and activist organizations are fond of calling out Toyota for supposedly not doing enough to conserve natural resources. The future is increasingly all-electric, and Toyota has been slower than most to embrace this transition, but if you are a public citizen who lives in the present and aren’t quite ready for a Tesla, this hybrid Toyota Camry SE Nightshade is a commendable placeholder. And that’s the plain truth.
2023 Toyota Camry SE Hybrid Nightshade Edition
Price: $30,615 / $32,909 (base / as-tested)
Highs: Functional performance, remarkable mileage, roomy and comfortable inside. Handsome outside, too.
Lows: Honda Accord is a more capable performer. Some evidence of cost-cutting.
Takeaway: All you need and more, with effortless 46 mpg. As commuters go, what’s not to like?
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