Deal breakers: Toyota Camry’s Smart Entry needs an upgrade
Hans · Apr 21, 2020 04:46 PM
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The TNGA-platform Toyota Camry is one of the best cars we’ve driven in recent times. It has the handling that’s better than many recent BMW models but more important than that, the Camry’s excellent handling didn’t come at the expense of ride comfort. Truly a pleasant surprise.
So what’s the weakest point of the Toyota Camry? Critics will be quick to say it has to be the aging naturally aspirated, port fuel injection 2AR-FE 2.5-litre Dual VVT-i engine. But our test drive with the Camry tells us otherwise.
Turbocharged or not, it doesn’t bother us, what matters is the actual power output. How it achieves it is less important as there are always pros and cons between a linear throttle response naturally aspirated engine and a torque rich turbocharged unit.
The aging 2AR-FE engine makes 184 PS/235 Nm, nothing exceptional but sufficiently powerful for what it is. In the grand scheme of things, the aging engine is not the Camry’s weakest link.
Yes, Toyota could have at least give upgrade it with a more current direct injection fuel system but from our own review, we've clocked the Camry's 0-100 km/h at 10.5 seconds. It’s not a 10-second car but it’s good enough for what it is and is powerful enough to do what is expected of a D-segment sedan.
The Camry’s infotainment also lacks Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, which is a shame because the 9-speaker JBL audio one of the best, better than many luxury sedans. But we will turn a blind eye to it because even the BMW 3 Series doesn’t come with Android Auto (at least not now). So much for being a tech-driven company eh?
No. The weakest link in the Camry has to be its keyless Smart Entry system – because it only works on the driver’s side. That's poorer than the lower range Toyota C-HR.
To use the keyless method to lock/unlock a Camry’s doors, you can only do it on the driver’s side. For all other doors, you’ll have to lock/unlock it using the good old fashioned way of digging into your pockets and taking out the key fob.
For us, this is unacceptable, not on a RM 196,888 car.
That’s a shame because the Smart Entry system is quite sophisticated, apart from this oversight it’s actually on par with many higher end luxury cars because the power adjusting steering wheel and driver’s seat will retract for easier access/exit every time you unlock the car or shut down the engine.
Not only that, the driving position will automatically adjusts to one of the two preset memory positions (2 memory positions), depending on which key is used. The Camry comes with two keys, one is tied to memory position 1, the other to memory position 2.
It’s a minor oversight but Smart Entry is something that owners will use every day so the omission can be rather annoying.
Other than that, the Toyota Camry is one fantastic business-friendly sports sedan. It drives almost like a BMW 3 Series, is more comfortable than a Mazda 6, with more space and a lower price than a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, plus a proven record for reliability and excellence in after-sales that none will dare claim to match.
Oh well, there’s no perfect car. You have to choose what you can live with, and what you can’t. Hence the creation of our weekly ‘Deal Breakers’ column.
Over 15 years of experience in automotive, from product planning, to market research, to print and digital media. Garages a 6-cylinder manual RWD but buses to work.