2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid:The Oppo Review

"Jonathon Klein" (jonathon-klein)
08/15/2014 at 10:46 • Filed to: Oppo Reviews, Rants

A few weeks ago, I had an issue with my driver's side door on my FR-S. Somehow, it slid down the hinges and started rubbing on the body panel. Being that it's still under warranty, I took it into the dealer who fixed it promptly and I was on my way. Fast forward to a few days ago, the problem returned, and I returned to the dealer. This time however, they were busy and needed to keep it overnight. That meant me getting a loaner.

At first I was excited, I figured I'd get something like a 4Runner, or FJ since they've got a million of them on the lot. And maybe I'd do a review of them. I don't know how I could be so wrong. They had two choices, a Sienna, or a Hybrid Camry. I took the Camry. I should've taken the Sienna.

What happened next can only be described with as many swears as humanely possible, so be forewarned, it's about to go to the dark side.

Still here? Good. FUUUUUUUCCCKKKKK the Camry. Seriously this is the biggest pile of shit I've ever driven. That includes a '92 Plymouth Acclaim which had the tendency to violently shake around 50mph. This car was worse. Holy fuck, in this day and age, I can't figure out how Toyota can build such a huge stinking pile of utter fuckery.

It's not that it's overly dangerous, it has a great crash rating. It's not that the interior isn't nice, it's actually quite big. It's even not that the ride is shitty, it's quite comfortable.

( See you even have space for half a wife's arm! How practical. )

It all comes down to the engine, hybrid system, and all the gauges that tell you what's going on with both which are absolute garbage.

First let's talk about the gas engine. It feels like a diesel from the 70's. It's a wheezy, loud thing, that has absolutely no power. You get this supposedly green car, and it feels like you are doing more damage to the environment than a fucking coal plant. Every time you move your foot down on the gas pedal, you are met with an engine that doesn't want to move. It just sits there, noisily trying desperately to push the front wheels. Putter, putter, putter, putter, cough, putter, 20mph, putter… You get the picture. But what's also so shitty is the gas mileage.

But how could you say that Jonathon? Isn't it a hybrid? Shouldn't it get great gas mileage? Did you just lead foot everything? I'll be the first to admit that I do indeed have a lead foot, my 18 tickets will vouch for me there. But since the dealer only gave me a quarter of a tank of gas, and I wanted to see how far I could really push the cars mileage, I hyper-miled this bitch. What I got back was the most piss poor fuel economy in my life, which includes my V8 Durango.

Like I said, I started off with a quarter tank of gas. The 2014 Camry Hybrid has a 17gallon tank. The mileage meter said I was doing 39mpgs. A figure I have come to regard as pure and utter bullshit, because from home to the dealer and back to work is a total of 20miles. Somehow, the car used an eighth of a tank. That works out to be around 3gallons of gas, something that should last me 120miles. Somehow though, even with the start/stop, even with the hybrid EV drive, it ate 3 damn gallons in 20miles!

And let's get to that EV mode, there is no such thing. Sure the car has a button that says EV mode, and you think to yourself it will probably be like the BMW i3, where you can use it to putz around town. Nope, it only works when you're pretty much at a standstill. You touch the gas and you are physically jerked back into the gas powered engine. Really, it is physically jarring how the two switch between each other. It's like you're getting hit from behind every time it switches, which is all the fucking time.

You're driving down the road at a good pace, you take your foot off the gas for a second to just keep a constant speed, the car switches to EV mode, and when you want to continue, BAM. You're back running on gas. It is literally the most inefficient car I've ever driven. And the battery drains like it's going out of style. Between my house and the dealer, it went from ľ charge to 0, and I didn't even use it.

If you try to get full charge, it's fucking impossible. I put on the regenerative engine brake, which for some stupid reason is labeled B on the shift column. We had to get out the manual to look up what the hell B meant. And you physically have to shift it into B to get the regen, and even with it shifted into B, it still couldn't get it to full charge. Why not just have the regen all the time hooked up to the brakes or the engine like say, any other EV? Seriously Toyota WTF? And with that, you are always monitoring some idiotic system in the car to make sure you are getting the best mileage you can. Which leads me to my last point.

THERE ARE SO MANY FUCKING LIGHTS, GAUGES, AND SCREENS, ALL TELLING YOU WHAT IS HAPPENING THAT YOU ARE NEVER LOOKING AT THE GODDAMN ROAD!

( This literally isn't on start up, these are the normal lights, and are actually missing a few because I was in park to take this picture safely. )

In this I figured out why most of us hate Camry and Prius drivers, their driving slowly because 1. Their cars don't have any power, 2. They need to hyper-mile to get anywhere near good mpg's and 3. They aren't looking at the fucking road. Seriously take a look at this dash, and then the infotainment screen. Then picture them all together. It's like Times Square in here. This has to be the most dangerous dash ever. There's just too much information going on at the same time for any driver to comprehend all at once and drive the damn car.

( There are strict rules when it comes to using EV mode )

This car is a fucking deathtrap. It's slow, it's stupid, and it will make you not look at the road and totally pay attention to the damn dash. I seriously almost had 3 crashes because that's all I was looking at. This car isn't a total piece of shit, it's just that the hybrid system is so fucking flawed, that it makes it the worst car I've ever driven. It would be fine if it were a straight EV, I like those, or a straight gas engine, I like those two. But the two together, at least in this application is so jankily done, that it's just fucking terrible. How on Earth did the same company that built this, also build my car, the Supra, the LFA, the 2000GT and a whole host of other great cars? If you have a loved one that's looking for a car, and suggests they are looking at the Hybrid Camry, run to them. Sit them down. And slap them till they come to their senses.

You can follow me here on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! where I rant more like this!

DISCUSSION (100)

Brian Silvestro > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 10:56

This review is hilarious.

Volvo 850 > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 10:59

Unless the Camry you had was built after December it's not even safe. They did terribly in the IIHS small overlap test. It's a good thing you didn't have a Camry SE, which throws out that comfortable ride and gets a hideous body kit in an attempt to be sporty.

HONDAD > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:05

You have honed your anger and profanity well in this review. I'm ready to join the mob and tip some Camry Hybrids over!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:12

In fairness, the gas gauge is probably a typical arc-travel sending unit, which lies profusely below half a tank in the direction of "TANK GOING EMPTY ZOMG". You still probably weren't really getting 37.5, but the gauge was likely a bigger liar than your MPG meter. Which raises a valid point - why, if you're building a car prized for and specialized in mileage, would you give such insufficient fucks where the sending unit is concerned? It's not impossible to build a non-linear and accurate gauge, nor even that expensive, so I have to believe here that possibly *negative* fucks were given.

Wheelerguy > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:16

What's left to say but:

KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

bailmoney27 > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:18

I hope you know that EV mode is intended for speeds under 25mph in areas such as residential neighborhoods or parking garages. You can't just switch to it on the highway.

Jonathan Harper > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:21

I had a CVT Camry rental a few years ago; turrible.

I also read the follow-up to this post where the Camry reviewed the camera you used for these pics. The Camry came to the same conclusion about your camera that you had about the Camry. ;)

MaWeiTao > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:22

It sounds like on the highway this car will be constantly shutting off and restarting the engine. That can't possibly be good for longevity. What I'm struggling with is why this car is so bad considering Toyota has so much experience with hybrid technology.

ReclamationProject > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:24

Help us FT-1, you're our only hope! Save Toyota!

JB1 > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:26

Camry hybrid vs the malibu hybrid. What do you pick?

The last review I read here didnt have much praise for the malibu either.

vailima750 > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:26

Do you have any other obviously broken cars that you want to review and apply to an entire line of cars? I have a 2008 kia spectra with no front wheels on it, perhaps you'd like to offer an opinion on how poor the alignment is?

cardboardarmor > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:26

Wheezing diesel-esque engine, electric power for low speed, presumably silent cruising, and gauges upon gauges upon gauges.

Dude, you didn't get a Camry. Someone gave you a goddamn diesel sub. You were handed keys to a Toyota Type VIIC U-boat.

RaceVet > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:28

"...huge stinking pile of utter fuckery."-amazing

Mister_Moon > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:30

You have no idea what kind of mileage you were getting because gas gauges all have non-linear response. Every car I've ever owned gets great mileage on the first half of the tank and lousy on the second half.

Except for the Ford Explorer that when the in-tank fuel pump was replaced must have had the leads switched on the level sending unit. After the repair, that one sucked the first half a tank in a very few miles, but the second half lasted forever!

Josh H > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:31

This is awesome. I too own a FRS and I had to bring it in for some body work (an 18 wheeler launched a softball size piece of concrete at my front bumper) and they gave me a base Camry. I did my own review on it to my family and friends and I agree with everything you say. What a pile of garbage. The general public must be clueless to make this one of the best selling cars.

I always wondered why mostly everyone that drives with their high beams are Toyota drivers. With all those lights on the dash no wonder they don't notice it.

gallahad > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:35

Loaner car reviews could be the next big thing for us. When I had to take my FRS in for a different driver-side-door issue I got a standard new Camry. Seemed like a perfectly reasonable if not inspiring car, but they gave me the option of a Prius and I do slightly regret not taking that, just to have that experience.

Jonathon Klein > Josh H
08/15/2014 at 11:37

I saw about 40 on my way to work over the last day or so. I just kept mouthing to them "WHY?"

dogisbadob > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:38

Kinja'd!!!

how many of these did you knock down in that autox? :)

Jonathon Klein > cardboardarmor
08/15/2014 at 11:38

DOWN PERISCOPE! FIRE TORPEDOES!

Jonathon Klein > vailima750
08/15/2014 at 11:40

Driving a 2008 Kia Spectra is like driving a box of wrenches. It understeers at the limit, and fiery sparks come out when you put it into drive. Also the alignment was shit!

Jonathon Klein > MaWeiTao
08/15/2014 at 11:41

That's what I thought. My uncle has a Prius, god help me, maybe I should see if that's just as bad. I've tried to stay away from that car though for all my car loving life. I'm not sure if I want to break the streak.

Jonathon Klein > bailmoney27
08/15/2014 at 11:42

That's the last picture. But it wouldn't stay on at all. I was doing at most 10 and it switched to gas, and that was with absolutely no pedal pressure.

Jonathon Klein > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/15/2014 at 11:43

Multiple negative fucks

Jonathon Klein > HONDAD
08/15/2014 at 11:43

NEW TREND!

dogisbadob > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:43

Kinja'd!!!

what does the car button do?

SpikeFiend > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:44

How on Earth did the same company that built this, also build my car,

A new car where the door is literally and repeatedly falling off? How indeed!

Jonathon Klein > dogisbadob
08/15/2014 at 11:44

All of them, this thing rolls like it was from Cinnabon.

SpikeFiend > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/15/2014 at 11:45

Yea, the gas gauge isn't accurate at all. It only tells you "really full" and "kindof getting empty".

Jonathon Klein > dogisbadob
08/15/2014 at 11:46

Tells you that its a car, not a shitty Japanese appliance.

But really it just switches the infotainment screen from audio to the display you see in the pic. I do like that button though.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > SpikeFiend
08/15/2014 at 11:47

"I have an idea: let's make a car that gets good mileage so people will push it between fill-ups - and we'll use the base model shitty gas gauge!"

"Brilliant!"

Jonathon Klein > SpikeFiend
08/15/2014 at 11:47

Ha Ha, your right! But other than that I love it. Here's my review of that after 10k miles, I have some few quibbles.

550F2 > JB1
08/15/2014 at 11:48

I drove a Toyota Auris hybrid a few weeks, and it's utter shit too. The problem is that the batteries are tiny so the electric part doesn't work at all. And the engine and gearbox are shit, so the car doesn't want to move. And it's complicated and doesn't get great milage either.

I compared it to a VW Polo Blue GT on the same route and it used more gas. That Polo is not a slow car, the Toyota feels like it's powered by a single impotent horse.

BrtStlnd > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:50

This is the most useless review of a car I have ever read. You don't like the Camry, as per Jalopnik instructions, and there's no possible way... outside of gunning it at every opportunity, that you got the mileage you claim.

55_mercury > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:50

Former Prius owner here... ( I know, BOOOO!) But anyway, in regards to Toyota and their hybrids in general I've been trying to figure out whats going on in the product department these days. The Prius came out in 1997 or thereabouts first in Japan and then the US a few years later. At the time it was pretty revolutionary and for literally years they were the dominant force in all things hybrid.

Fast-forward to now. For some inexplicable reason Toyota has become ridiculously conservative when it comes to hybrids and electric cars in general. The hybrid system they use has been modestly updated over the years but its still very identical to the what was released back almost 20 years ago. In the meantime GM, Ford, Nissan, BMW, and everyone else has come out with vastly improved, technically superior products. I bought a used 2011 Volt and I swear its the best damned car I've owned, is chok-full of whistles and bells and as of now I am seriously getting over 190 MPG. What does Toyota offer? A Plug in Prius that only has a range of around 8-10 miles.

But you know what? People still buy the shit out of the Prius and Camry hybrid. On my drive home I might see oh- 1 or 2 Volts but probably 20 plug in Priuses and 10 Camry hybrids. Now- granted I grew up with Toyotas, own a old Tacoma that's indestructible and routinely these go 100's of thousands of miles without a issue. But Toyota's bread and butter products like the Prius have gotten too conservative. People buy them at this point for the name and name alone.

dogisbadob > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:52

sweet :p

SwimBikeRun > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:53

They should have given you the V6 SE trim and I think you would have been a little bit happier. They should have designed a better hybrid system for the Camry, but they didn't. The result is piss poor performance and mpg.

Jonathon Klein > 55_mercury
08/15/2014 at 11:53

Exactly, I've driven the i3, which the review should be up soon and that system is just fabulous. I really thought the people that were the force behind hybrids would have made a better car. I thought this would be another Tesla moment for me. I was mistaken, that's why I wrote this.

Nibby > BrtStlnd
08/15/2014 at 11:55

It's like every Jalopnik stereotype rolled into one review!

pedal-force > dogisbadob
08/15/2014 at 11:55

Maybe it turns it into an actual car instead of a POS appliance? Has anyone ever tried? Maybe that's the problem.

Jonathon Klein > BrtStlnd
08/15/2014 at 11:56

I like the i3, I like the Tesla, I like the Volt. I like mpg minded cars. This was just terrible. I'm not under Jalopnik instructions. I'm under what I feel about a car. Also, I'm not about to make up shit for a story. If I did, I'd lose credibility and don't want to jeopardize something I absolutely love doing. This car is actually really nice. The interior is well appointed, its super spacious. Just the drive train was an awful piece of shit.

wkiernan > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:59

My wife has got a 2012 Camry Hybrid XLE, which is pretty much the same model as the 2014 one, but when I read your review I don't recognize it at all. I suspect your loaner was defective.

Number one, when you stomp on the accelerator in my wife's car it takes off like a scalded cat. The biggest impediment isn't a lack of power but those overly rigid low-rolling-resistance tires it ships with; when I floor it from a standing stop it burns rubber on dry asphalt. My DD is an NB Miata and when I was first driving her Camry I was constantly looking down at the speedometer and finding that I was going 20 MPH over the limit.

Number two, I am obsessive enough to check gas mileage with the odometer and the gas pump reading, and over 1500 miles of driving her Camry my calculated mileage matched the mileage shown on the Distract-o-Matic touchscreen in the middle of the dash with no more than 1-1/2 MPG error. For those 1500 miles I drove it reasonably hard, keeping up at all times with fast-lane Interstate traffic, and where the trip computer told me I was getting 42 MPG my calculated mileage was 40.8 MPG.

Finally, you don't have to shift to "B" to get regenerative braking, as you can see if you look at the right display on the Distract-o-Matic screen or the little screen in the middle of the instruments. The "B" setting adds additional engine braking for when you're driving down a steep incline. Anyway, on the big screen in the middle you don't want the "Energy Monitor" screen, you want the scrolling mileage histogram - now that's entertainment!

Captain_Spadaro > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 11:59

tl;dr most hybrids suck ass, I've been saying that for years.

How bad were the brakes? Was the dead zone between the initial pedal application and the service brakes actually doing their job (thanks to the regen system) as bad as I've heard?

Stupidru > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:00

I can't even figure out what the hell is happening on the left bank of gauges.

Also, no tachometer- it's a sad day in age, really, that people don't care what the car is doing, but they do care about achieving the highest score. The day I own a car without a tachometer will be a cold day in hell

JB1 > SpikeFiend
08/15/2014 at 12:01

Sounds like a factory defect and or a future recall.

wkiernan > dogisbadob
08/15/2014 at 12:01

It changes the display on the big screen in the middle of the dash to display information about your car's engine, such as mileage, rather than displaying radio or HVAC settings.

JB1 > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:02

What are the official fuel economy ratings for the hybrid vs the non hybrid?

wkiernan > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:02

Yeah, it switches to running the gas engine when the battery power level runs down.

Stupidru > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/15/2014 at 12:03

It's all in the eyes of the beholder. If you keep telling them that they have fuel, they keep thinking that the car is extremely efficient, and thus, a "good car". I have a feeling that was on purpose, to give the customer 450 miles (or whatever) of feeling good, and 20 miles of realizing they need to stop for gas. Not exactly how I would've designed it, but I digress

55_mercury > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:05

What Toyota doesn't seem to be embracing at all are the potential beneficial handling and power characteristics of electrical drivetrains. After driving a Prius for over 10 years the Volt handles about 200% better. The torque and acceleration is pretty amazing. 0-60 in about 7 seconds which isn't blazing but the torque makes it feel faster. My old Prius handled like a slug. Since buying the Volt I've ridden in a newer Prius and the difference is still night and day. The new Prius handles about as badly as the old one.

Matt@ShiftCarBlog > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:06

There's a number of things wrong here... (Full disclosure: I drive an FR-S and hated the idea of hybrids until I moved to CA where it made sense when my wife needed a new car. The passion I use to send my FR-S around canyons is the same passion that somehow forces me to say things like "I'M HITTING FIFTY F*CKING EM-PEE-GEES IN THE CT[200h] TODAY IF IT KILLS ME HONEY")

1. "B" mode is for engine braking. It is used on steep declines to prevent the brakes from cooking AND overcharging the battery. You used it in the absolute opposite way it is designed.

2. Basing your amount of gas consumed by estimating the dashboard gas gauge is hardly accurate. Those gauges are not linear. In our CT200h, the one time the fuel light came on the car accepted barely 9 gallons in the 11.9 gallon tank. BUT THE GAUGE SAID IT WAS EMPTY.

3. EV Mode only works if the car is properly warmed up. There are also a number of techniques that in using it, while not always exactly intuitive, greatly enhance the range of the car. See #4.

4. Hybrids take getting used to and understanding how they work to maximize their efficiency. Spend 5 minutes reading over "Prius'ing for dummies" and you will learn more than you wanted to know about how to drive a hybrid economically.

http://mikewithaprius.blogspot.com/2011/04/prius-…

5. I bet there's a lot of lights blinking in the cockpit of a Ferrari too, but the car was engineered for performance- not economy. It's displaying information to the driver.

Not to say I don't despise the Camry- I almost threw up in a 2013 Camry rental because of the way the windshield curved directly in my line of sight... and I've never driven the hybrid version, either. Which I'm sure is slow as any other eco hybrid. I'm just saying you should use something more precise measurements than eyeballing an inaccurate gas gauge or basing an article on the improper use of equipment that is directly related to your poor fuel consumption.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Stupidru
08/15/2014 at 12:07

My favorites are the ones that have a tight enough arc that they're only lying by ~30% or so in the low zone, and have a reserve light. Thank you, reserve light, for telling me that the fuel is *actually really low*. It helps you not be in the situation where you have an alleged half a tank and within the hour the gauge is screaming "ABANDON HIGHWAY! PULL OVER AND WHORE YOURSELF TO OTHER DRIVERS FOR A SIPHON OR YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT HOME ALIVE!" You know, those gauges.

BrtStlnd > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:11

It's possible that there was something wrong with the car you drove I suppose, but I've also driven the hybrid and regular 4 cyl model and couldn't disagree with you more about the powertrain. Also, the dash looks like a normal modern display, not Times Square.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:14

The Prii that I've driven (all rentals, to be fair) have accelerated faster to 50mph than my '12 Legacy. Slower from 65-90, but certainly not a "death trap". I don't notice that they're any less fast than a typical econobox. The drivetrain is probably just too much for the weight of the Camry, though.

ZombiePeanutz > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:15

Kinja'd!!!

This feels like a hundred different dashes mashed together. There are like a 100 differently styled buttons in there.

Outie5000 > Stupidru
08/15/2014 at 12:15

Whatever dude, my 89 Volvo 240 didn't have a tach, it had an analog clock. This is not a new thing.

TampaGeek > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/15/2014 at 12:15

The average driver equates needle stays on full a long time with good fuel economy. Historically when linear gauges have been produced, warranty complaints that my mileage sucks go way up.

TampaGeek > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/15/2014 at 12:15

The average driver equates needle stays on full a long time with good fuel economy. Historically when linear gauges have been produced, warranty complaints that my mileage sucks go way up.

AlwaRightAllTheTime > dogisbadob
08/15/2014 at 12:16

Oops - that is very likely an assembly line fuck-up.

It's supposed to be in a Yaris, to remind you that what you are 'driving' is actually a car - not an amusement park ride for the under five crowd.

They even put it in the commercials to try to prevent purchase related errors - it didn't work; out of the entire twelve people who buy a Yaris each month, statistics show 98% thought it was not a car at all.

Jonathon Klein > BrtStlnd
08/15/2014 at 12:16

You're kidding about the dash. There were lights for no apparent reason. What does Ready mean? It never shut off and never did anything.

Jonathon Klein > wkiernan
08/15/2014 at 12:18

I had 3/4 of a charge, and it kept switching

Jonathon Klein > JB1
08/15/2014 at 12:19

hybrid 43 city, 39 highway,

non hybrid 25-35

Jonathon Klein > Captain_Spadaro
08/15/2014 at 12:19

Yes, nothing, nothing nothing, full regen and brakes.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TampaGeek
08/15/2014 at 12:21

That is a good point, but I'm not sure the new car segment fond of keeping the car topped off all the time (hence the above behaviour) and the drivers of hybrids intersect that directly. Some market research on the topic might be interesting - as we clearly see the result here of a less-than-full car being driven *for mileage* and producing what looks like a nonsense result. Are the people who buy "normal car + hybrid" more skinflinty than the bought-a-hybrid-for-cachet crowd and the buyers of "normal" cars? If so, they'd likely see more of their gas gauge - but on the other hand, they might be shallow enough in their penny-pinching to invest the MPG gauge with absolute faith most of the time. It's a puzzle.

Jonathon Klein > wkiernan
08/15/2014 at 12:21

Gotcha about the B, I was just confused when I first saw it. I've never seen a B on a shift column ever. And I was taking it from the manual. thanks for the help!

disadvantage > Matt@ShiftCarBlog
08/15/2014 at 12:22

I almost threw up in a 2013 Camry rental because of the way the windshield curved...

It might just me, but I laughed way too hard at that.

BrtStlnd > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:24

No I'm not kidding about the dash. You've got EV mode on, Eco mode on, seat belt off, looks like fog lights and... the only one I don't understand is the ready button. Check the manual if you want to know what it means. Also, like I said earlier, if what you're saying is correct... there is something wrong with the car itself, not the 2014 Camry hybrid.

ITS A FUCKING DEATHTRAP AND STUPID UTTER FUCKERY

Arrivederci > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/15/2014 at 12:25

This. Gas gauge doesn't give that accurate of readings. Only time you actually know when you use X gallons is when you fill it to full from where you're currently at after a previous fill-up.

z0mg-anonymous > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
08/15/2014 at 12:25

You mean my '96 chevy and the apparently cone shaped gas tank? Where the top 1/4 contains about 4x more fuel than the bottom 1/4?

AlwaRightAllTheTime > 55_mercury
08/15/2014 at 12:28

Ah, now I remember you - some months ago you were all bragging and shit about your Prius and how 'quiet' it was to drive as the engine wasn't running some of the time!!

You just could NOT understand why people who actually like driving cars diss the Pious on enthusiast sites. I gave up on trying to convince you of the error of your ways - but it appears that you have found the light!

So, previously, your sense of how a modern car drives and how quiet they are was based on hour experience with a Prius and a '55 Mercury?

Next time you are at the dealer for maintenance, take a drive in a Cruze Eco - you will also be flabbergasted as to why more people don't embrace them as well!

Jonathon Klein > BrtStlnd
08/15/2014 at 12:29

They all kept'd switching on an off. EV mode kept switching on and off, Eco mode kept going in an out. The seat belt sure that was me. But then what I didn't get was the green light around the mpg gauge either. Maybe it was defective. I'll need to see if I can persuade Toyota to lend me one.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Arrivederci
08/15/2014 at 12:29

Or if you swap a dash with the correct feature into the "gallons remaining" mode based on how much the meter has recorded instead, but ain't nobody got time for that.

Captain_Spadaro > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:30

Thought so. I could never live with that. I'm used to linear, progressive pedals.

That said, the Mazda i-Eloop system sounds like it uses engine braking instead of regen braking, so that'd be okay.

Matt@ShiftCarBlog > disadvantage
08/15/2014 at 12:32

Seriously, it was like driving through a funhouse mirror. I had to get my "gangster lean" on in that car... it was the only way to survive without headache or getting sick all over the steering wheel. Other than that, an adequate car for someone who wants to drive an appliance.

Slo-Z > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:33

Is that the poor - and tiny - tach hidden away to the right of the dash? Truly, this abomination is not for people that like to drive.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > z0mg-anonymous
08/15/2014 at 12:38

Yep. Even a totally normally shaped tank and not weirdly contoured can have a swing-arm gauge passing through 90 degrees, reporting 1/4 of a tank for 38% of actual in the top, and 1/4 of a tank for 7% of actual. Your "4x"+ instinct is blatantly accurate for the real world - theoretical level of fail is as much as 5x but rarely reaches that height.

55_mercury > AlwaRightAllTheTime
08/15/2014 at 12:39

Well here's the thing. We owned a 2002 Prius. That was the first model of the car ( when it looked like a Nissan Sentra ) and despite the way it handled and drove, it was remarkably reliable. The fact that the battery was still good after 200,000 miles and 12 years I believe cemented my trust in battery technology, its longevity and reliability. Had I not owned a Prius before I might have not considered the Volt.

But yes- the difference between the Volt and Prius is night and day and I guess you can say I am "converted". But I think the Prius deserves credit for being a revolutionary car when it came out. But what Toyota needs to do is update the platform in the worst way. Then again- people buy the shit out of them so maybe they're a lot smarter than people give them credit for.

Mooriel > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:39

I like it how Toyota still uses the calculator LCDs for AC, I had 2006 Lexus IS without satnav and I sure did feel like a premium car driver looking at a dashboard from Yugo.

feather-throttle-not-hair > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:40

oh man! The legions of Camry enthusiasts are gonna be all over you for this! Like...any minute now...

...

C'mon. Best selling car in America!

...

Anyone?..

Stupidru > Outie5000
08/15/2014 at 12:40

What's the engine doing? Is it on? Is my transmission slipping? Oh nevermind, it's 5 o'clock somewhere!

yeah, that guy > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:48

Needed a cheap, verey efficient car a few years back. Test drove a Prius and immediately swore I would never buy one. Too space ship like. Test drove a used civic hybrid. Not fast, but had wildly better handling, and drove like a car.

TheRallyStache > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 12:53

My 03 Civic Hybrid wasn't bad, but it didn't have EV mode. It did get fantastic MPG's though. Its primary redeeming point was its manual transmission, which was quite nice.

dct > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:05

This is probably the dumbest review I've read. I hope you're trolling because you don't seem to understand how the car works. I'll give you that it shouldn't violently start/stop, but "I didn't use the battery" is a patently stupid statement. The ECU is using the electric motor in the background... And it regenerates when you are braking whether it is in B mode or not. I've driven a Camry Hybrid once and figured the above out, and I hate beige Toyotas, but your review is awful. Grow up.

Doesn't Drive a BMW > MaWeiTao
08/15/2014 at 13:09

They actually don't shut off and start on the highway like you said. If you understand how a planetary gearset works, you'll notice the prius powertrain is actually pretty trick. It's essentially a single planetary gearset, where the engine powers the gear carrier, the motor powers the ring (and is also the output), and the battery is charged through the sun gear. It modulates the engine speed and motor speed to provide a set output speed based on the road load.

This can be found through a simple google search.

But nope, it's a Toyota, it wouldn't be jalopnik if it wasn't bashed.

whatupsaudi2 > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:12

B mode is actually technically pretty cool: the energy coming from the brakes is used to run the electric motor, which spins the ICE with modified valve timing, turning it into a big and wasteful air compressor, so that the car doesn't have to burn through its friction brakes. It's basically an itty-bitty jake brake.

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/b…

Doesn't Drive a BMW > Jonathan Harper
08/15/2014 at 13:13

Where did you drive a CVT camry? In North America at least (and I think globally), Toyota does not make a camry with a CVT. The only thing that could be considered a CVT could be the hybrid one, and that's not anywhere close to a traditional CVT

Doesn't Drive a BMW > 55_mercury
08/15/2014 at 13:17

Interesting take on the situation, but Ford's hybrid powertain is almost a direct copy of Toyota's. They essentially licensed the system from them.

whatupsaudi2 > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:17

[prius c owner here. I've had the car for 20,000 miles]

EV mode is the most useless thing ever. It'll pop out of EV mode if:
-The combustion engine isn't perfectly warm
-You ask for more power than the electric motor can provide
-[seemingly] if you're going over about 20km/h, though the EV-mode limit given in the manual is supposed to be 40km/h and the car _can_ do 75km/h on the electric motor alone.
-Your battery isn't completely and fully topped up
-You've ever posted something like "EV mode is totally useless"

As another posted said, the car manual says that it's meant for shuffling your car around a driveway or parking garage noiselessly, not really for hypermiling.

SilverBRADo totaled his beigeslushboxmatrix > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:18

Kinja'd!!!

Mr. BeigeSlushboxMatrixBRaD has a Rogue with a console sink hole approximately that size. At first, he thought it was great, along with the giant, deep glove compartment. I knew at first sight they would be awful because they're so deep you have to dig to find anything. And they put the USB and AV jacks and a power outlet in the bottom of that hole.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:19

I drive my mom's camry a lot. The complaints I have about it are the jarring infrequent downshifting from that damn CVT, the screen thing that doesn't allow me to fiddle with buttons, and the yes, distracting screen.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:22

As one who has driven a Camry Hybrid and a Prius I agree with this. My moms Impreza gets about the same mileage as her Camry did.

bannanaan_v > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:24

last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My neighbour's sister has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out.

This is what I do,,,,,,,,,,

www.bayjo.com

SilverBRADo totaled his beigeslushboxmatrix > TampaGeek
08/15/2014 at 13:26

I wish I could say that didn't surprise me.

SilverBRADo totaled his beigeslushboxmatrix > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:27

Kinja'd!!!

"Vehicle Proximity Notification System" = noise, right?

EChid > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:30

I don't know whether the 4-cylinder is different in sound and power output (I know it is an atkinson cycle in the hybrid), but when I had a 4-cylinder SE rental I found the powertrain to be the worst part. Contrastingly starkly to Hondas, it was rough and loud and generally unpleasant to listen to. I've heard many 4-cylinders in my time, and it was one of the most unpleasant.

wkiernan > Stupidru
08/15/2014 at 13:36

That's one thing that ticks me off about my wife's car. It's got two mileage gauges but no tachometer. I only need one mileage gauge, and look, here's a space on the instrument panel with a moving needle in it and everything! but no, no tach for you.

I don't think they know their audience. Some hybrid buyers are green tech nerds; you can't show them too much motor info. Since you can program that Distract-o-Matic screen to show anything you like, they should add a menu that offers access to all the data streams you can pull off an OBDII reader, at least, plus you should be able to plug in an SD card and download a complete record of all those streams for the entire trip.

wkiernan > MaWeiTao
08/15/2014 at 13:38

That's exactly what it does, but it isn't as abrupt as you'd think; you can barely detect it when the engine goes on after it's been turned off for a while.

daiheadjai > ReclamationProject
08/15/2014 at 13:39

GT86/FR-S/BRZ: Someone called?

Pete Kahn > Jonathon Klein
08/15/2014 at 13:49

Just for a laugh...you should take this and your FR-S to the drag strip.

Jonathon Klein > Pete Kahn
08/15/2014 at 13:54

It might be faster because grounded to the ground.

Jonathon Klein > EChid
08/15/2014 at 13:57

I'm not sure