2004 Toyota Camry XLE
- 1974Alfa5spd
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2004 Toyota Camry XLE
So those of you who are up to date in the Misc Thread know the Alfa had some problems today, and my grandparents were kind enough to let me borrow their car so I could make it home and pick up the replacement part I needed. Beige transport appliance or not, the 2004 Camry is a nice car.
Performance 3.5/5: I didn't lay the hammer down because obviously, I don't own the car (would be different if it were a rental car), but it had plenty of torque to get it up a couple of hills without needing to downshift to 2nd.
Driveability 3/5: It's comfortable, that's for sure, fairly soft suspension. Body roll was moderate, definitely not a sporty car. I could hear the engine when it upshifted, but I didn't really feel it. My only complaint in this category was the huge amount of dead space in the accelerator before it actually started moving. Otherwise, it was one of the most lag free DBW throttles I've ever driven.
Ease of Use 4/5: It's a slushbox, so of course you drop it in D and go. It would take a complete retard to not figure that out. I use the O/D lockout to make it easier to maintain speed, but the only thing about this was that the dim orange light was hard to tell if it was on or off through my sunglasses. It's a moderate sized sedan, so getting in and out of it is fairly easy. The only thing about it is that the seat is very high, so I sometimes felt the cruise control lever bumping on my right knee.
Oh, and yes, the car is actually beige.
Performance 3.5/5: I didn't lay the hammer down because obviously, I don't own the car (would be different if it were a rental car), but it had plenty of torque to get it up a couple of hills without needing to downshift to 2nd.
Driveability 3/5: It's comfortable, that's for sure, fairly soft suspension. Body roll was moderate, definitely not a sporty car. I could hear the engine when it upshifted, but I didn't really feel it. My only complaint in this category was the huge amount of dead space in the accelerator before it actually started moving. Otherwise, it was one of the most lag free DBW throttles I've ever driven.
Ease of Use 4/5: It's a slushbox, so of course you drop it in D and go. It would take a complete retard to not figure that out. I use the O/D lockout to make it easier to maintain speed, but the only thing about this was that the dim orange light was hard to tell if it was on or off through my sunglasses. It's a moderate sized sedan, so getting in and out of it is fairly easy. The only thing about it is that the seat is very high, so I sometimes felt the cruise control lever bumping on my right knee.
Oh, and yes, the car is actually beige.
- theholycow
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
Can you elaborate on that? I've never heard of needing to do that.1974Alfa5spd wrote:I use the O/D lockout to make it easier to maintain speed
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT
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watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
- 1974Alfa5spd
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
It keeps the car from coasting in overdrive so when you let off the gas, you get (the limited amount of) engine braking, as opposed to constantly tapping the brakes like the soccer moms we all hate do.theholycow wrote:Can you elaborate on that? I've never heard of needing to do that.1974Alfa5spd wrote:I use the O/D lockout to make it easier to maintain speed
- theholycow
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
OIC.
I keep a long following distance so I don't need to micromanage my speed when the person in front of me does. That works well for me.
I keep a long following distance so I don't need to micromanage my speed when the person in front of me does. That works well for me.
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watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
- 1974Alfa5spd
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
I do it just to try to keep the speed limit.theholycow wrote:OIC.
I keep a long following distance so I don't need to micromanage my speed when the person in front of me does. That works well for me.
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
1974Alfa5spd wrote:My only complaint in this category was the huge amount of dead space in the accelerator before it actually started moving.
- fa22raptorf22
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
This.LHOswald wrote:1974Alfa5spd wrote:My only complaint in this category was the huge amount of dead space in the accelerator before it actually started moving.
I have driven this car myself..and the throttle response is bleh. You are right about the dead space...and its very awkward for a DBW. Its not like the dead space with a cable (the space until you pull the cable enough to start pulling on the throttle plate).....its just a space where it = no go. very annoying.
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
how big is this dead space? are we talking a half inch? couple inches?
- 1974Alfa5spd
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
I couldn't tell, but it felt to be about 1-1.5". It's a pretty wonky throttle.LHOswald wrote:how big is this dead space? are we talking a half inch? couple inches?
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Re: 2004 Toyota Camry XLE
yeah thats a pretty big