The Toyota Camry is even better now…with sleeker styling than its predecessors, new features and interior, the best Camry safety rating ever and the most powerful Camry V-6 ever.

The gasoline-electric Camry Hybrid joins the lineup for the first time with a government fuel economy rating of 40 miles a gallon in city driving and 38 mpg on the highway. Starting price for the hybrid is $26,480.

All Camry audio systems come standard with MP3 playback capability and an input jack for portable audio devices such as the Apple iPod.

The 2007 Camry earned the top rating of five out of five stars for both frontal and side crash testing in U.S. government tests.

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The good: “it’s virtually impossible to find something wrong with this car.”

“it’s hard not to think “luxury” when you sit inside…”

“All this contributes to the feeling that this is a car you can drive 200,000 miles without a hint of a problem.”

The not-so-good: “It’s got to be one of the most boring creations in the history of mankind, placed in the same category as the paperweight, the cardboard box and your freshman algebra class.”

But, getting better: The new Camry is sexier, swoopier and more aggressive than you’d expect, with a classy front end and BMW-like rear that look good without drawing undue attention to themselves.

The not-so-good, again: Despite the styling that got a small dose of adrenaline, the ‘07 Camry is the same snoozefest from behind the wheel that it’s always been. It has no personality, no soul, nothing to get you excited when you have to drive across town to buy groceries.

In the end, WomanMotorist gives the new Camry a 9 out of 10 overall rating

Read the whole review here.

Toyota’s much-anticipated sixth-generation Camry seems a peculiar paradox in our book. On the one hand, the ’07 Camry is Toyota’s usual blend of careful engineering, scrupulous development, and meticulous assembly. On the one hand, the ’07 Camry SE model has been deliberately defined in this latest generation as something sportier than the rest of the Camry range. On the other, the company’s obsession with safety has negated all that… MORE

The short film will be seen in Canada only and once only during the first commercial break of the Oscars telecast. That will happen immediately after the highly anticipated opening monologue delivered by host Jon Stewart.  The super-sized spot, entitled “What You Want Is What You Need” will reveal to Canadians, the new, restyled 2007 Toyota Camry.

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CE Models

CE four-cylinder manual: base MSRP of $18,270, a decrease of $175 or 0.9 percent.
CE four-cylinder automatic: MSRP of $19,320, an increase of $45 or 0.2 percent.
 

LE Models

LE Four-cylinder manual: base MSRP of $19,450, a decrease of $95 or 0.5 percent.
LE Four-cylinder automatic: MSRP of $20,500, or an increase of $125 or 0.6 percent.
LE V6: base MSRP of $23,040, or an increase of $260 or 1.1 percent.
 

SE Models

SE four-cylinder manual: MSRP of $20,790, an increase of $415 or 2.0 percent.
SE four-cylinder automatic: MSRP of $21,790, an increase of $585 or 2.8 percent.
SE V6: will start at $24,315, an increase of $290 or 1.2 percent.
 

XLE Models

XLE four-cylinder: will start at $24,425, an increase of $1,630 or 7.2 percent.
XLE V6 models: will be $27,520, an increase of $1,715 or 6.6 percent. 

All 2007 Camrys are equipped with an Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist.  Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with traction control is available as an option. Seven airbags are now standard on all Camry models. 

Camry Hybrid pricing will be available closer to its launch in May.

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The ‘07 Camry looks appealingly sleeker than its predecessor, but that still leaves a lot of room before you arrive at “sexy” on the style continuum. Toyota, in a search for actual styling instead of mere looks, has blemished the design by borrowing the raised-trunk look from the now-uglified BMW sedans. If you have to swipe from Germans, guys, purloin Audi’s lines.

Where you’re likely to find excitement: Under the hood. The optional 3.5-liter V-6 engine turns the sedan into a whoopee-mobile. The engine’s quick off the mark, and the rate of acceleration seems to get even better as the engine revs faster. Not only fun, it provides plenty of power for those who live in the mountains or routinely carry full loads of people and cargo.

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“the 2007 Toyota Camry SE V6 was the best Camry I’ve driven or seen.”

“That’s saying something. Longtime readers know I’ve cared little for the Toyota Camry…It was insufferably boring, the automotive equivalent of celibacy…But I’ve long found sin more interesting than virtue.”

“Someone at Toyota has discovered that passion and marriage are not mutually exclusive concepts, that virtue absent sin lacks dynamic appeal, that sex sells.”

“Exterior styling is sinewy, evocative. It makes you feel something where with the old Camry, you once felt nothing…After 24 model years in the United States, we have an emotional Camry!”

“Its overall stance bespeaks swagger.”

“The interior is a work of swank modernity…The overall passenger cabin is comfortable, ergonomically sensible. I like it.”

“I also like the way the tested 2007 Camry SE V6 drove in the ice and rainstorms …the car felt solid, sure-footed…”

The 2007 Camrys go on sale domestically in March…Expect 2007 base prices close to the current Camry SE level of $24,025.

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Rubin  makes note of the “zippy-looking, two-tone gray dashboard” that contains an MPG Consumption guage that, “lets you know when you’re being efficient and when you’re being clumsy.”

Rubin, however, says that In 240 miles of driving - about a third on surface streets - he averaged only a modest 30 mpg despite early EPA estimates that said the hybrid would get 43 mpg in the city and 37 on the freeway.

He also notes that a performance-driving friend who tested the Camry Hybrid found the transmission indecisive sometimes when it switched from electric to gasoline power.

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It’s not bad branding spot (for hybryd synergy), but doesn’t convey much about the car itself.