Toyota has high hopes for new models

Press, 10 July 1987, Page 9

Toyota has high hopes for new models

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

May was not one of Toyota New Zealand’s Ltd’s better months. Only 701 new Toyotas were registered, according to New Zealand Post. Although June registrations had not been announced officially a week or so ago when the motoring press corps gathered at Toyota New Zealand’s Johnsonville headquarters to preview the new Cressida and the first release of the Toyota Camry in this country, a very senior man in the hierarchy was confident that sales will prove to be about twice those of May. That means that Toyota will be back on stream again. Actually, the Cressida and Camry replace cars that were dropped from Toyota’s New Zealand model range about three months ago. The old fuel-injected double overhead camshaft 2.8-litre Cressida had become too expensive in this country and the new single cam model, the GL 2.8 i, almost certainly the best of Japan’s multicylinder saloons, carries a much more realistic ticket of $43,995. Toyota New Zealand had discontinued production of its 2-litre Cressida variant much earlier. Now it is about to replace it with the 2-litre Camry Ultima luxury saloon which, having a 16-valve twin cam engine, should nibble off some sales from Australian six-cylin-der competitors, its launch price being $39,995. On the Toyota price scale, the Camry slots in between the Corona-Amon liftback and the CoronaAmon saloon. Perhaps of more interest to New Zealanders than the Camp' saloon will be the stylish Camry 2.0 CS station waggon, a $32,995 replacement for the old Corona waggon which also went out of production about three months ago. The Camry waggon has the same engine as the saloon, but is fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox, instead of the four-speed automatic with overdrive of the saloon, and a discdrum brake set-up instead of the Ultima’s all-disc arrangement. I drove the Camry waggon first. Like all the other cars sampled, it had very few kilometres showing on the clock and this, I suspect, was the reason why it was not as lively as I had anticipated. The 1998 cu cm four-cylinder engine develops 88 kW at 5200 rpm and a healthy 171 Nm of torque at 4400 rpm. On the basis of those figures, the Toyota 3S-FE engine in the Camry should be almost outrageously lusty in a car or

waggon of this class. I found it almost impeccably smooth, but entirely lacking in the razor-sharp edge the figures had led me to suspect. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to sampling both vehicles on the home patch for a week or so, once they’ve spent some time at the motor noters’ school of hard knocks. The waggon is quite luxuriously appointed and spacious. It gives a very secure and comfortable ride and, like most front-wheel-drive vehicles, understeers in a mild manner under normal driving conditions, the tendency being a little more pronounced on slippery surfaces. Although it lacks the power-assistance of the saloon, the waggon steers well, the rack and pinion being reasonably direct and free from play while there is good road feel and a remarkable lack of physical effort demanded for intensive wheel twisting. Road holding and handling are in keeping with the .more acceptable standards, it being impossible in the course of the test drive to make a more in-depth evaluation. MacPherson struts in conjunction with anti-roll bars, are employed front and rear, the suspension being mounted on subframes to increase body rigidity and insulate against noise and road shock, while 195/65 x 14 tyres are employed to provide a footprint of reasonable size to enhance traction and road-holding. On early acquaintance with the waggon, I attributed the noise level to the twin-cam engine and drive-train but, after driving the Camry Ultima, I reached the conclusion that it stemmed, in the main, from the tyres and road. Although neither the waggon nor the saloon could be dubbed windcheaters, their almost flush windows and

smoothish lines don’t generate wind whistle and experience showed that the noise level varied with the road surface so, intrinsically, they are quiet cars. In the course of his introduction to the Camry CS waggon, Toyota’s sales and marketing manager, Jack Wills, described it as having the versatility of a station waggon without sacrificing any of the comfort and driving pleasure of a sedan. As long as I’ve known him, Jack Wills has not been given to hype and I was pleased to hear that his claims were confirmed to a large extent by my impressions. We stepped from the waggon into the new Cressida. Bearing in mind that the GLX Cressida 2.8 twin-cam version will be available in completely built-up form as a low volume top-of-the-Toyota-range model from September at around $70,000, this locally-assembled single-cam version looks a steal for people who need a six-cylinder car of reasonable size that is a bit different from the others in this market segment, for about $44,000. Admittedly it can’t shape up to the Mercedes Benz 300 S, which would cost about $lOO,OOO more! The fundamental difference between the singlecam (SME) and twin-cam (SMGE) six-cylinder engine is to be found in the amount of power and torque they develop. The new single-cam Cressida develops 103 kW at 5000 rpm and maximum torque of 226 Nm at 3600 rpm, whereas the older twincam version develops 120 kW at 5600 rpm and 225 Nm at 4600 rpm. Older New Zealanders have grown up with lowrevving engines and have unfeelingly stamped on the accelerator when they have felt a need to quicken pace. Although the new Cressida has not the over-all developed power of the older twin-cam version, it certainly has sufficient at a lower engine speed and the fact that it develops an additional 1 Nm of torque at 1000 rpm less than the older version is a much more substantial asset. The types who are likely to buy a new Cressida are those who have done their early driving in cars with slow-revving, gutsy engines or have been brought up by parents who drove such cars. In that regard, the new Cressida should make them feel more at home than the older, higherrevving model. After all, we motoring writers tend to forget that more than 75 per cent of motorists on our roads

don’t know much about Stirling Moss nor, for that matter, Ken Smith. They derive no satisfaction from driving a car that screams its heart out as it goes round corners in a shower of pebbles and assorted small stones. They want something that gets on with its work efficiently and unobtrusively and bends uncomplaining to the will of their foot rather than to the gear lever which, almost inevitably, will eventually wear out even in stout-hearted cars. This single-cam Cressida should be right in line with those motorists. It is quiet, responsive and uncomplaining. It is not quite so plush as the last leather upholstered twincammer I drove but has sensible no-nonsense analogue instruments, instead of the moronic electronic graphics that are regarded as trendy. Interestingly enough, one of Toyota New Zealand’s leading engineers told me there was a $7OO saving in using analogue instruments instead of a poor model of a Guy Fawkes display, such as is favoured by some manufacturers and local assemblers. That’s a point worth considering when some car salesman rubbishes analogue instrumentation when next you go on a car-buying spree. Without going into details, the interior furnishings and appointments of the Cressida are up to its $44,000 scratch. Thanks to Chris Amon, who has further fine-

tuned the suspension to improve ride comfort, road-holding and handling, this car feels more like a well-bred European than a volume produced Oriental. The Cressida is a car that I wouldn’t buy, but I can easily understand why other people would. After driving the other offerings, I admit to some disappointment in the Camry Ultima. To me it was not the sort of car which devours one with an all-consuming passion, although after driving it for a while I had to concede that a long-term relationship could be happier. Suffice to say that the imperfections, small though they were in the Camry waggon, were am-

plified in the Ultima saloon. That, however, is a snap judgment and I have a feeling that it will fail to stand up in my personal court of appeal when I am better qualified to make a decision. Superficially, these were promising cars and I’m sure that they’ll fulfill their promises. The Camrys are Austra-lian-built, with all the Aussie emission gear, and they are designed to run on unleaded 91 octane petrol. Those qualities could bring a gleam of satisfaction to rabid environmentalists as well as boosting the feelings of security of the Ministers of Energy and Environment. Frankly, I doubt

whether car buyers will be greatly moved by Toyota New Zealand’s dogooder tactics. They’ll judge the cars as cars and not be much concerned with automotive evangelism. If these Camrys prove to be real cars in the mind of the car-buying public, nobody will give a hoot whether, in the other sense, they are saints or sinners. But no one could blame Toyota New Zealand for trying. And, at the very least, the Johnsonville company has the Corolla and Corona to rely on. If they happened to be rugby players, they would earn places as honest allround players by All Black selectors.