Vehicle: 2002 Toyota Camry LE with pkg B

Performance: Camry is powered by 1 of 2 engines. A 2.4L 4-cylinder and 3.0L V6, both come with VVT-i variable valve timing technology. The one in our tester is the base 2.4L 4-cylinder DOHC 4 with 157 hp and 163 lb/ft of torque. In the previous generations, Camry’s 4s were dog slow. No more in the current iteration as it got more than enough torque for daily driving and enough revving when you want to push it through the redline. Along with the 4-speed auto tranny, the whole powertrain is typical of Toyota which means its quiet, refine, smooth and quite flexible when rev. For a 4 banger, it got a relax gear ratio as I experienced 2500 rpm @ 100 km which is surprisingly low.

Handling: Camry has suffered from a serious syndrome of poor relations of ride and handling thanks to its spring setting. The springs are neither providing enough stiffness for aggressive driving nor enough damping for comfortable ride. The compromise is poor as you feel every nuts in the washboard pavements and expansion joints while there are still tons of body rolls through corners. Combine the poor springs with soft suspension, you got a car that handles softly. The steering is numb and lack of feedback all around. Its not that Camry’s dynamics doesn’t have any merits. Although Camry’s setting is soft to begin with, its suspension still provides enough confidence taking slow corners. The chassis also has a stiff base for good crash test results.
I fully expect Camry’s chassis silibing to do more than that, especially the upcoming Sienna, Solara and ES300. Since all them are comfort more than handling-oriented, they deserve a spring setting that is supple like a LS400 to please the passengers instead of boucing them all around while driver is scaring at each corners.

Brakes: With 4-wheel discs and ABS, Camry’s brake system is better than average.

Interior: Camry’s velour seats are soft and smooth, they are great for long trip with sofa-like design. Back seat is also very spacious with tons of head and legrooms. Instrumentation gauges are clear and analog. The knobs for climate control are easy to operate. However, there are couple of criticisms. The climate control knobs have a cheap feel to it. They have cracky rotating sound that doesn’t feel like Toyota’s usual material standard. There are also plenty of hard plastic abound the center console area. The whole dashboard is flat insted of slightly designed toward the driver. That means it looks more like an American landyacht than a Japanese family car. While the trunk is huge, got 40/60 split fold-down rear seats and a low lift-over, the instrusive trunk hinges are cost-cutting measure that could cut into any groceries down below.

Conclusion: Camry is a perfect “appliance” for those who are looking for no-fuse driving attitude. If you are looking for one that has better interior quality, you have to go upgrade to the loaded XLE in order to get the proper material quality. Despite of my criticisms, Camry remains one of the benchmarks for refinement and quietness in the mid-size family sedan segment.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2002 CAMRY LE
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Performance: 3/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 1/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 3/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 3/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 4.75/5
Value-for-money: 4.5/5

Overall rating: 3.5/5