2012 Toyota Aurion Spotted In The Wild!
The Camry For Those Who Need Speed
By Imthishan Giado
As manufacturers are rapidly finding, it’s hard to keep secrets out here. The rabid faithful will always hunt you down. Here’s their latest scoop – the new Camry in V6 Aurion form. Hit the jump for more pictures as well as interior shots!
You’ve all seen the new Camry out and about on the roads (read our first drive here) so it was only a matter of time until its Aurion cousin turned up. The eagle-eyed boys at Toyota4Arab have turned up trumps with this extensive set of pics of the new car, largely sans camouflage.
As before, there aren’t too many sheet metal changes – just a new tail and front end, which if tradition holds will be slightly longer than the Camry.
The styling up front is big on chrome and rounded shapes – Aurion is a cruiser, not a handler like the new Camry.
The steering wheel’s a four spoke affair and certainly nicer than the Camry one; while the gauges have ‘three-dimensional’ detailing that you also find on US Camrys. Expect Lexus-style Optitron lighting.
The rest is bone-stock Camry interior, but it’s definitely a nicer place to be than the old car. The drivetrain package is likely to be the same – 2GR-FE V6 engine with a six-speed auto, good for close to 280bhp. We can only speculate on pricing at this stage, but don’t expect it to be under the AED 100k mark.
I’ve always found it strange that Toyota sells what is essentially a V6 Camry from the US in a different, larger package under a different name (not strange enough to avoid buying one myself obviously). Clearly, people want to be differentiated from the taxi crowd, but is anyone really fooled?
And other questions remain; will the new Aurion will be able to put the power down any better than the old car? The new handling package will help, but is it enough to tame closer to 300bhp heading to the front wheels? Only time will tell.
