The new Camry 2.4, recently launched by UMW Toyota Motor in Malaysia, is clearly the best ever Camry ever produced. It has the size and stature to give the owner pride of ownership, and comes with features that are normally found in large premium-priced saloons, at what I would consider an affordable price.

The heart of the car is the engine, and in the case of the Camry 2.4, it is the transversely-mounted 4-Cylinder, DOHC, 2,362 cc power plant that gives it a decent 167 PS at 6,000 rpm and 224 Nm at 4,000 rpm. With a five-speed automatic transmission to transfer power to the front through 17-inch wheels, it gave us a zero to 100 km/h run of 9.5 seconds. I have no idea what the top speed is, because we never had any real chance to put pedal to metal, but cruising was comfortable between 160 to 180 km/h. Vibrations to the cabin and body are kept to a minimum through the well-known hydraulic engine mountings that has been a feature of the Camry for the last decade or so. With a kerb weight of 1,450 kg (which I gleaned from the very small, not so mature-friendly font printed at the rear of the product catalogue), it does take a little bit of toll on fuel consumption. The full tank (70 litre capacity) that they gave me lasted for 380 kilometres before the refuel light came on.

In the safety department, the Camry comes with airbags for driver and front passenger, ABS, EBD, BA, and VSC (Vehicle Stability Control). In addition, it comes with the much-talked about GOA body, and other passive features like head impact protection, safe brake pedal design, impact sensing fuel cut, and impact absorbing structure for pedestrians.The package that makes up the Camry 2.4 litre is sold for RM168k. At this price, it makes a very good value-for-car proposition, considering that the continentals in the same size and category are selling in excess of RM300k.