New VE Pictures. Is it a Commodore or a Falcon???

[thatdbeme]

B) What's Intelligent Cruise control, and how does it work?

its a system, as well as being normal cruise, it also detects traffic infront to slow the car if it detects an impending accident

[IBrake4Rainbows]

The Final Cressida model has a reputation for being quite the Q car, in fact.

[SlickHolden]

Seems everyone is really looking forward to the VE and assuming it will be the best of the local Aussie sixes. We're all forgetting one car - which will be built in Australia - which doesn't have the hype surrounding it and may turn out to be the surprise of 2006.
That car is to be shown at the Melbourne Motor Show and will be launched in August-September at the same time as the VE. Of course I'm referring to the replacement for the Toyota Camry V6 and Avalon - whatever name Toyota Australia will give it. Not much is known about this car expect that it will be based on the chassis of the US Avalon, will be front wheel drive, has been heavily Australianised and will be powered by a 3.5 litre V6 with similar power to the other three six clyinder cars built in Australia. Even the styling is a bit of a mystery - though probably similar to the US Avalon.
Other than the VE, this will be the most important new car release this year - and there's no hype surrounding it - which could be a good thing. May be much, much better than we expect.

I though the 380 would kick arse, But it seems to be bagged bad all the time,
I don't think Toyota will hit huge highs like Commodore and Falcon till they really Australianies there cars or 1. RWD just the large family car.

I have a real good question.
How many would buy a V6 190kw SV6 FWD car. Over a RWD SV6?
Same with a XR6 190kw FWD. Over a RWD XR6?.
Who would consider a RWD Camry or Avalon?

[nota]

I though the 380 would kick arse, But it seems to be bagged bad all the time,

I have a real good question.
How many would buy a V6 190kw SV6 FWD car. Over a RWD SV6?
Same with a XR6 190kw FWD. Over a RWD XR6?.
Who would consider a RWD Camry or Avalon?

There's certainly a macho element to why some buyers prefer RWD in a family car. It's not because Dad is planning to power-slide up the driveway, instead it's for street-cred and to belong to the tribe. And towing could be a factor too

But imagine yourself in the private-buyer demographic, those who need a family car and can finally afford a new one; maybe Dad is not a motoring enthusiast, perhaps the wife isn't the worlds most gifted driver either, and their inexperienced kids also use the car. If asked, which drive-system would you recommend for them - predictable FWD understeer or oversteer-prone RWD?

For these buyers (and there are plenty of them) I might be inclined to advise FWD as the sensible, responsible choice

This recent Mitsu 380 comparison is not unfavourable
http://drive.com.au/editorial/articl...f=7&bg=40&pp=4

[motorsportnerd]

But imagine yourself in the private-buyer demographic, those who need a family car and can finally afford a new one; maybe Dad is not a motoring enthusiast, perhaps the wife isn't the worlds most gifted driver either, and their inexperienced kids also use the car. If asked, which drive-system would you recommend for them - predictable FWD understeer or oversteer-prone RWD?

For these buyers (and there are plenty of them) I might be inclined to advise FWD as the sensible, responsible choice

http://drive.com.au/editorial/articl...f=7&bg=40&pp=4

Many of the large family sixes are now fitted with standard traction control - which masks the traction problems in the wet of both the FWD and RWD layouts. If the car is fitted with traction control I would suggest either layout to the above family. And all the large family sedans, whether RWD or FWD tend to be very neutral handlers at normal road speeds and occasionally understeer if pushed a little harder, so can't recommend one or the other on that basis either.
If traction control is not fitted, than FWD is definately more predicatable and friendly for the above mentioned family.
Also, many of the mainstream cars now have stability control systems as well - so the whole FWD/RWD debate, particularly for the powerful mainstream Aussie sixes, more comes down to personal preference and/or street cred than any technological advantage.

[crisis]

Perhaps we should wait for the new big Toyota to be launched (its NOT going to be called Avalon) before we bag it. Its flown under the radar so to speak, but may turn out to be very good.
Also, unlike Mitsubishi, Toyota doesn't need to worry about sales. Existing Camry V6 buyers, old Magna buyers, those upgrading to a larger car from mid-size cars such as Mazda6s, those downgrading from Prados and the like, and anyone aware of Toyota's reputation for building realibily and high quality cars will buy the new car. Toyota doesn't need buyers of Commodores or Falcons to swap. Any buyers it picks up will be additional to those it can already expect.

The Avalon exists to compete in the Falcon and Commodore market and has from its inception.

Toyota tools up for a family sedan war

Thursday May 20 1999

Toyota's new large car, which will take the Toyota fight up to Commodore and Falcon, will be a much better vehicle than the American Avalon version it's based on, according to Toyota insiders.
And the Avalon story doesn't end there. Toyota wants to challenge Ford and Holden all the way to the race track. It is in the throws of talking to the sport's regulators about the feasibility of developing a V8 Supercar.

The Avalon experiment

Thursday May 11 2000

Under the skin: thats where Toyota has tweaked its big US-style family car for life in Australia. Toby Hagon reports.
Toyota wants you to accept its new Avalon large car as a born-and-bred Aussie, despite the fact that it walks and talks like an American.

Avalon gets a push

Thursday July 5 2001

A new advertising campaign will attempt to boost lacklustre sales of Toyotas large car.
For now, though, Toyota Australia is stuck with the current Avalon, which has consistently sold below its forecast of 2,000 cars per month, although June was one of the best to date, with more than 1,600 sales.
Conomos announced a new ad campaign which he hopes will help the Avalon achieve its initial sales goal within 12 months - earlier this week.
"We have to get Avalon back up to its sales target, which we hope will happen within 12 months," said Conomos.

The old Camry 4 is still the top selling medium car in Australia. Not sure how many Camrys sell with the V6, but its quite a few (much more than 380 or the old Magna). The new Camry will be Toyota's bread and butter car along with the Corolla. The new larger unnamed car will be there to get the buyers mentioned above and fill the price gap between the Camry and the Lexus IS250 in the price charts.
Lets not forget Toyota is the top selling manufacturer in Australia. I expect both the Camry 4 and the new six will both sell comfortably in the top ten each month - Camry will be top five, the larger car at the bottom of the top 10. Add the Corolla (new one is due), Prado, Landcruiser and Yaris,
all of which sell in or just outside the top 10 each month, and one can see why Toyota sells more cars than anyone else. The new Camry/large six will do very well. .

Toyota is the top selling brand because of the range of good cars. There is a long way to go for them to compete on level ground with Commodores and Falcons.

My point earlier was to suggest that while it won't outsell the VE, the new V6 Toyota may turn out to be a better all round car than the VE Commodore - and we can't dismiss that possibility until both are released to the market.

It may turn our better but my point is that won’t necessarily help it achieve the heights Toyota expects. As I said I am glad its not my problem. Certainly the more powerful motor should help but again I wonder if that was really the problem or not. We should be able to find out when it comes out I suppose.

[2ndclasscitizen]

yeah, but that history involves spawning the Soarer of its chassis

[crisis]

If asked, which drive-system would you recommend for them - predictable FWD understeer or oversteer-prone RWD?

For these buyers (and there are plenty of them) I might be inclined to advise FWD as the sensible, responsible choice

Traction control and Fords new stability control makes it a non issue.

[SlickHolden]

You know, I had the i wouldn't say honer to drive a Avalon not long ago for a wile as my sister had her car in for body work, She was given a Avalon for the week.
If this thing is Australianiesd i drive a Falcon.
It was so so soft in the suspension just like a us car.
Brakes were as weak as bin lardens word.
It was so cheap feeling it made my mums VB feel good.
It eat petrol like a American in a movie car chase.
You know what it had going for it, It had a decent turn of speed and the bigger reved to over 6000rpm easy. that's it.

[motorsportnerd]

The Avalon was never really regarded as a good car and its styling was extremely bland - bordering on ugly. Looks had as much to do with it failing to sell as anything else. The Camry may be bland, but its not ugly - and not many judged the Avalon as worth the extra money over the Camry 6. As for targeting Commodore/Falcon buyers - was never going to happen with the Avalon.
The new car (Cressida, Alion, or whatever its called) should look better (the current US car looks ok, and our one is to be based on it) and there is not going to be a Camry 6 on sale any more, so it is guaranteed to be a much better selling car. Toyota may make noises about it competing with Commodore/Falcon, but it doesn't need to. It will get all the buyers I mentioned earlier and will plug the gap between Toyotas and Lexus in the market place.
Also, if Toyota really did want a high performance version (and no noise has been made about this), then a turboed version of the 3.5 litre V6 will do nicely and Toyota could probably adapt the chassis for AWD since FWD will be a perceived marketing disadvantage. I think Toyota intends to leave its RWD chassis for Lexus and Japanese market cars like the Chaser, so I doubt we'll ever see a mainstream, non sport RWD Toyota in Australia again. AWD may be a different story.

[fpv_gtho]

Personally i dont see the need for having the 2 models, relegating the Camry to a 4cyl. Mum's 98 Camry looks decent enough, is pretty good on petrol, has a huge boot, plenty of rear room and still smaller than a Falcon and Commodore. Toyota shouldve stuck to that idea IMO. Whether they kept the Avalon name or not, theres always going to be people remembering the "bigger Camry"

[motorsportnerd]

Since they plan to use two different floorplans, I guess they think that it doesn't make sense to call the larger car "Camry". However, maybe they should just use the Camry name on both the smaller and larger car.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Don't Honda have two seperate models under the one brand name Accord?

[clutch-monkey]

yeah the accord euro version is the good one, whereas the other one is built in thailand with a more US slant on specs/design i think

[IBrake4Rainbows]

....Much like the Camry is considered better than the Avalon.

Strange, that.....