It may have been slow to latch on to the downsized turbo trend, but Toyota is getting there. Its modern turbo engine debuted in the Lexus NX SUV last year, and is also available in the new RX. The Lexus IS compact exec, long hampered by the lack of forced induction against German rivals, is the latest recipient – the IS 200t will reach Malaysia in the third quarter of 2015.
Lexus aside, Toyota will also slowly introduce turbo to its core products. Automotive News reports that the Toyota Camry will be offered with a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine in the near future, the four-cylinder replacing the current range topping 3.5 litre V6 engine, which has 268 hp and 336 Nm.
The 2.0 turbo makes 245 hp/350 Nm in the IS 200t, so it’s almost equal to the six-pot on paper and sure to boast more effortless acceleration and low down torque, from 1.5 litres less. The main reason for the adoption of turbo is of course emissions and fuel economy, and the ‘Camry Turbo’ should trump the V6 on both counts.
But don’t expect an all-turbo Camry range anytime soon. The mainstream four-cylinder engines will instead be supplied with direct-injection, the more efficient Atkinson cycle combustion and CVTs to boost efficiency. “The powertrain is still an area where we see ourselves as being able to squeeze out a significant amount of efficiency,” said Andrew Coetzee, Toyota USA’s group VP for product planning.
Rival Honda is a little more aggressive in the turbo game. The firm’s upcoming next-gen Civic will be its first model in the USA to feature a new 1.5 litre turbocharged VTEC engine from the marque’s Earth Dreams Technology umbrella. Automotive News says the turbo motor will also go into the Accord and CR-V.
What do you think of this belated turbo push by the Japanese?
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The exterior and interior design still very bad, Malaysian want good FC dun want turbo, no thanks.
Effortless acceleration, long time ago done by p1
Japs is lightyears behind, boooooooooo
good. why dont u say u also spend more on that super sucking water camtakpor engine and frequent visiting SC due to a poor quality car?
That’s VW not p1
That would be another 10 years when Toyota recycle their “new technology” from Lexus trash can. Hahaha
Comparing Proton cacat turbo with this turbo camry? I just couldn’t stop laughing!!!!
Proton turbo is meant to burn more fuel, keep the driver poor and boost the national economy, nothing else, not even any extra power generated.
Imagine a turbo Preve still 9.6s for 0-100, you know the turbo is good to talk/show off, not good for drive.
Sure or not 9.6 sec? Saw many Preve and exora turbo with bad turbo lag and dying when going uphill.
Laugh on your son proton saga also? Sam is just nut. Tak suka beli proton juga. Budget issue?
P1 turbo sucks. CVT gearbox also sucks. Torque transfer to the wheels sucks.
Its fine for Toyota to use a 2.0 turbo-4 in a Camry, cos its not a luxury car. But NOT on a luxury Toyota such as the Mark X or Crown or Lexus GS and above. Those cars need a V6 2.5 with turbo, cos a 4 cylinder engine just isn’t as refined as a V6 motor, and the 4 cylinder engines can’t match the V6 sound either.
Though i’m worried that a 2.0 turbo might be too much torque for the typical uncle driver to handle without VSC/traction control, hehe. Note to UMW Toyota, if you want to turbo your engines, PLEASE make VSC compulsory. I think its fine for an Accord to have a 1.5 turbo-4 engine too, cos you don’t expect them to be as refined as a luxury Acura. But a 1.5 turbo-4 would be a big no on an Acura TLX and above.
Well, the A6 and 5series do have 2.0 turbo variants, in both diesel and petrol guise. Why the worry?
The GS 2.0 litre turbo is a definite arrival, seeing that the 520i, 528i and Merc’s E200 and E250 are all 2.0 litre turbo 4 pots too.
and… once upon a time Toyota said we still believe in BIG ENGINE and HYBRID… NO DOWNSIZING…and stuff… thats for kitty…….
and now……ahem…….
What one believed doesn’t matter, what matters most is the ability to keep up with the trend when being left behind. It’s never too late, as long as the engine proves to be good.
i think they are still not pushing fully towards turbo engine. for a good reason i must say.
toyota hybrid system is very effective in cities as it produces the lowest CO2 and NOX compare to its equivalent petrol powered car.
EV produces zero but can hardly go anymore than 200km.
diesel engines give the best saving on suburban drive, highway and long distance trips… in cities petrol hybrid still the best.
Don’t forget that in the 90s, even BMW and Mercedes were laughing at Audi, Volvo and Saab for launching 2.0 litre 4 pots into their mainstream models – A4, S40, S60 and Saab’s 9-3 and 9-5.
Time to revive MR2 GT turbo & Supra GT turbo Toyota!
And the Toyota Soarer too!! Miss that car.
Based solely on American’s love for big V6 engines, I reckon the 2GR-FE will soldier on. This, the turbo 4-cylinder, will be offered as some kind of “Sport Edition” thing.
As long as its not a kimchi, it will have RV
good thing finally..bmw 328i m sport or is 200t f sport?
Sad to see that the IS F-Sport is sold at such a premium, but with BMW’s slight emphasis towards comfort, the steering on the 328i M-Sports has gone soft, somewhat. Make no mistake, it’s still a very communicative steering with the most input in its class. The E90 325i Sports felt much better.
The IS F Sport feels good but the car is just too small inside compared to the new 3 and C. Handling has improved quite a lot. The IS250 F Sports in grey looks menacing.
Crap, now all those uncles gonna drive EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVELY!
Toyota has never position the company as early adopters of new technology. They were slow in the 80’s to move from rear wheel to front wheel drive on their mass production cars. One think for sure is that they make reliable cars and they know their market segmentation well while maximizing their stakeholders’ profitability.
IMO downsizing with turbo is a good thing for a normal passanger car. It provide better fc also emission at the same time not compromise the performance also it become more road tax friendly. (But not sure how is reliability)
toyota has got the best most reliable turbo engine technology in the universe the last time i check when i was in planet earth.
@faiz, yea. Then we have to welcome them. The best thing when they are doing it across segments plus diesel engine(along euro5 diesel soon ). Then consumers gain the benefit of it.
You know why Toyota be late? Because they take time to do research and make sure it is reliable and problem free, Japanese cars are famous with thier quality, reliability and second hand value, I can sure that if Camry turbo launched, there will be more good comments than Passat , Cc and Korean cars.
since toyota is downsizing + turbocharging their stable, put those turbo engines on Alphard/Vellfire/Estima. with my family getting bigger, i want those ppl carrier with more powaaahhh..
Nissan Teana has been using turbo engine it in other countries