So this is a step in the right direction?

That's right.... I forgot to mention one thing in my last post. About one week prior to the TOCAU Annual Meet, I was stuck in traffic behind a van who was stopped behind a bus that was loading/unloading passengers. While waiting there, the van in front of me decided to try and overtake the bus, but to do this he had to reverse back firstly. Well, you can kind of picture where this is going. Anyways, my car received some light damage to the front and then came the annoying part of having to sort it all out.

After calling AAMI I found that I could drop it off the very next day for assessment so that it could be sent off for repair. Unfortunately, the Annual Meet was getting awfully close so I couldn't risk not getting it back on time. So I cleaned her up the best I could and went on to the meet the following week. On the Tuesday after I got back (14/06), I dropped her off and she is now in the body shop getting the work done. I should expect to get her back around the 22nd.

So for the last week at work, I've just been borrowing my sister's Mazda 3 to drive around in. I'm sure I said this before last time I had to borrow it due to an accident, but damn this car is sluggish. It goes to show how used you get to your own car. Anyways, my sister will be needing her car this weekend so I decided to hire out a Toyota Camry Hybrid and see how they go.

I picked it up earlier today and have given it a bit of a drive so far. First impression are that this car is just weird to drive. Not in the bad way, but in the way that everything just doesn't feel what you would normally be used to in a car. You press the 'POWER' button and the only sign to tell you the car actually is on is the 'Ready' light on the dash. There is no initial hum of an engine running or the sound of an engine starting... just silence.

Then comes the drive itself. Personally I didn't think it would be that noticeable, but the whole 'Hybrid Synergy Drive' thing isn't exactly as seamless as I was expecting. I personally think there is a little bit too much lag in having the petrol engine assist/take over the electric motor. So in moments where you need to accelerate more sharply, it initially feels a bit more sluggish than say a non-hybrid Camry, but because of the way it all ties in, it's hard to say whether it actually is more sluggish.

I'm guessing that it actually isn't, but it's only just the feel of it. As I said before, I think it's just that overall unnatural feeling that makes the driving experience a little odd. Once you are in motion though and travel over varying conditions, the transition between petrol and electric becomes pretty much unnoticeable and everything feels like a normal car. It is an odd feeling though just hearing the engine turn itself on and off, but I guess if you put a little music on, you wouldn't even tell.

Putting your foot down in this car is certainly something different. It sure has more go than your normal 2.4l Camry. Sure this defeats the purpose of having a hybrid, but it's good to know that there is power there when needed. It does take a short second or two to pick up though but when it does, it will keep on moving. About the only issue I would have with this though is the CV transmission. After driving with traditional gearboxes for quite some time, a CV just seems so wrong. When you put your foot down and have the revs build up, you get this massive urge to want to upshift. Instead, you keep on doing as you are doing and the car takes care of itself... despite it sounding like you are over-revving it.

Then there is the fun part of slowing to a stop. Having read about hybrids before, I am aware of how slow and gentle braking is what is usually best for it. All I can say is that a gentle application of the brakes is actually pretty strong for what I was expecting. It's not a bad thing at all... I was just surprised. As far as I'm aware, the regeneration component of it will be doing quite a bit of the braking when you lightly apply it, so this is quite a bit of stopping power this system can hold. If you need to brake in a real hurry though, you can push down further on the pedal, but it starts to feel a bit different when you do that.

When you brake really heavily, there is a clear distinction between the regeneration and the actual hydraulic braking system. When you push the pedal just that little too much, you can feel the point where the actual brake pads start doing their work. I wouldn't say any of these things are an issue. I'm just stating what differences are to be noticed after coming for driving a traditional car.

On the topic of braking, there is one thing that I find pretty cool in a way. When slowing down with light to moderate braking power, as you come towards a complete stop, if you don't have any music on etc, you get that electrical humming sound due to the regeneration system similar to when a train slows down. It's just something you don't expect to hear from a car. And then when you come to that stop, everything is just dead silent. It's just an odd feeling sitting there with cars around you and you feel like yours is off.

I did say some time ago that if the Aurion wasn't produced, I would opt for a Camry Hybrid over just a normal Camry. After driving the hybrid for a little bit so far, I don't think the hybrid would be a car that I could get used to just yet. Despite having less overall power, I think I would still be tempted to get a normal Camry rather than the hybrid.

That said... I'm thankful for the Aurion.