07 SE owners, feedback please! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

jayb82 · 05-22-2006, 10:37 AM

Just a question for the 07 Camry SE owners regarding the ride and handling of the sport suspension.
How do you guys like it? Is it too firm or jerky thru potholes, speed bumps or bad roads.
I test drove both the SE and XLE and found SE to be ok but I didnt find any rough roads near the dealership to really test it.
So I want to hear from the owners who have had their cars for some time now.
Thanks in advance

LunarMist · 05-22-2006, 10:40 AM

I live in the Washington, DC-area which has some of the WORST streets in the country IMO and I must say that the SE rides pretty nice on it. Its actually smoother in most instances than my previous 02 Camry LE. There are a lot of speed bumps in the area that I live in and the SE rides over them smoothly as compared to my 02 LE which I felt took them much harder. I like the stiffer suspension and have no major complaints. Sometimes I wish I had the soft ride of the LE/XLE but that is rare.

jayb82 · 05-22-2006, 11:03 AM

Thanks, I currently live in an apartment community and there are a lot of speed bumps in the complex (I have to go over 5 before getting to my apartment). I just dont want to regret getting the SE and going over those bumps everyday. I was considering the LE, but when I priced the SE, I get fog lights, spolier and other stuff for only a $1000 more so I'm leaning more towards the SE now.

LunarMist · 05-22-2006, 11:12 AM

Also be advised that things change a lot depending on what angle you are hitting the speed bumps. If you are driving straight into them its not really anything to get irked over but if you have to turn into a speed bump you will be in for a rocky ride!

LunarMist · 05-22-2006, 11:13 AM

Also be advised that things change a lot depending on what angle you are hitting the speed bumps. If you are driving straight into them its not really anything to get irked over but if you have to turn into a speed bump you will be in for a rocky ride! Also, the speed that you go over the bumps will make a huge difference. I will try to go over some speed bumps on my way home tonight and see if I can provide some additional info.

jayb82 · 05-23-2006, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LunarMist

I will try to go over some speed bumps on my way home tonight and see if I can provide some additional info.

Thanks. Really appreciate you doing that. Hope the ride isnt too bumpy

LunarMist · 05-23-2006, 10:57 AM

I actually was able to do this during my lunch break yesterday and going over a huge speed bump couldn't have been any smoother. If I didn't know any better I would have thought I was in a Lexus. As long as you arent trying to roll over them at 60 mph there shouldn't be an issue.

jayb82 · 05-23-2006, 11:08 AM

Thats great to hear. Thanks again.
Hopefully you didnt scrape the front spoiler or the side moldings.

LunarMist · 05-23-2006, 11:25 AM

I havent scraped it yet (knock on wood - knock knock) and i've been in plenty of situations to do so. I've found that you really have to pay attention to pulling into parking space that area in front of curbs/sidewalks. I've been fortunate enough to always seem to stop at just the right distance because any closer and I could have potentially done some serious damage in some cases where the curb was higher than normal. But the car really isn't so low that you should be scraping it on a speed bumb. I had to cross over this ridiculously high crossing from one parking lot to another one time. The crossing is extremely high--arches up like "V" shape almost--and amazingly my car didn't scrape it at all. I was so relieved because I was sure it would.

05-23-2006, 09:15 PM

I live in Colorado (not to ding you LunarMist, but our roads are HORRIBLE because our temperatures vary so much) and I haven't had a single problem with my '07 SE. You can barely feel bumps in the road. The handling and steering are nice and tight. I'm pretty satisfied so far.

I too test drove the SE and XLE and I couldn't find a whole lot of difference. There is ALOT less body roll on the SE, but the ride is virtually the same as the XLE, it is smooth.

94camryxle · 05-23-2006, 10:04 PM

Ok, I live in Hawaii and our roads have to be the worst in the US. Between the high humudity and salt, our roads are very poorly maintained. The local government doesn't invest into the transportation infrastructure like other states do, but don't get me started on that topic.
I have an SE V6 and it rides a little stiff but comfortable. I wouldn't mind the XLE suspension on the SE body. I guess you can't have it both ways...