2009 Camry XLE - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

miker08 · 02-03-2009, 12:12 PM

Took delivery of a 2009 Camry XLE. Love the car, however, just wanted to know if others have the same experience...

When driving in traffic and the car slows down as I am coasting (no pressure on gas pdeal) when the car downshifts at around 20mph I actually feel the downshift. No noise, no skipping or anything, but I just feel the downshifts more. this is when the car is in the "D" mode...

However... If I shift the selector in the manual position set to "6" it seems to shift more un noticed.

Does anyone else have the same experience?

regards,
Mike

squeakyg · 02-03-2009, 05:06 PM

I have the V6 version. The transmission downshifts and seeks to bring the speed of the car down ever so slightly when coasting up to a light. For my car, it doesn't happen noticeably with every slow down. Just sometimes. I personally think that it is to my advantage due to my driving habits. I just came out of a stick shift, and I used to downshift to save my brakes. I also enjoy feeling the downshift, because if I have to suddenly accelerate, I feel I know how the car is going to react. If you can feel the downshift slowing down the car, then you can COUNT a good pedal response if you need it.

HerCamry · 02-05-2009, 10:51 PM

We have the four cylinder model and it is terrible. I can't imagine a car feeling any more separated from and un-natural for the driver.

We rented an '08 model in the summer of '08 and took it on a trip to Wisconsin Dells. We thought that was a good "test" drive. It wasn't. Basically, all we had was interstate driving and bumper to bumper traffic jam driving. The Toyota "Jake Brake" deceleration and transmission issues didn't show up. Niether did the variable power steering. But, being under the trauma of $4 gas last summer, we decided to trade in a Tahoe and buy the XLE. Didn't even test drive it. I told my wife to meet me at the dealership. I had already negotiated the trade. I told her to pick out the one she wanted and I left. We didn't even test drive it. We bought our first, and probably last, new car.

Don't get me wrong, if I lived in a big city and spent most of my driving accellerating hard or braking hard I would like this car much more.

I've decided the car has to be driven different than the American vehicles we have. I don't let my foot completely off of the accellerator when I would normally be coasting in our other vehicles. I just keep slight pressure on the gas pedal so I get the "coasting" effect I want. Or, sometimes I just pop the tranny into neutral for coasting.