Triple Beams vs. Standard Headlights
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Pole Position
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From: IL
I mostly agree, but I will give him prophecy points for looking at the improvements to the 2019 and the birth of its F Sport version, and concluding the GS was toast.
Lexus Test Driver
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From: MI
savagegeese is one of my top favorite channels for those interested in technical deep dive. The other one is Alex On Autos. If you are going to cross shop a vehicle against different brands Alex is really detail oriented on feature break down comparison. His road test drive scoring is informative as well.
I forgot Motoman. He is also pretty good.
Instructor
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From: Delaware
I haven't followed him in a long time. He had some good content but I got tired of it after watching him for a while as he has a tendency to go off the tangent. Sometimes it was interesting but I found it mostly unhelpful.
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Last edited by wmoor004; Apr 20, 2022 at 07:06 PM.
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From: IL
If we consider the time, in my view the 2ES wins easily. It's easy to forget 30 years later, but the excellence of that car and its Camry little brother — coming, remember, as the direct successor to the already successfuly 1988 Camry — were a seismic shock to the entire industry. I still remember Car and Driver anonymously quoting a jealous official of a rival carmaker: "That goddamn Camry is magic. Toyota has really broken the code."
I remember driving a Mercury Sable V6 then as a rental, the deluxe edition of the very respected and successful Ford Taurus. Its A/C broke and I had to give it back. I chose a standard 4-cylinder '92 Camry and was gobsmacked at what a tight, solid and responsive car it was by comparison. More recently, just a couple years ago my nephew picked up one of those cars in V6 form with 200,000 miles on the clock. I got to drive it and was stunned all over again at how well it stands up today, and this was a severely used example. The 5ES, while a fine car, just wasn't that kind of game changer. In fact, C/D said at the time that the most noteworth characteristic of the 5ES when released for 2007 was that it "played it safe" and didn't raise the bar very much. Still a fine car, just not the same kind of game changer.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ake-road-test/
I remember driving a Mercury Sable V6 then as a rental, the deluxe edition of the very respected and successful Ford Taurus. Its A/C broke and I had to give it back. I chose a standard 4-cylinder '92 Camry and was gobsmacked at what a tight, solid and responsive car it was by comparison. More recently, just a couple years ago my nephew picked up one of those cars in V6 form with 200,000 miles on the clock. I got to drive it and was stunned all over again at how well it stands up today, and this was a severely used example. The 5ES, while a fine car, just wasn't that kind of game changer. In fact, C/D said at the time that the most noteworth characteristic of the 5ES when released for 2007 was that it "played it safe" and didn't raise the bar very much. Still a fine car, just not the same kind of game changer.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ake-road-test/
Last edited by LexFinally; Apr 23, 2022 at 04:27 PM.
Pole Position
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From: Ontario
If we consider the time, in my view the 2ES wins easily. It's easy to forget 30 years later, but the excellence of that car and its Camry little brother — coming, remember, as the direct successor to the already successfuly 1988 Camry — were a seismic shock to the entire industry. I still remember Car and Driver anonymously quoting a jealous official of a rival carmaker: "That goddamn Camry is magic. Toyota has really broken the code."
I remember driving a Mercury Sable V6 then as a rental, the deluxe edition of the very respected and successful Ford Taurus. Its A/C broke and I had to give it back. I chose a standard 4-cylinder '92 Camry and was gobsmacked at what a tight, solid and responsive car it was by comparison. More recently, just a couple years ago my nephew picked up one of those cars in V6 form with 200k on the clock. I got to drive it and was stunned all over again at how well it stands up today, and this was a severely used example. The 5ES, while a fine car, just wasn't that kind of game changer. In fact, C/D said at the time that the most noteworth characteristic of the 5ES when released for 2007 was that it "played it safe" and didn't raise the bar very much. Still a fine car, just not the same kind of game changer.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ake-road-test/
I remember driving a Mercury Sable V6 then as a rental, the deluxe edition of the very respected and successful Ford Taurus. Its A/C broke and I had to give it back. I chose a standard 4-cylinder '92 Camry and was gobsmacked at what a tight, solid and responsive car it was by comparison. More recently, just a couple years ago my nephew picked up one of those cars in V6 form with 200k on the clock. I got to drive it and was stunned all over again at how well it stands up today, and this was a severely used example. The 5ES, while a fine car, just wasn't that kind of game changer. In fact, C/D said at the time that the most noteworth characteristic of the 5ES when released for 2007 was that it "played it safe" and didn't raise the bar very much. Still a fine car, just not the same kind of game changer.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ake-road-test/
I had a 1992 Camry 4 Cylinder decades ago. It was a really nice car. The best Camry to to date in my opinion.
I drove that car to over 500,000 km then gave it to my brother who was a student and he drive it for another 200,000 km.
Intermediate
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From: DFW TX
My first car was a 92 Camry. The 92-96 Camry’s were some of the strongest cars ever made! Those things last forever!
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From: IL
The Wikipedia article about engineering and product-decision details on that generation of Camry is fascinating. Adjusting for eras, they're some of the stoutest and finest-quality mass-market cars ever made.
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From: CA
We've all heard that the triple beam headlight option is $1,500. We've alll heard they're mondo expensive to replace if they get fender-bendered. And we've all heard that they're better, so much so that the government rates the whole car a safety class higher if equipped with them.
My experience with the triple beams and automatic high beams so far is this:
•They're very bright, of course.
•They have quite an abrupt cutoff that makes then not that special in those moments when you're not on level ground.
•The automatic high beams work well enough that I don't feel like a jerk using them.
•The high beams are some of the brightest I've ever seen. I think they might melt the reflective material off of road signs.
I don't know as much about the headlights I didn't get, the standard ones. I've seen them rated as adequate/OK. My understanding is that they're the same units used on several mainstream cars, including some Fords (Edge?) and some Mazdas. What do you who own them think of them? Are they good enough that you'd choose them again and keep the cash?
My experience with the triple beams and automatic high beams so far is this:
•They're very bright, of course.
•They have quite an abrupt cutoff that makes then not that special in those moments when you're not on level ground.
•The automatic high beams work well enough that I don't feel like a jerk using them.
•The high beams are some of the brightest I've ever seen. I think they might melt the reflective material off of road signs.
I don't know as much about the headlights I didn't get, the standard ones. I've seen them rated as adequate/OK. My understanding is that they're the same units used on several mainstream cars, including some Fords (Edge?) and some Mazdas. What do you who own them think of them? Are they good enough that you'd choose them again and keep the cash?
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2012
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From: CA
Someone else may have more information, but I believe the rectangular shadows are to comply with the IIHS safety requirements, specifically glare in this case. It is by design, so that drivers aren't getting a beam full of bright light in their vision. Nothing to worry about. To be annoyed by, yeah sure, but you'll get used to it.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 887
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From: Alberta
The little black rectangles are normal, my '21 RAV4 Prime has those, as does my '22 ES300. This has been discussed before.
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