that Toyota feeling(tm)
filed in 1985 supra
Question: It seems like every Toyota vehicle I’ve ever driven has markedly lousy handling. Toyota pickups on bad dirt roads are hard to control and make me feel like I could lose my life at any minute; I refuse to drive shuttle in anyone else’s Toyota pickup now. (Nissan and Chevy pickups are great by comparison.) Toyota 4Runners have one of the busiest rides I’ve ever experienced, and are very sloppy in corners, perhaps worse than any other 4×4. We’ve owned a Toyota Camry since 1984, and have to take corners at only 10mph faster than marked, whereas any other family sedan (especially those from Nissan and Mazda) can handle corners 20mph faster than marked. The Toyota Celica is an absolute embarassment as a “sporty” car; the older ones I’ve driven handle worse than our Camry, and the newer ones have dull handling considering their small size and low weight. Even Constupid Reports describes the Paseo as a “sheep in wolf’s clothing”. Recently a friend in a Celica followed my wimpy ‘86 Subaru (wagon no less!) around some winding mountain roads, and couldn’t keep up, despite a 2x horsepower/weight advantage. Had I been the “proud” owner, I would have been embarassed. The more you know, the less likely you’ll buy a Toyota.
This is not entirely my imagination. The C&D skidpad numbers peg the Camry at .76 g. The Taurus SHO comes in at .81, the Mazda 626 at .8, the Honda Accord at .79, and the old Nissan Maxima at .78. The Celica GT is an embarassing .77, especially considering the more practical Jeep Grand Cherokee does .79.
So do the high-priced sports cars from Toyota, such as the Supra, actually handle well? And given Toyota’s poor history with their regular line, what would make anyone think that Lexus models would be good drivers? The LS 400 looks like a pig at .73 on the skidpad, although to be fair, the ES models have great skidpad numbers in the mid .8s.
Answer: You seem to be a little confused. First and foremost you’re giving far too much importance to skidpad numbers as regards the handling of a car. The g’s a car can corner at seems to be your only criterion in rating a car’s handling!
Secondly your numbers are off. This may be because you’ve got an older issue sitting in front of you — everyone knows that there will be some variance between cars and conditions. The September 1993 C&D gives these numbers: Camry 0.80, Taurus SHO auto. 0.80, 626 0.77, Accord 0.77, Maxima 0.78, Grand Cherokees at 0.73 and 0.75, LS400 at 0.77, and ES300 at 0.78.
Check the numbers for yourself. If all we’re talking about is skidpad results, now the Camry looks pretty darn good, doesn’t it?
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