2007 Toyota Camry

The team turned its attention to maximizing interior space – in particular, fore-and-aft space - without significantly enlarging the Camry’s exterior. It started by pushing the cowl, the bottom of the car’s windshield, forward for an increased sense of openness and room in the Camry’s passenger cabin.

Redesigned front seats also played a role in adding a feeling of spaciousness to the Camry cabin. Additionally, seat-slide length was increased to accommodate comfortable driving positions for larger drivers and passengers. Manual seats have a range of 10 inches, and power seats offer 10.2 inches of travel.

As a thoughtful detail, an assist plate - a place on which to position one’s hand for support while entering and exiting the vehicle- was added to the outboard side of each front power seatbottom surround panel.

In an expansion of a seat technology first seen on the Toyota Prius, the Camry’s seats use Toyota’s Whiplash Injury Lessening (WIL) seat design. That means that each seat is designed to help manage whiplash injury.

The 2007 Camry’s door trim was redesigned for improved ease of use of the door handles and switches. Designers maximized the size of the space around the door handles for easier access.

Designers also paid careful attention to improving the comfort available to rear-seat passengers. Footwell space for the rear seat was enlarged, and additional rear seat legroom was provided. Available rear legroom now measures 38.3 inches, up from 37.8 inches in the previous generation Camry. To enhance comfort for rear-seat XLE passengers, seatbacks now recline eight degrees from their standard position. Alternately, a 60/40 non-reclining fold-down rear seat is standard on CE and LE grades. Rear-seat passengers also get dedicated personal reading lamps on moonroof-equipped Camrys.

So complete was the rethink of the Camry’s interior that even the seat fabric was redesigned. Used exclusively on the top-of-the-line XLE four-cylinder model, the new standard fabric is treated by the Fraichir process. In this process, fabric is coated with a naturally occurring component called Sericin, which is extracted from silkworm cocoons and refined. This substance is used because it contains a natural moisturizing component.

Additionally, in their search for increased space, designers did not overlook the Camry’s trunk. With the 60/40 fold down rear seats, it offers 15 cubic feet of luggage space. With the reclining or fixed rear seats, it delivers 14.5 cubic feet of storage space. It is equipped with a grocery hook, a utility box and a luggage net (on XLE) for added convenience.

The revised interior involved a complete redesign of every detail of the dash and console, in part to avoid the impression that the dash crowds the Camry’s passengers, and also to improve instrument visibility and ease use of all controls.

The dash itself uses a two-level configuration with the upper level moved toward the front of the vehicle to improve the impression of roominess.

In the instrument panel, instruments are larger than before, with larger lettering and longer needles. The speedometer is marked in five-mph increments, a step that is important to American buyers because speed limits of 55, 65 and 75 mph are very common. Additionally, the odometer and trip meters are illuminated at all times to improve daytime visibility.

Special attention was paid to the audio/HVAC control panel. The control panel features switches that are slimmer and neater than previously, with larger lettering, and with surface luminescence for easier use at night.

A standard multi-information display offers outside temperature readings, possible cruising range, average speed, average fuel consumption and trip odometer.

Designers built in many storage spaces around the front-passenger area, including console side-pockets, marking the first use of this storage option in a sedan. Storage options also include a large front console box equipped with an accessory power socket and an auxiliary audio jack - this box is big enough to store eight CD jewel cases. Other storage areas include an accessory box behind the shift lever containing another accessory power socket, a 354 square inch rear-console box with a card holder and a movable tray, and, adjacent to the shift lever, holders for two large cups.

A new HVAC system, standard on the XLE and Hybrid, incorporates automatic climatecontrol with separate left and right zones. This new system uses Plasmacluster ionizer technology to help reduce airborne mold spores, microbes, fungi, odors, germs and bacteria inside the passenger cabin. The plasmacluster ionizer does this by artificially creating positive and negative ions that seek out and surround harmful airborne substances.