Camry extra large: Toyota's "Most American" sedan finds its rightful place at the head of the family table

Automotive Industries, March, 2005 by John Peter

Shigeki Terashi, executive chief engineer, Toyota Technical Center (TTC), is standing beside the new Toyota Avalon, arms outstretched with his fingers pointed, like he's describing the size of the fish that got away. He's using his hands to section off the redesigned and re-engineered 2005 Avalon, showing where new technology has been added to the existing Camry platform to create the Avalon.

He points out that from the firewall forward, the Avalon is "all new"--from the firewall to the B-Pillar, "Camry"--from the B-Pillar to the bulkhead, "all new"--from the bulkhead back, "Camry."

The Avalon also shares the Camry's shock towers and rear suspension as well as many of the underbody frame components.

Though the current Camry platform served as the basis for the Avalon, Toyota says that the entire platform has been reworked to accommodate the longer, wider Avalon (1 in. taller, 1.5 in. wider and 5 in. longer than the current Camry.)

The engine bay has been redesigned to accept the new V-6 engine and transmission and the rear seat area was stretched (four of the five extra inches), to create the longer wheelbase and flat, tunnel-less floor allowing for comfortable three-across seating. The rear end has extensively redesigned crumple zones and has also been modified to accept dual exhaust, a first for a Toyota sedan.

The body uses more high-strength steel in the underbody areas and shock towers to improve safety while saving weight. The added steel also increases torsional stiffness. The rear doors have dual side-impact beams and three-stage door check rods that increase the door opening angles to nearly 90 percent.

It's not surprising that the Avalon shares so much with Camry, as it will share the same Georgetown, Kentucky, assembly line along with the Solara. Terashi says that the next-generation Camry will use a shortened version of this platform and the new 3.5L V-6, most likely with reduced horsepower.

New Flagship

As the new flagship for Toyota, the Avalon takes its rightful place at the top of the Toyota sedan line--a "move-up vehicle" for Camry owners, as Toyota likes to call it.

More importantly for Toyota North America, Terashi, who also oversaw the development of the latest-generation Solara, says that the Solara project was the final step in a long-term strategy, "to give full and complete engineering responsibility for an all-new vehicle to TTC (Toyota Technical Center, North America)." The 2005 Avalon is that vehicle.

"Until this project," says Randy Stephens, executive engineer, TTC, "TTC had never been given management responsibility for the so-called lower half of the vehicle."

That included not only platform development, but drivetrain development as well, something that had always been handled by a separate engineering group in Japan.

A hand-picked group of TTC powertrain engineers were sent to Japan to oversee the development of the new V-6 and 5-speed automatic transmission.

It was part of a global Obeya (Big Office) set up by Terashi, placing the coordination of all aspects of development control within TTC. The Obeya discipline uses the combined knowledge and experience of the entire development team to analyze all aspects of vehicle development at once, making decisions and setting priorities early. Obeya streamlines the development process and creates a vehicle that requires fewer design changes, saving both time and money.

Stephens says that an added asset of Obeya is the reduction in development time allowing more time for study and information gathering, leading to a more focused vehicle concept and fresher styling.

The "most American" Toyota, boasting 75 percent local content, was designed by the Calty studio in Newport Beach, Calif. The Avalon draws heavily on the Solara styling cues, mating the Solara front and rear to an almost Audi-looking profile.

The interior is classic big-car luxury with roomy seats (standard cloth on XL, leather on all other trim levels) and plenty of natural wood trim. The audio and HVAC controls are neatly hidden behind a brushed-aluminum flip-up panel in the center stack, and the controls for the optional navigation system are mounted on a flip-out drawer (like an ash tray) so they can be hidden away when not in use.

While the designers may have sculpted the final car, many of the fine details were heavily driven by focus groups, made up of full-size American sedans and current Avalon owners, including an intensive User Interactive Study made up of a 15 Avalon owners, ranging in age from 37 to 70. Unlike most focus groups, these panelists were allowed to actually interact with special features on the pre-prototypes.

Among other things, this small group was influential in the final decision to move the shifter from the dash (like the Sienna) to the console.

The 60/40 split rear seat has a manually adjusted reclining backrest. Front sets are heated and ventilated (separate fans for seat bottom and backrest) and have a unique adjustable power lower cushion, available on the Limited that uncurls, adding two inches to the seat bottom for long-legged drivers.