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XCEL-I see your point on the acceleration.The 160 hp with 60 hp from instant full torque electric motors will be quicker to 60 than 160 hp from just ICE.
It was probably just the ease of fitting it in there and cost savings of using the same 2.4.The 2.4 will be quieter on the hy than the smaller motors.Maybe not actually quieter DB wise,but higher RPMS are usually heard as "louder" even when they aren't.They are going to be asking big $$ for this Camry, so it better not be noisy-like the Escape Hybrid is said to be.
It will have BIG EPA city number-45 would be my guess.Only the Prius(and maybe the HCH) will have a higher number..I would guess hy about 37.Thanks.Charlie.

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http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005...er_c.html#more seems we getting a teaser on the 9th, sounds like a new winner.

i got around 20 km a liter when i drove a civic 5 spd using advanced hypermiler techniques
and now I drive a salvage nwh20 prius that gets almost to 25 km/l with 192,000 km to date.

You guys have me scratching my head. Do you want widespread acceptance of hybrid technology or not? The FEH uses the same displacement engine as the standard 4 cylinder, and there are still real world gains. Toyota knows their market far better that we do. I'll give Toyota credit for going the four cylinder route, instead of the 6. Lets give the car a chance before going ape over their decisions. I for one, want to see hybrids univerally across the industry, and yes, this will mean performance biased versions as well as economy biased versions.

The concern that I have expressed in the past is that this happens in balance - that cars using hybrid technology as nothing more than electronic turbochargers does not drown out making high-FE vehicles. The initial trend is not all that encouraging - lots of 6 cyl sedans and SUVs getting the technology with power as the first reason and FE as a by-product. Only the HCH, Prius and Insight there in the high-FE group where mileage is the primary reason. I'll fully agree that any means to gain more acceptance of the technology is good, so in that regard any hybrid is a good hybrid. However, if all we have are hybrid Hummers, we've most certainly lost our way.

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

My Dad has been all over my FEH since I got here to Colorado. Despite the cold weather, and driving primarily with little to no warm up time between being started and reaching local destinations, I'm managing to maintain a 31-32 mpg average for the vehicle. I doubt that even the four cylinder non hybrid version can hold a candle to what I'm getting in the current environment. Just because the hybrid version is utilizing the same displacement engine as it's non hybrid counterpart, doesn't mean that the vehicle's fuel economy is going to suffer. Using a retuned version of the same engine in a non hybrid car helps reduce production costs. This is where some of the premium for the hybrid tech will be reduced somewhat.

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In all honesty, I'm not sure. Immediately off of the road I live on, I make a right turn onto a 60 miles per hour two lane rural road with a limited sight distance for oncoming traffic in the lane I turn onto. I can't tell you how many times I've looked to my left before pulling out, seeing no cars coming, only to have somebody coming up on me fast enough to make me wonder if they intend to drive right through me as I'm accelerating up to speed, almost immediately after pulling onto the roadway. It's times like those when I'm glad to have the V6 like performance in the FEH, and that big ol' police tweaked V8 in the Crown Vic. Now, I like many here, strive to maximize fuel economy in whatever vehicle I drive, hybrid or not. The reality of the matter is, that we as a group, we are in the minority of the automobile buying public. As for the rest, performance matters, and they are more than willing to sacrifice a few MPG for more power. The majority of car buyers wants to know that they have the goods underfoot when they feel that they need it. If that potential buyer feels that the hybrid option is going to leave them sweating when they want to get out of the way of that massive semi truck about to run them over, they will bypass the hybrid option in favor of the old school obsolete non hybrid car that responds to the right pedal. The auto industry is aware of this, and it will play in their decisions on future hybrid cars.

Personally, I think people are jumping to conclusions with the TCH. It's been proven already that 40 mpg is a real world possibility in the FEH. The TCH engine is only .1 liter larger, and you will be looking at a far more aerodynamic vehicle than the brick body profile of an SUV. If I had to lay bets, I'd want to say that 50 mpg at 55 miles per hour should be easily obtainable. Not just because the car's aerodynamics are better, but also because Toyota is far ahead of everyone else in the hybrid car game. Toyota is not GM, and will not be competing with itself for car sales. The TCH will not be targeting potential Prius owners. It's power and economy combinations will be adjusted accordingly.

As far as the numbers you pull out of your Ranger pickup. I wish you lived much closer to me. I would love to watch and learn exactly what it is you do to extract the numbers you do. The terrain around where I live hurts me some, but I still feel that I'm coming up short on some of the tricks.

Me too! My Sonoma is probably comparable to the Ranger, and even though I'm not concerned with hypermiling in it, since I've only been averaging around 100 miles a month (note 1) in it, I'd like to see how you're doing it.

note 1: at 100 miles a month, it would take 14 weeks to burn up all the fuel in the tank. At that rate, I'd be concerned with 'stale' fuel. Especially since after I finish with my backyard landscaping, the truck will be used even less often than it is now!

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