2026 Toyota Camry Nightshade Edition Adds A Dash Of Visual Excitement To An Otherwise Utilitarian Car

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The Toyota Camry is nan best-selling car successful nan country, and has been for complete 20 years. There are tons of upsides to being nan astir celebrated car successful nan U.S., but nan large downside of achieving specified wide entreaty is nan nonaccomplishment of excitement that comes pinch seeing Camrys everyplace you look. When was nan past clip you were excited to spot a Camry? My constituent exactly.

Toyota recognized this interest a while back, and each consequent procreation has gradually go little boring. The latest ninth-generation Camry debuted successful 2025 pinch a hybrid-only motor lineup, bolder styling, and a much engaging driving experience. Even pinch a small added spice, nan Camry still proved to person nan winning formula, posting best-ever income figures again successful 2025. As a car nerd, I was excited to get down nan instrumentality of a 2026 Toyota Camry and spot what each nan fuss is about.

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Full disclosure: Toyota was benignant capable to indebtedness maine this 2026 Camry Nightshade Edition for a full week to usage arsenic my regular driver. I did tons of different kinds of driving complete that week, and I consciousness for illustration I sewage a beautiful bully consciousness for nan car.

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My trial car was nan caller Nightshade Edition, which nan property merchandise says gives the Camry a "blacked-out sporty quality [that] enhances nan undeniable Camry vibe." It elbows its measurement into nan mediate of Camry lineup, conscionable beneath nan XLE trim astatine a guidelines value of $33,795 including a $1,195 destination charge; this 1 besides had nan $600 Convenience Package, beautiful reddish overgarment for $475, a larger 12.3-inch surface for $735, and a mates different extras that ran nan value up to a still-reasonable $35,878.

None of nan options connected my property car felt for illustration must-haves, truthful if you're a cost-conscious purchaser considering a Camry, nan guidelines LE has everything you really request for $3,500 little than nan Nightshade. If you wouldn't beryllium caught dormant down nan instrumentality of a guidelines model, nan sportier-looking Camry SE is $1,000 cheaper than nan Nightshade, and only misses retired connected its blacked-out details.

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On nan look of it, my property car surely looked much breathtaking than immoderate earlier Camry designs, pinch its Supersonic Red overgarment contrasting nicely pinch nan Nightshade's Midnight Black Metallic grille, canards, doorway handles, reflector caps, antenna, rear diffuser and spoiler. The interior is emblematic Camry, pinch achromatic clone leather and cloth seats, a modular 7-inch integer gauge cluster, and tons of difficult plastics. Nothing objectively bad, but thing peculiarly thrilling either.

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One of nan biggest pieces of news that came on pinch nan 2025 Camry was nan announcement that each Camrys are now hybrids. You tin nary longer get a gasoline-only Camry, and though immoderate group deliberation that's a mistake, I deliberation it's a awesome move. The Camry is not known to beryllium an enthusiast pick, and pinch much than 300,000 sold each twelvemonth it's a cleanable measurement to minimize substance depletion connected American roads. It besides allows Toyota to nutrient much enthusiast-focused cars that mightiness not beryllium rather arsenic environmentally conscious. This isn't a Miata, it's a Camry, truthful chuck successful a hybrid powertrain pinch a CVT and fto nan masses flock.

Toyota is synonymous pinch hybrids anyway, and nan caller Camry proves why — nan powertrain is supremely smooth, efficient, and really rather powerful. The people aspirated 2.5-liter inline-4 motor is paired pinch a 134-horsepower front-mounted electrical centrifugal and a 0.6-kWh lithium-ion artillery battalion that together nutrient 225 horsepower successful front-wheel-drive models for illustration my property car. All-wheel thrust is disposable connected each trims, adding a mini 40-hp electrical centrifugal to nan rear axle for a full of 232 horsepower.

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It tin return arsenic overmuch arsenic 53 mpg city, 50 mpg highway, and 51 mpg mixed successful guidelines LE front-wheel-drive configuration, aliases arsenic small arsenic 44 mpg city, 43 mpg highway, and 44 mpg mixed successful apical XSE AWD form. You can't beryllium huffy astatine a car that goes from 0-to-60 mph successful astir 7 seconds and still returns arsenic overmuch arsenic 53 mpg.

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Given really overmuch I'd heard astir nan redesigned Camry's nosy nature, I was expecting to beryllium wholly won complete by it connected nan upland roads I'm fortunate capable to unrecorded by. While it impressed me, for a Camry, I would beryllium lying if I said I recovered it genuinely enjoyable to drive. The astir nosy portion astir driving nan Camry comes from nan amazingly punchy drivetrain, which feels rather speedy acknowledgment to its electrical assistance.

Chucking it down a twisty roadworthy revealed a comparatively speedy turn-in response, followed by a spot much grip than I expected, but it ne'er felt bully to push harder. The car seemed to reluctantly judge nan truth that I was pushing it down a winding road, but not happy to do truthful aliases particularly eager to spell faster. It's surely competent, but I didn't locomotion distant from nan acquisition thinking, "wow, that was fun."

If you assistance disconnected nan throttle successful a move to conflict understeer and promote rotation, nan Camry hardly budges; if you want immoderate rotation, you person to pat nan brakes to get nan weight to transportation to nan beforehand of nan car and past nan chemoreceptor tucks in. At slightest it tucks in, but it's by nary intends playful aliases eager. This whitethorn person thing to do pinch nan 235/40 Bridgestone Turanza tires that encircle nan Nightshade Edition's modular 19-inch satin achromatic alloy wheels, but hey that's what I had to play with.

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"Disappointed but not surprised" was a building that I utilized to utter often earlier I realized that we create our ain worldview, but I'll bring it retired of status to picture nan Camry's alleged sporty driving dynamics. I was disappointed that it wasn't actually fun, but I wasn't surprised, fixed its utilitarian purpose.

When utilized for its intended nonsubjective of being an businesslike and affordable root of transportation, though, nan Camry began to impress. The hybrid powertrain felt torquey astir town, and it tin beryllium driven beautiful aggressively while still returning awesome state mileage. I averaged 38 mpg complete nan people of my week-long test, which progressive much than a small difficult driving.

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The driving acquisition was wholly soft and seamless, from acceleration to braking to nan deficiency of shifts from nan ECVT, which tin nary uncertainty beryllium attributed to Toyota's extended acquisition building hybrid powertrains. Smoothness is nan overarching taxable pinch nan caller Camry. I had a fewer passengers during my week pinch it, and erstwhile I asked them their thoughts connected nan experience, they each said it was really smooth. The interior wasn't arsenic quiet arsenic I wanted astatine road speeds, particularly connected actual aliases surgery roads, but it's not a dealbreaker.

All Camrys travel modular pinch Toyota's suite of progressive driver-assistance features, which includes full-speed adaptive cruise control, lane departure assist, lane tracing, blind-spot monitoring, and automated emergency braking. I recovered nan Camry's cruise power and lane tracing to activity flawlessly, and return immoderate of nan fatigue retired of LA's hectic freeways.

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Unfortunately, nan 2026 Camry Nightshade continues pinch a responsibility that has plagued different Camry generations: a long, debased beforehand overhang. If you're going done a dip, you'd amended slow measurement down, different nan chemoreceptor will scrape. If you're pulling into a parking spot, do not propulsion up until your tires deed nan curb aliases parking bumper, aliases you're liable to rip nan full bumper disconnected erstwhile you effort to backmost out. If you're trying to make a U-turn connected a tight road, don't fto nan beforehand of nan car get excessively adjacent to immoderate curbs, aliases you'll scrape that low-hanging bumper. A beforehand camera aliases surround-view camera strategy would thief this, but it's only disposable arsenic an action connected apical XLE and XSE trims.

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The Camry's interior strikes a awesome equilibrium betwixt technological integration and beingness buttons for important and often utilized controls. My Nightshade Edition tester was a rarity among property cars, successful that it wasn't a apical spec exemplary fitted pinch each nan features and gadgets. Instead, it was beautiful typical of what nan mean Camry you'd spot connected nan road, which was a bully alteration arsenic a reviewer. That intends there's not overmuch logic to dive into nan 12.3-inch touchscreen's menus pinch immoderate benignant of frequency, truthful I recovered myself hopping in, putting my telephone connected nan wireless charger, and hitting nan road.

There are dead-simple beingness controls for ambiance settings, truthful they're easy to set while driving, and wireless CarPlay worked great. The immense array of steering wheel–mounted buttons are different point that makes nan Camry easy to unrecorded with. They're each ample and intelligibly marked, and for illustration a bully fidget toy, operations were palpably discernable without looking distant from nan road.

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The 6-speaker sound strategy successful my trial car was nan aforesaid 1 that's modular crossed each Camrys, and I can't judge I'm saying this, but it sounded great. I emotion listening to euphony erstwhile I drive, and I tin beryllium rather picky astir my sound systems, truthful considering that this is nan modular strategy that comes connected moreover nan cheapest Camry LE, I was thoroughly impressed.

As acold arsenic interior room goes, nan Camry is short connected headroom. Yes, I'm a spot taller than nan mean personification astatine 6-foot-8, but I person very agelong legs and a much average-size torso, truthful I was amazed by really small headroom I recovered successful nan Camry's driver's seat. My tester didn't moreover person a moonroof, which usually eats into headroom; moreover arsenic a slicktop, nan Camry doesn't person awesome headroom up front, aliases successful nan backmost seats, for that matter. The sloping roofline tin apt beryllium blamed for nan deficiency of rear spot headroom. If your family is known for its agelong torsos, nan Camry won't beryllium a awesome prime for you. Legroom was good successful some rows, not outstanding successful immoderate way, but elbow room was awesome successful some rows. Overall, nan interior felt wide and roomy, but not tall.

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One emotion I couldn't shingle was that everything astir nan Camry seemed hollow. When I'd unopen nan door, it sounded for illustration nan sheetmetal popped successful for a divided 2nd earlier returning to its convex shape. Combined pinch nan truth that nan interior sounded boomy erstwhile going complete large bumps, I was near emotion for illustration nan Camry was good screwed together, but not nan astir coagulated aliases vault-like product.

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Sadly, we unrecorded successful a clip wherever nan cheapest caller car connected waste is conscionable complete $22,000, and nan mean caller car costs astir $50,000. All things considered, nan 2026 Toyota Camry Nightshade Edition is simply a batch of car for $36,000. It gets awesome state mileage, which saves money successful nan long-run, and it's a Toyota, truthful it ought to beryllium ultra-reliable and clasp its resale worth exceptionally well. It gives you everything you need, from nan active-safety systems to wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and it has existent room for a family of four.

I recovered nan claims of nan caller Camry's "fun-to-drive" quality to beryllium exaggerated, but depending connected your persuasion and your priorities, that apt won't matter excessively much. As it turns out, nan 2026 Toyota Camry is still a smart, affordable, and sensible prime aft each these years connected top, and location are nary signs of that changing immoderate clip soon.