So A Musician, An Autocrosser, And A Model Walk Into a Camry…

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

The Camry controversy continues! Famed Nurburgring racing instructor and TTAC contributor Mike Solowiow says the Camry SE sucks. Unfamed Ohio circle track racer and occasional Grand-Am pay-driver/equipment-destroyer Jack Baruth says it’s GRRRRRRRREAT!

Clearly this can only be settled with more racetrack testing of Camrys. Which leads to the completely inexcusable actions above.

Your humble author somehow managed to get a completely empty session at Nelson Ledges Road Course. No other cars. Nobody in the flag stations. Totally empty facility, except for a few people driving lawnmowers. I’m not going to say that I snuck in and was almost immediately ejected, because that’s not strictly true. They knew I was going to be there. Kind of. The bottom line is that I’m probably allowed to come back, some time in the 22nd Century.

Given that kind of freedom and a completely awesome 2012 Camry LE featuring a four-cylinder engine and just 28,000 rental gentle miles, I decided to take some friends around the track. You’ll see some outtakes from that session in an upcoming review of the Camry LE. But the way we ended the day was like this: I piled my brother Mark, whom European TTACers can see during his August tour, National ProSolo Champion Marc Pfannenschmidt, and Marc’s wife, a former model and current wedding photographer, in the Camry for a quick chat.

The first thing we discovered is that the Camry can accomplish that relatively rare street-car feat of taking the “Kink” flat-out. Mostly because it’s only doing 108mph when said Kink appears. Still, the car’s basic composure continues to impress, even without the improved steering and suspension response of the SE model.

The second thing we discovered is that the foot-operated E-brake works very well.

The following disclaimers apply: Do not drive a car no-handed at 80mph in a turn. Ever. Not even on a track. You could get killed. Don’t E-brake your car in a turn. Not even on a racetrack. You could get killed. If there had been a single other car on course, none of this would have happened. Drive safe and smart. No texting occurred during the making of this video, but Marc’s wife’s figure does cause distracted driving and caused a guy at a gas station near Garrettsville, Ohio to walk into a pole because he was staring at her going the other way. Your mileage may vary, but my mileage was excellent.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Jul 04, 2013

    At first glance, I though that was Bertel driving, and he'd dyed his moustache. My bad. Bertel's lens frames are different.

  • David C. Holzman David C. Holzman on Jul 04, 2013

    So, a musician, an autocrosser, and a model, BUT NO DUCK???! What kind of joke is this?

  • Dukeisduke Is the Volvo EX30 even on sale yet? It was pulled from the NACTOY awards because they were having software problems with the vehicle.
  • Wjtinfwb If you've only got 5k to spend on transportation, I cannot imagine a worse way to spend it than on a GM orphan from Sweden that's 15 years old with 150k on the clock and limited plus expensive parts availability and dwindling techs who'd even want to work on it. Go find a similar vintage Camry or Accord with 150k miles or even a Ford or a Chevy, whatever. Hell, even an old Jaguar is less of a crapshoot than a Saab. At least you can still get parts.
  • Kwik_Shift Brands that were considered from China include BYD, Dayun, Great Wall Motors, Maxus, Nio, Omoda/Chery, Seres, XPeng, and Zeekr. KG Mobility from South Korea also made the list of candidates.That's a lot of car companies from there ready to head here.
  • Analoggrotto Clean sweep and unanimous victory for the world affluence engine of 22nd century : Hyundai/Kia/Genesis. Toyota and Lexus, for 120 years of history have not been able to capture the zenith superlative status of Hyundai Motor Corporation the most awarded, decorated and revered automotive corporation in the history of historical. Featuring best ever, first ever and greatest ever e-ATPs the Hyundai Genesis Kia lineup is posed to become the envy of every country club, ivy league college and fortune 500 corporation in the world. I've been taking a roadtrip in my loaner Elantra N, visiting colleges from east to west, elite universities of higher learning to inspect their parking lots. WHat did I find? Leagues of Genesis models, outnumbering Lexus 3 to 1. When I interviewed faculty and staff at these places of greater learning, their response was unanimous : they chose HMC for the ATPs.
  • Mikey 2019 Chevy Impala Premier FWD with 20 inch factory Bridgestones. I'm looking at replacing tires at the 65,000 KLM's (40,000 miles ) mark ....It doesn't thrill me .. I'm pricing Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires ouch !! ..Up here in Canuckastan ....Big $$$$$
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