Finally! Toyota Poised to Bestow Upon Us a TRD Camry … and an Avalon, Too

Frankly, you have to wonder what took them so long. With all of America crying out for big front-wheel drive sedans, especially ones with conservative pedigrees and visual upgrades to appeal (plead?) to the younger crowd, a move like this was long overdue.

Yes, finally, Toyota appears ready to give us the Camry and Avalon TRDs we’ve longed for these past many years. Get ready, because these two super sedans drop on an unsuspecting public later this month.

After that heaping (perhaps even fatal) dose of snark, it’s your author’s privilege — or maybe just duty — to introduce the latest additions to the Toyota Racing Development line. While Toyota’s tuning shop is most commonly associated with the much-loved Tacoma midsize pickup, TRD badging and accoutrements have since appeared on the full-size Tundra pickup and the girthy Sequoia SUV, which is no one’s idea of a brash, corner-carving street racer or ballsy brush-buster.

here we come. Move over trucks – our family is growing and we saved you a seat: https://t.co/eJgKH2IuQk pic.twitter.com/bZp3LZAugi

— Toyota USA (@Toyota) November 1, 2018

There’s also a TRD Special Edition bound for the 86 sport coupe for 2019, making the acronym’s further migration through the Toyota ranks nearly inevitable. An image tweeted by Toyota earlier today clearly shows what to expect from the Camry TRD and Avalon TRD. Mean, blacked-out wheels shod in thin, grippy rubber, red brake calipers, and a splitter to underscore those massive grilles. A minimal decrease in ground clearance is a possibility. Suspension tuning is TRD’s forte, though both sedans already offer a number of driving modes in uplevel trims — especially the Avalon, which gets quite stiff in its most “extreme” form.

Extreme also describes the size of that model’s grille.

New for 2018, the Camry quickly earned accolades for its ride and comfort, while the new-for-2019 Avalon is more of a mixed bag of pros and cons. While it earns kudos for attempting to offer buyers a choice between comfortable interstate cruiser and sensible sport sedan, the effort fell short of the mark, hamstrung by the limitations imposed by two forward drive wheels and an eight-speed automatic with lazy programming.

Maybe some tranny finessing will be part of the TRD upgrade? Wishful thinking aside, it isn’t likely we’ll see any power upgrades to the otherwise fine 3.5-liter V6 found in the Avalon and top-trim Camry. The Los Angeles Auto Show kicks off November 28th.

[Images: Toyota, Steph Willems/TTAC]