2025 Toyota Camry XSE: Exterior & Interior Highlights

2025 Toyota Camry XSE

In a world that has all but abandoned the family sedan, the venerable Toyota Camry continues to set the bar for sensible three-box commuter machines. This ninth-generation variant has forsworn the option of a V-6 for an inline-four bolstered by hybrid assistance and is available with both front- and (slightly more powerful) all-wheel-drive configurations. Specification ascends through four trim levels: LE, SE, XLE, and XSE—although all share the same powertrain and outputs. For 2025, Toyota has also given the Camry a fresh face and improved interior to bring it in line with the rest of the lineup.

The Lowdown

At the heart of every 2025 Toyota Camry sits a 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine, which makes peaks of 184 hp and 163 lb-ft of torque. This works with two electric motors, the smaller one acting as a starter-generator and the larger one able to blend its contribution with that of the gas engine through a planetary gearset; peak electrical output is now 134 hp. Toyota quotes a total system output of 225 hp for the front-wheel-drive Camry, but specifying all-wheel drive adds a third motor to power the rear axle and also increases peak output slightly to 232 hp, although this is still a substantial drop over the 301 hp of the outgoing Camry V-6.

Vehicle Tested: 2025 Toyota Camry XSE AWD
Base Price: $37,560
Price as Tested: $45,771

How Does It Drive?

Even in the slightly more potent all-wheel-drive version I tested, the Camry never felt particularly sprightly, with a zero-to-60-mph time that barely dips below seven seconds. The continuously variable transmission does a great job doling out torque smoothly at low speeds around town but comes with the normal issue where the engine gets loud and sits at high revs when asked to deliver acceleration.

Switching to the Camry's dedicated Sport mode didn't help much to liven up the powertrain; it introduces fake gear ratios with predetermined virtual "ratios" within the CVT. These can be changed by paddles behind the steering wheel, but as always, there doesn't seem much point in doing so. Instead I found it was better to just let the transmission's computer brain pick a speed for the engine to groan away at. One plus is that the CVT does help with efficiency, my test car returning 43 mpg during my time with it.
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