By Frank S. Washington
FARMINGTON, PA., – Southwestern Pennsylvania is a great place for a test drive. It’s got steep rolling hills, well paved two lane highways, plenty of curves and, with fall leaves changing color, it was about as scenic as a postcard.
Toyota brought reporters here to test drive the all new Venza; a slick, sleek five passenger crossover vehicle that goes on sale toward the end of the year. It will be a challenge; not because of the vehicle but because of the times.
There are certain expectations of Toyotas and the 2009 Venza meets and exceeds some of them. The vehicle’s styling, rarely a Toyota strong suit, is impressive. It is long, angular and has cat-like headlights. The Venza sits higher than a Camry but lower than a Highlander. In effect, it is right in between the two and Toyota will try to market it as a car with versatility not a sport-utility vehicle.
It won’t work but the Venza is a Toyota and that almost guarantees its success in the market, if not for the times. That’s the business climate. Let’s look at the product.
There are two engine choices. The Venza can be equipped with a 182 horsepower four cylinder engine that makes a matching 182 foot-pounds of torque. There’s also a V6 engine that cranks out 268 horsepower and 246 foot-pounds of torque. Each engine is mated to its own six-speed automatic transmission.
Either engine choice can also be equipped with front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. With AWD, power is sent to the front wheels under normal driving conditions. The vehicle can send half the torque to the rear wheels when needed.
Gear selection was buttery smooth. And there was little indecision by the transmission when it came to what gear was the right one to ascend or descend the hills.
I managed to drive three of the four models.
But I couldn’t get into a V6 powered all-wheel drive version. The four-cylinder and the V6 engines had ample power to get up and over the areas’ hills. But the all-wheel-drive four cylinder engine worked hard ascending when carrying three people.
Venza doors were wide providing easy access, especially to the back seats. I was struck by the materials. Overall the Venza’s interior exceeded my expectations. It looked more like a Lexus than a Toyota. I found this extraordinary because Toyota’s are known for their interior fit and finish and their quality of materials as well as execution. So I think it took some doing to exceed my expectations.
There was plenty of stuff but Toyota is trying to keep it simple. There is one trim level, eight equipment packages and four factory options. The goodies include a touch screen navigation system, rear seat entertainment system, Bluetooth wireless technology, smart key, leather package, surround sound, satellite radio, MP3/WMA playback capability and on it went.
The rear seats fold relatively flat but even with them deployed there was plenty of cargo space behind the second row. I don’t think there’s going to be a third row. That’s one attribute that separates a Venza from a Highlander.
Mileage is awfully important these days and Toyota said the four-cylinder Venza gets 21/29 mpg in the city and on the highway. In all-wheel drive form, it’s 20/28. For the V6 front-wheel drive version, its 19/26 mpg and the AWD model gets 18/25 mpg.
At any other time, the Venza would be a guaranteed hit. But Toyota’s sales expectations are low and that might be the smart thing to do. The Venza is a first rate vehicle, the challenge it must overcome is that these are not first rate times.
Prices start at $26,695 for the front-wheel-drive four cylinder Venza.
Frank S. Washington is
managing partner/editor of AboutThatCar.com. Log on for more car reviews and car news.
