Behold Toyota’s latest effort to pull another kitten from mama Camry. The Venza is seductively and beguilingly styled unlike any other Toyota, and it is exactly as seductive and beguiling to drive as the term “Camry station wagon” implies. Wake us for the redesign.
Like California “octomom” Nadya Suleman, the Camry lays claim to a sizable clan of offspring. It already donates DNA to the Sienna minivan, the Highlander SUV, and the Lexus RX350. The Sienna seats up to eight, the Highlander seven, and the RX350 just five. Respectively, they intimate, “bigger family,” “smaller family,” and “If we had a family, we’d shop at Baby Dior.”
Wedged into the thinnest of hairline seams in this crowded lineup, the Venza—front-drive or all-wheel drive, four-cylinder or V-6—is basically an RX350 Light. This audience wants a five-door wagon that doesn’t look like a galleon for slaves to diapers and nose drip.
Venza is a conjugation of the Spanish verb vencer, which means to overcome, win, make trumps, et cetera. The base price, $25,740, shadows the more upright Highlander’s almost to the dollar. The basic 2.7-liter, four-cylinder front-drive Venza such as the one tested here is decently geared up. Locks, windows, and the driver’s seat are electrified at no extra cost. A six-CD changer with an auxiliary jack is standard, stability control comes with, and the rear seats—which split and fold in one fluid articulation—have three-position recline. Tilt and telescope the steering wheel until comfort is achieved. Our one option, the expansive twin-panel window up top known as the “panoramic roof,” cost $1050.
Keep Reading: 2009 Toyota Venza - Road Test
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