The first thing you notice when you climb aboard the latest Camry is that it is a big car. Now, I’m not talking “stretched limousine” big, but it is certainly much bigger than most, if not all of its competition. Sharing its platform with its cousin Aurion, Camry is essentially a full sized car, but with a four cylinder engine instead of a six.

Now, this formula hasn’t always worked, and the history books are littered with failed attempts at bridging the gap between medium and large cars by offering one body size with multiple engine configurations.

In most cases, the four cylinder version was too under-powered to get any real performance, and the six cylinder version failed to attract true “large” car buyers by association with its smaller engined stable-mate. Having tried and failed, most manufacturers have put this idea to bed, opting to keep their mid-size and large cars quite distinct.

In a compelling display of gritty determination, Toyota has finally managed to make a success story of this concept, by giving the cars different names, different styling, and marketing them quite separately from each other.

And in no small way, the success of this strategy has been helped in this latest incarnation by a decent lift in power output from the otherwise well made 2.4 litre engine.

I think for the first time ever, a four cylinder Camry now has enough power to pull the skin off the proverbial rice pudding - no mean feat given the size of that hefty body shell.

For some people, the extra space will be relished, especially families and those who spend a lot of time on the road. The car certainly is comfortable and would be a pleasure to drive on long trips. Others may find the car too big for manoeuvring around in car-parks and on the road, and will go looking elsewhere.

In order to appreciate the recent upgrades to the Camry line-up, the good folk at Toyota were kind enough to lend me a Sportivo model for a few days, which I rather enjoyed driving.

The car had a number of endearing qualities, the main one being how nicely put together the car felt. It was blissfully quiet under all circumstances, offered gutsy performance and had a real feeling of quality and attention to detail, only let down by one or two minor exceptions that I’ll come back to later.

The model range has been rationalised from three models to two, the high end GLX spec having been dropped leaving the base GL and the popular Sportivo. As much I liked the test Sportivo, I couldn’t help but feel that Toyota’s designers are hedging their bets a wee bit with this model. You see, the car has the nice body kit, spoiler and 17 inch alloys on the outside making it eye-catching, but not aggressive.

The suspension too is a compromise, being firm enough to pick up some corrugations in a stretch of road I drive over every day and didn’t know were there, but supple enough to offer a pleasant ride under most circumstances.

You could argue this as a triumph of design but it really felt like an attempt to make the car feel sportier without wanting to offend anyone. I would have preferred a proper sports suspension, or just leave it as standard.

When contemplating new cars these days, most buyers go looking for safety features, and all the usual suspects are to be found on both Camry models. I’m pleased to report this is one area Toyota has made no compromise and so much the better.

All in all, Camry offers comfort, space and spec to those without the need for V6 power. A few enthusiasts will find fault with Camry’s shortcomings as a sports tourer, but these will most likely be in the minority.

The rest will see Camry as a car that is beautifully put together, offers high levels of safety and refinement, and will be as reliable as rain on Sundays.