Toyota Readies TRD Camry and Avalon

With the Los Angeles Auto Show coming up, many exciting reveals are coming. Toyota decided to give us an early tease for two new models, the Camry TRD and Avalon TRD. They look pretty dramatic, but what do they actually mean?

There are cool ground effects, more aggressive front and rear fascias, and what looks to be high-flow exhaust systems with dual outlets. The interior gains red stitching and other sporty details. While all that looks great, sporty looks does not make a car sporty to drive.

Toyota won’t say anything about the specs of these two sedans. The current generations are arguably the most performance-oriented in both model histories. Remember you can now get either with over 300 horsepower on tap, plus an adjustable suspension and other goodies.

Do the TRD treatments only go skin deep? While the exhausts boost performance, it’s probably something like an extra 5 horsepower. Are there more tweaks that could possibly make these, gasp, legitimate sports sedans?

Toyota has been on a performance-oriented mission lately. For some time the automaker became increasingly stodgy, dumping anything sporty from its lineup. Suddenly it’s leaning more the other way. If Toyota is really serious about shedding the old boring image, making actually fast versions of the Camry and Avalon would be a good way to do it.