At the LA Auto Show, the well-talked about 850 hp V8 Tundra powered Toyota Camry was unveiled again. A four door family car? Yes! Now compare that to Dodge’s Hellcat or the Nissan’s GT-R Nismo! From the outside, it looks like the regular grocery-getter, but once the Camry shell gets lifted from its chassis-braced drag racing machine – perfect definition of a sleeper.
“This Camry is the ultimate sleeper,” said Chuck Wade, Technical Center Director of Toyota Motorsports. “ It definitely has the element of surprise on its inside and more than enough muscle to drop the hammer on any unsuspecting car that pulls up.”
Once the Camry shell goes up, what you find is the 5.7-liter V8 engine and transmission taken from Toyota’s full-size pick up truck, the Tundra. The applied a nitrous system on top of the TRD supercharger that was added for the V8 power plant.
With the Camry coming in stock form, it comes with a four or six cylinder engine that puts out about 268hp to the front wheels. Toyota took this particular Camry to the next level of extraordinary. The only way you would really be able to tell that would reveal that something unordinary is going on with the Camry is if you pay attention to the rear wheels. The rear wheels is a wider version of the stock Camry wheels wrapped in a thick 335/30/18 drag radials. Other than that, you won’t know what’s pulling up to you until the light turns green. For a lack of a better name, Toyota calls it the “Sleeper Camry.”