The 2025 Toyota Camry XSE AWD Is the Sportiest Camry You Can Buy. So What?

With a new Toyota Camry out for the 2025 model year, we’ve been steadily working our way through the midsize sedan’s four trim levels and two available powertrains, starting with the midgrade SE in its standard front-wheel-drive form and the up-level XLE with all-wheel drive and the slight boost in power that system brings. Now we’ve gotten our hands on the XSE—essentially the nicer version of the sport-tuned SE—with the all-wheel-drive option. It’s the sportiest Camry with the most powerful powertrain, and now we have the numbers to back up its place in the lineup.

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Typical Hybrid Efficiency, Atypical Power Boost

Every 2025 Camry, remember, is a hybrid—last year’s non-hybrid four-cylinder and spicier V-6 engine options are gone. Toyota swaps the old car’s hybridized four-cylinder for a new version it’s billing as the fifth generation of its Hybrid Synergy Drive system. Like before, it blends a 2.5-liter gas-fed I-4 engine with a small starter-generator unit and a larger electric drive motor; unlike before, it feels peppy and smooth rather than strained and grainy. Oh, and it is newly available with a third electric motor that lives separately from the engine and two front motors, all alone on the rear axle. This 40-hp rear drive unit assists the gas-electric setup on the front axle, upping total output from 225 hp to 232 hp. The seemingly small jump in power is a function of how much energy the Camry’s battery can dump at once and the complex math involved in the blending of multiple power sources with different power peaks. In practice though, the all-wheel-drive Camry’s extra power is noticeable.

Toyota makes all-wheel drive accessible to all Camry buyers, meaning it’s available on all four trim levels, from the base LE to the SE, XLE, and the range-topping XSE for a mere $1,595. The Camry XSE AWD might make the same 232 hp as any other all-wheel-drive Camry, but it delivers the lowest EPA-estimated fuel economy thanks to its higher equipment and bigger 19-inch wheels and tires. XSEs also get sport-tuned springs and dampers, along with a thicker rear anti-roll bar for sharper handling and a sportier feel.

It's a worthwhile trade-off. Thanks to the fifth-gen Hybrid Synergy Drive’s improved efficiency and more powerful primary electric motor on which it relies more greatly when taking off from a stop and at higher speeds under low loads, even the XSE’s lowest mpg numbers in the Camry family are impressive: 44/43/44 city/highway/combined mpg. (Skip the AWD option, and the XSE’s figures improve by 4 mpg across the board.) Want the Camry’s highest mpg numbers? Then opt for the small-tire, entry-level LE with front-wheel drive—it delivers the headline 53/50/51 mpg.

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Why Go XSE-ssive?

While still delivering excellent fuel economy, the full-bore Camry XSE with all-wheel drive is also the quickest new 2025 Camry we’ve tested yet, likely thanks to its wider 19-inch Bridgestone tires. Combined with all-wheel traction, that rubber helps the XSE launch to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds.

Our other objective measurements are more of a mixed bag, with a 118-foot stop from 60 mph falling between the 125 feet we recorded on a some 200-pounds-lighter, front-drive Camry SE (which shares its sport suspension with the XSE) with smaller tires, and the 114 feet it took for and AWD Camry XLE weighing about 40 pounds less to do the same. Around our skidpad, the Camry XSE AWD hangs on for the same 0.82 g of lateral grip as the all-wheel-drive XLE, yet it fails to match the front-drive Camry SE’s 0.85 g.

But without question, the XSE’s sport suspension and the available all-wheel drive combine to deliver the most athletic driving experience in the Camry lineup. And this isn’t hyperbole—we can back it up with a single metric: our figure-eight handling course, which measures a car’s ability to fling itself through one lap of a figure eight. The better a car’s grip, braking, steering, and power—and the driver’s confidence in accessing it all—the better lap time and average net lateral and longitudinal g’s it scores. The Camry XSE AWD’s 26.7-second, 0.67-g average performance easily smokes the front-drive SE’s 27.0-second, 0.62-g average and the XLE AWD’s 27.2 at 0.66 g average.

Like the Camry SE we’ve already tested, the XSE tamps down on the softer body motions of the LE and XLE models, though not all the way. The car is comfortable and composed, yet it can still go a little floaty over larger-amplitude bumps, and although the steering points the nose accurately, it does so without the overt satisfaction of, say, a Honda Accord’s setup. The rear electric motor is only really felt during tighter, low-speed turns, when you can sense the rear tires vectoring the tail somewhat. At higher speeds, the rear motor dials back the Camry’s tendency to understeer, and that’s about it. You will not ever drift the Camry under power.

Available all-wheel drive is probably the second-biggest differentiator the Camry manages relative to its Honda Accord rival (fresh style and better feature allocation across the lineup being its primary differentiators). So, even though this XSE AWD can’t match the front-drive-only Accord Hybrid’s 6.6-second best run to 60 mph, and even the Honda’s luxury-focused Touring grade outgrips this Camry on a skidpad, no Accord beats its figure-eight performance. In other words, the rear motor certainly helps scooch the Camry out of corners and adds a fun dimension to the drive, bolstering the Toyota’s total sense of athleticism.

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Still a Camry, Through and Through

When not setting lap times (so, most of the time), the Camry XSE is as compelling an everyday partner as the rest. The fully loaded example tested here left us wanting only for slightly lower road noise (another trade-off from the bigger tires and sportier setup) and more headroom; every 2025 Camry suffers from a relatively high-feeling seating position and a low roof, which can crowd the headspace of taller occupants.

Otherwise, style and features abound, with the $37,260-to-start XSE’s standard 19-inch wheels, body kit, and 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and matching 12.3-inch central touchscreen joined here by the $4,075 Premium Plus package’s nine-speaker JBL audio system, panoramic sunroof, ventilated front seats, 10-inch head-up display, digital key capability, 360-degree camera, Traffic Jam Assist, front cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, and driver monitor camera. Our car also came in snazzy two-tone paint—exclusive to the XSE—that costs a reasonable $925, as well as the no-cost but wow-inducing red leather interior, stickering for $42,260.

We could do without the irritating driver monitoring camera, which from its perch atop the steering column directs the digital gauge cluster to flash annoying messages beckoning the driver to sit up straight or note that their face isn’t visible because they’re holding the wheel at the 12 o’clock position or even because we had the temerity to look over our shoulders to check out blind spots. Luckily, most of the Premium Plus package’s goodies can be had on the Premium package, which doesn’t get the monitor.

So far, every 2025 Camry we’ve driven handles smartly and looks better than before, with an interesting full-width lower intake and squinty LED headlights connected by a thin vent along with classier taillights and fresh wheel designs, and massively improved interiors with better tech and materials. The XSE sits atop that pile, with even more expressive looks, all-wheel drive, and the extra power earning it its spot as the sportiest of the bunch.