When Toyota invited us to Melbourne for some test driving of its Hybrid Camry we expected to be doing an extended route designed to demonstrate the car’s environment credentials. After all isn’t that what petrol/electric hybrids are all about – fuel economy and low emissions?

We had clearly drawn the short straw as our senior road tester was heading for the NSW Southern Highlands to put the new half-million dollar Mercedes SLS Gullwing through its paces.

But we were in for quite a surprise as we stepped out of the transfer bus at the State Motorcycling Sports Complex at Broadford, about 100 kilometres north of Melbourne. With just one Hybrid Camry in sight amid a number of other cars.

It turned out that Toyota, somewhat frustrated that reporting on Australia’s first locally-made petrol/hybrid had concentrated almost exclusively on its environmental features, wanted to prove that this was a multi-dimensional vehicle by putting it through a series of five industry standard research and development (R&D) tests around the tight racing circuit.

Then came the second surprise as three of Australia’s most respected mid-sized cars were brought out to compete head-to-head against the Camry. There was the 2.2-litre Mazda6 Diesel Sports, 2.4-litre Honda Accord VTi Luxury sedan and the Subaru Liberty 2.5i sedan. To ensure that the testing was totally objective they were conducted by an independent engineer, Graeme Gambold, and away from Toyota’s proving ground.

It was a fascinating, indeed a courageous, move by Toyota. While such comparison tests are conducted routinely by all car manufacturers it is very rare for the testing to have been opened to motoring journalists.

Ours was the third day of testing of the four cars at Broadford, the first two being conducted by a professional testing team headed by Australian rally legend, Neal Bates, that acted as chaperone for our testing.

The four cars were all fitted with GPS logging systems to ensure precise and impartial recording of the data.

First up was a slalom test through a series of cones placed 18 metres apart with an entry speed of around 75 km/h. Then the first of two uphill corner acceleration tests, on a wet track; followed by a flat-out acceleration and braking stretch; and finally the second and faster of the cornering tests.

One area in which Hybrid Camry was the clear winner was in the acceleration test, doing the 0-100 km/h sprint in an average of 8.47 seconds, nearly one and a half seconds quicker than the next fastest car. This is an added advantage of the hybrid technology in that peak torque from the electric motor is there at its lowest revs. Otherwise there was no standout performer among these four very good cars, nor did Toyota Australia expect that there would be. What the tests did prove was that Hydrid Camry was a serious contender as a car that the serious driver can enjoy.

Without going into the technical details of the complex testing and measurement requirements of these tests, what the exercise did demonstrate was the remarkable improvements that have been made in vehicle safety systems in recent years. Regardless of what we did at any stage of the testing each of the four cars felt safe and stable at all times with the ABS brakes, stability and traction control systems stepping in to correct every error.

Electronic stability control (ESP) is estimated to reduce crashes in passenger cars under some conditions by about 30 per cent and in SUVs by 60 per cent and is set to become mandatory in all new cars sold in Australia within the next two years.

It’s early days yet, but Toyota Australia believes that it’s on target to meet its first year sales projection of 10,000 Hybrid Camry vehicles with around 3200 sold between February and June 2010. This demonstration of the car’s driving dynamics can only help the buying public better understand what this new and fascinating automotive technology is all about.