I believe you described the brakes perfectly. My wifes '09 Saturn Vue has very touchy brakes where you just tap and the vehicle comes to a screaching hault. The Venza offers a lot of play in the pedal before serious activation, which requires an adjustment to your driving style if you are accustomed to touchy brakes.

I have come to like the forgiveness in the pedal, for slight braking when approaching traffic or when coasting down a hill.

At first though I had the same impression as the OP, "This car needs a serious brembo-brake upgrade!" but that has since changed.

Quote Originally Posted by toyotaman007 View Post
The Venza has softer brakes. The pedal travels more and the brake force is much more gradual compared to my Matrix and Sienna. However it has really strong brakes. Once you slam on the brakes it stops the heavy weight champion in a heart beat! I read in another forum that they designed the rakes as two stage brakes, softer, more gradual on top, then strong on the lower portion of the travel. Remember, it also has brake assist. That works great. I have used the brake assist in my van and it stops the sienna in shorter distance than a Civic!