Toyota Highlander Models

Toyota Highlander Models: Inconspicuous and practical, the Highlander can haul up to eight in peaceful comfort. The base 185-hp 2.7-liter inline-four teams with a six-speed automated and also front-wheel drive; the optional 295-hp 3.5-liter V-6 gets an eight-speed automatic. Four-wheel drive is optional for V-6 designs as well as standard for the crossbreed, which pairs the V-6 with 2 electrical motors; we saw 24 mpg in our examination. The Highlander supplies an appropriate driving experience, yet it's even more concentrated on indoor precisions as well as storage.


Toyota Highlander Models


Like the 1986 movie Highlander, the Toyota SUV that shares its name is a crowd-pleaser that fails to inspire fervor amongst critics. After more than 190,000 Highlanders rolled off supplier great deals in 2015, Toyota's mid-size crossover SUV entered 2017 with a host of changes aimed at satisfying the masses and also experts alike.

Notably, all Highlanders, from the base $31,590 LE to the state-of-the-art $48,840 Highlander Crossbreed Limited Platinum, now come basic with a pre-collision warning system with pedestrian detection as well as automated emergency braking, plus lane-departure warning, lane-keeping aid, adaptive cruise ship control, as well as automatic high-beams. Our all-wheel-drive $43,184 Highlander XLE test vehicle likewise loaded blind-spot monitoring, a feature unavailable on the lower-level Highlander LE and also LE And also.

Going along with the 2017 Highlander's various safety and security systems is the current variation of Toyota's 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The six-cylinder is typical on almost the base front-wheel-drive Highlander LE-- which continuouslies make use of a frail 185-hp inline-four-- and integrates a host of modern innovations, including a straight and port fuel-injection system and also an updated valvetrain that enables the engine to run on the much more reliable Atkinson cycle. Ranked at a healthy and balanced 295 horsepower as well as 263 lb-ft of torque, the modified V-6 makes 25 more horses and an added 15 lb-ft compared to the previous system. Fuel economic climate is up, too, with the front-wheel-drive 2017 Highlander V-6 gaining an EPA-rated 23 mpg combined; all-wheel-drive designs accomplish 22 mpg. Both numbers note a 2-mpg enhancement over in 2014's Highlander and also put the crossover within 1 mpg of the four-cylinder Mazda CX-9's consolidated fuel-economy numbers.

Toyota's 2GR-FKS 6 is a treasure of an engine that constructs power almost all the means up to its 6800-rpm redline. At the track, this Highlander cut 0.3 2nd off of its precursor's zero-to-60-mph as well as 30-to-50-mph times, hitting the marks in 7.0 and 3.8 seconds, specifically. Sadly, the 2017 Highlander's 5.6-second 50-to-70-mph passing away time was both sluggish for the course and also virtually a second behind that of its forbear. Criticize the new eight-speed automatic transmission's hesitancy to downshift. No matter, the modified Highlander's V-6 provides lots of grunt in many real-world driving scenarios. Many thanks partially to our examination car's automated stop-start system, we handled an affordable 21 mpg during our time with the crossover, 2 mpg far better compared to what we obtained from a Mazda CX-9.

The Element of Crossover

If the 2017 Highlander's V-6 powertrain is the matching of Highlander's enchanting Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez (played by Sean Connery), then the crossover's revamped exterior layout is akin to the movie's good-looking yet forgettable protagonist, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert). New front and also back fascias, updated headlamps, and an attractive set of LED taillights offer the Highlander a much more cohesive, SUV-like appearance. However we still would not place it quite on the very same level of beauty as the butch Dodge Durango or the shapely CX-9.

Unlike the outside, the Highlander's interior has actually been left largely unblemished. Toyota did add four more USB ports, bringing the total to 5-- 3 in front and also 2 in the rear. The cockpit features a number of useful storage space nooks, consisting of a rack that extends the reduced dashboard and an enormous center-console container that can suit almost a cubic foot of miscellaneous things. Ergonomic mistakes consist of difficult-to-grip temperature handles for the climate-control system and also a touchscreen that's also far from the vehicle driver.

While base-level LE and also LE And also Highlanders have a conventional second-row bench seat, the XLE, SE, Limited, and Limited Platinum grades include captain's chairs in the center. (The bench seat is a no-cost option on the XLE, Limited, and also Minimal Platinum.) Area is plentiful in the second row, however we discovered that our seven-passenger examination auto's pail seats were placed too reduced for optimal convenience. Still, the Highlander's sliding and reclining second-row chairs resembled a set of La-Z-Boy reclining chairs compared with the slim and lightweight 60/40 split-folding third-row bench. Legroom in the wayback is simply 27.7 inches, a full six inches fewer than what the Volkswagen Atlas's rearmost row offers. If you consistently transport enough travelers to benefit frequent use of the third row, take into consideration the Atlas, a Honda Pilot, or a Ford Flex.

Shadow of an SUV

Despite the Highlander's carlike unibody building and low step-in height, this mid-size crossover's managing advises us of an old-fashioned body-on-frame SUV, as its softly sprung suspension permits too much body coming in turns. On the bonus side, the suspension soaks up roadway irregularities with nary a shudder, as well as the electrically helped guiding is fairly quick and also typically well heavy.

At 4560 pounds, our all-wheel-drive Highlander examination vehicle was no light-weight, as well as the excess mass made itself recognized when applying the brakes, as the Toyota required 181 feet of tarmac to stop from 70 miles per hour-- 11 feet greater than a 161-pound-lighter all-wheel-drive GMC Acadia Denali.

With an as-tested cost of $43,184, our Toasted Walnut Pearl Highlander XLE showed off $3704 in choices. Of that tally, all-wheel drive adds $1460 as well as brings vestigial mud flaps, hill-descent control, as well as a display screen setup within the 4.2-inch gauge-cluster screen that reveals torque circulation among the Highlander's 4 wheels. An $1810 rear-seat home entertainment system was one of the most costly alternative, while $434 gotten flooring mats as well as body-side moldings. Criterion things included navigation, a closeness secret with push-button begin, and also a sunroof, as well as abovementioned attributes such as a blind-spot monitoring system and also leather-trimmed first- as well as second-row seats (Toyota drapes the 3rd row in vinyl).

While the Highlander's drab handling and also confined 3rd row remain to suppress our enthusiasm for the Indiana-built crossover, the updated 2017 Highlander's lengthy list of standard security as well as comfort attributes, more powerful and fuel-efficient V-6 engine, and boosted outside designing will continue to attract stockpiles of buyers trying to find a comfortable and fairly valued mid-size crossover SUV.