Toyota Highlander Reviews

Toyota Highlander Reviews: Low-profile and also sensible, the Highlander can haul up to eight in silent 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 obtains an eight-speed automated. Four-wheel drive is optional for V-6 versions and requirement for the crossbreed, which sets the V-6 with 2 electric motors; we saw 24 mpg in our examination. The Highlander gives an adequate driving experience, yet it's more concentrated on indoor precisions as well as storage space.


Toyota Highlander Reviews


Like the 1986 movie Highlander, the Toyota SUV that shares its name is a crowd-pleaser that cannot motivate eagerness among critics. After greater than 190,000 Highlanders rolled off supplier great deals in 2015, Toyota's mid-size crossover SUV entered 2017 with a host of changes focused on satisfying the masses as well as pundits alike.

Notably, all Highlanders, from the base $31,590 LE to the top-of-the-line $48,840 Highlander Hybrid Limited Platinum, now come standard with a pre-collision warning system with pedestrian discovery as well as automated emergency braking, plus lane-departure caution, lane-keeping help, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high-beams. Our all-wheel-drive $43,184 Highlander XLE examination car also packed blind-spot surveillance, an attribute inaccessible on the lower-level Highlander LE and LE And also.

Accompanying the 2017 Highlander's many safety systems is the most recent version of Toyota's 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The six-cylinder is common on almost the base front-wheel-drive Highlander LE-- which remains to utilize a wimpy 185-hp inline-four-- and also incorporates a host of modern-day innovations, consisting of a direct as well as port fuel-injection system and also an upgraded valvetrain that permits the engine to run on the extra efficient Atkinson cycle. Rated at a healthy 295 horsepower and 263 lb-ft of torque, the modified V-6 makes 25 even more ponies as well as an added 15 lb-ft compared to the previous device. Fuel economic climate is up, also, with the front-wheel-drive 2017 Highlander V-6 earning an EPA-rated 23 mpg incorporated; all-wheel-drive versions achieve 22 mpg. Both figures note a 2-mpg enhancement over in 2014's Highlander as well as put the crossover within 1 mpg of the four-cylinder Mazda CX-9's consolidated fuel-economy numbers.

Toyota's 2GR-FKS six is a treasure of an engine that develops power mostly all the method as much as its 6800-rpm redline. At the track, this Highlander shaved 0.3 2nd off of its predecessor's zero-to-60-mph and 30-to-50-mph times, hitting the marks in 7.0 and 3.8 secs, respectively. Regrettably, the 2017 Highlander's 5.6-second 50-to-70-mph passing away time was both sluggish for the class as well as nearly a second behind that of its forbear. Blame the new eight-speed transmission's hesitancy to downshift. No matter, the revised Highlander's V-6 uses lots of grunt in a lot of real-world driving circumstances. Many thanks partially to our examination vehicle's automated stop-start system, we handled an affordable 21 mpg throughout our time with the crossover, 2 mpg better compared to exactly what we got from a Mazda CX-9.

The Aspect of Crossover

If the 2017 Highlander's V-6 powertrain is the equivalent of Highlander's lovely Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez (played by Sean Connery), after that the crossover's spruced up exterior style belongs to the film's good-looking yet featureless protagonist, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert). New front and rear fascias, upgraded headlamps, and also an appealing collection of LED taillights give the Highlander an extra cohesive, SUV-like appearance. Yet we still would not put it fairly on the same degree of appearance as the butch Dodge Durango or the hot CX-9.

Unlike the outside, the Highlander's interior has been left largely untouched. Toyota did add 4 even more USB ports, bringing the total amount to 5-- 3 ahead and also 2 in the rear. The cabin features a variety of convenient storage space spaces, consisting of a shelf that covers the lower dashboard as well as a massive center-console bin that can suit virtually a cubic foot of various products. Ergonomic faults include difficult-to-grip temperature level knobs for the climate-control system and a touchscreen that's also far from the chauffeur.

While base-level LE and LE And also Highlanders come with a conventional second-row bench seat, the XLE, SE, Limited, and also Minimal Platinum grades feature captain's chairs in the center. (The bench seat is a no-cost choice on the XLE, Limited, and Restricted Platinum.) Space abounds in the 2nd row, yet we discovered that our seven-passenger test cars and truck's bucket seats were installed as well reduced for optimum comfort. Still, the Highlander's sliding and also reclining second-row chairs were like a set of La-Z-Boy recliner chairs compared with the slim and flimsy 60/40 split-folding third-row bench. Legroom in the wayback is simply 27.7 inches, a full six inches fewer than just what the Volkswagen Atlas's rearmost row offers. If you regularly haul sufficient travelers to benefit frequent use the 3rd row, think about the Atlas, a Honda Pilot, or a Ford Flex.

Darkness of an SUV

Despite the Highlander's carlike unibody building and construction as well as reduced step-in elevation, this mid-size crossover's handling reminds us of an antique body-on-frame SUV, as its softly sprung suspension enables too much body coming in turns. On the plus side, the suspension soaks up roadway abnormalities with nary a shudder, and the electrically aided guiding is reasonably quick as well as generally well heavy.

At 4560 extra pounds, our all-wheel-drive Highlander test cars and truck was no light-weight, and also the excess mass made itself understood when using the brakes, as the Toyota needed 181 feet of tarmac to stop from 70 miles per hour-- 11 feet more than a 161-pound-lighter all-wheel-drive GMC Acadia Denali.

With an as-tested rate of $43,184, our Toasted Walnut Pearl Highlander XLE showed off $3704 in alternatives. Of that tally, all-wheel drive includes $1460 and brings vestigial mud flaps, hill-descent control, and also a display screen setting within the 4.2-inch gauge-cluster screen that shows torque distribution among the Highlander's four wheels. An $1810 rear-seat entertainment system was the most expensive alternative, while $434 bought flooring mats and body-side moldings. Requirement items consisted of navigating, a closeness key with push-button begin, and also a sunroof, as well as previously mentioned features such as a blind-spot surveillance system and also leather-trimmed very first- and second-row seats (Toyota cushions the 3rd row in vinyl).

While the Highlander's lifeless handling as well as confined 3rd row continue to suppress our interest for the Indiana-built crossover, the updated 2017 Highlander's long list of common security as well as benefit attributes, more effective as well as fuel-efficient V-6 engine, as well as improved exterior designing will remain to bring in stockpiles of buyers seeking a comfy and also fairly valued mid-size crossover SUV.