First drive review: Toyota Highlander

Friday, 4 June 2021

Toyota's all-new highlander SUV is here now, with both hybrid and V6 options.

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER
Price range: $60,990 to $74,990
Powertrains: 3.5-litre petrol V6 with 218kW/350Nm, 8.8L/100km, 8-speed automatic transmission, AWD or 2.5-litre petrol four-cylinder hybrid with 142kW/242Nm (184kW total system output), 5.6L/100km, continuously variable transmission, AWD.

Toyota’s all-new Highlander uses the RAV4’s powertrain and some of its styling.

Body style: Five-door SUV.
On sale: Now.

The Highlander tones down the more radical elements of Toyota’s recent SUV styling for a more conservative look.

Toyota’s seven-seat SUV crossover is its latest model to get a hybrid version, bringing it into line with the smaller RAV4, but will it see a similar strong swing towards the petrol-electric powertrain?

Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?

On the road the Highlander is a superbly comfortable thing, with a nicely compliant ride.

According to a Scotsman with an inexplicably French accent in a cult 1980s movie, there could be only one Highlander. And while Toyota New Zealand initially was going to go with that thought and keep the all-new Highlander SUV crossover a hybrid-only proposition in New Zealand, customer enquiry has seen the company decide to give the V6 a chance as well.

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While it is quite a big thing, the Highlander is still at home in an urban environment too.

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With excellent quality throughout, the Highlander's interior is a standout.

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The V6 continues on with a refreshed version of Toyota’s familiar 3.5-litre V6, which produces 218kW of power and 350Nm of torque in this particular application, and sends its power to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

While the V6 is an excellent thing, the frugal hybrid powertrain is the highlight of the range.

The V6 is available in GXL and Limited guises, with the GXL kicking off the Highlander range at $60,990, while the Limited lands at $63,990.

Which is pretty much ‘business as usual’ for the Highlander, but the new twist comes in the form of the three hybrid models that are propelled by a more powerful version of the RAV4’s hybrid powertrain that produces a combined output of 184kW (the RAV4 gets 163kW) and features a 142kW/242Nm four-cylinder petrol engine up front and an electric motor driving the rear wheels.

Well-equipped, comfortable and roomy, the Highlander is a family-friendly crossover with wide appeal.

The hybrid drops in with GXL, Limited and Limited ZR guises, with the GXL starting where the V6 range tops out at $63,990, while the Limited is $66,990 and the Limited ZR tops the range at $74,990.

The entry GXL models are impressively equipped, with plenty of standard features like 18-inch alloy wheels, LED lights all round, rain-sensing wipers, an 8-inch infotainment touchscreen display, voice recognition, rear privacy glass, a reversing camera, blind spot monitoring and Toyota’s Safety Sense system that brings a pre-collision system with autonomous emergency braking, emergency steer assist, lane departure warning, lane centring, automatic high beams, road sign recognition, vehicle, pedestrian and cyclist detection, intersection turn assist and active cruise control with automatic curve speed reduction.

The Limited models take all that and adds a different style of 18-inch alloy wheel, a power tailgate, synthetic leather upholstery, heated and power-adjustable front seats, three zone climate control (which is also actually standard on all hybrid models), a seven-inch multi-information display, satellite navigation and silver roof rails.

The Limited ZR Hybrid then also gets 20-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic view monitor, heated and ventilated front seats, rear door sunshades, a head-up display, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, woodgrain interior trim, a panoramic sunroof, handsfree tailgate operation, chrome exterior trim, projector LED headlights and an 11-speaker JBL sound system.

Where did you drive it?

Starting in central Auckland, we took a circuitous route up to an overnight stop in Paihia, before winding our way back down to Whangārei, via a stop to visit Tāne Mahuta the next day. The route took in a good mix of inner city, suburban, highway and back road driving, giving us a very good idea of just where the Highlander is at home, and where it isn’t.

And to be honest, it is pretty much at home on all of those roads, although it becomes apparent fairly quickly that it is very much an American-market car (Australia and New Zealand are the only two RHD markets for the Highlander, and it is built in the US of A as well) if you start trying to throw it down a winding road with any real enthusiasm.

Yeah, that means it is quite a soft thing. Not in a traditional American alarmingly sill-scraping body roll kind of way, but it is definitely more at home with a more relaxed attitude to going around corners.

Which does make it a wonderfully comfortable and compliant thing on the road, which is clearly more the point of a seven-seat family crossover. And the Highlander does the family-friendly thing extremely well indeed.

The V6 is a smooth and powerful thing, while its 8-speed transmission is a slick delight and its AWD system does a wonderful job of distributing the power. While it felt like the V6 models were slightly firmer than the hybrids, Toyota says they both have the same suspension tune and the hybrid only weighs about 30kg more than the V6.

While the V6 is actually quite impressively frugal for a large seven-seater, the hybrid is remarkably so – Toyota claims an open road AND combined fuel consumption figure of 5.6L/100km, and that is actually fairly easily achievable in the real world as well. On the second day we easily averaged 5.7 while also sticking to the open road speed limit on the run from Tāne Mahuta to Whangārei. It will be very interesting indeed to live with one around town for a week when we get a chance to road test it…

What’s the pick of the range?

While the V6 is a nicely growly and pleasantly powerful thing, it is the hybrid powertrain that is clearly the star of the show here. Powerful enough to haul the Highlander around in a satisfyingly strong fashion, it is also impressively frugal. Sure, things do get a bit CVT-ish when you give it full throttle for extended periods, but that’s not really something you often do in a family-hauling crossover anyway.

As mentioned earlier, Toyota New Zealand initially only planned to bring the hybrid in, but early customer enquiry convinced them to bring the V6 as well, but it may not stay in the line-up long, as early orders have overwhelmingly favoured the hybrid. And after driving them back-to-back, the on-paper argument becomes even more convincing that the hybrid will effortlessly lop off the V6’s head.

Regardless of powertrain, the Highlander is an impressively equipped, deeply comfortable and highly polished thing, with a high quality interior and a non-confrontational and handsome exterior design.

Why would I buy it?

Because you want a superbly comfortable family wagon that is well-equipped and impressively spacious. The V6 will appeal to those unwilling to embrace the inevitability of electrification (or just like a nice, growly V6), while the hybrid will do for everyone else.

Why wouldn’t I buy it?

It is quite a big boy now, so that may put some off, although you will probably be expecting that if you are in the market for a serious seven-seater anyway.