Friday, June 22, 2007

Toyota’s Highlander is taking the high road.

All new for 2008, the crossover sport utility vehicle is moving upscale, closer to its cousin at Lexus, the RX.

The move brings more rationality to Toyota’s car-based SUV lineup. In 2006, the Japanese company substantially upgraded its compact RAV4 crossover, even giving it a third-row seat option. That moved it closer to the midsize Highlander.

The next move was to make the Highlander bigger, more powerful and, not unexpectedly, pricier.

For those customers who still need or want body-on-frame truck-based SUVs, Toyota still has its midsize 4-Runner and full-size Sequoia. But with its enhanced size and power, the new Highlander could even swipe a few sales from its truck-based siblings.

It has a new 270-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 engine mated to a five-speed automatic transmission and, with an optional towing package, can haul a trailer weighing up to 5,000 pounds. Without a trailer, it has strong acceleration and cruises effortlessly at freeway speeds.

Though the Highlander is about 300 pounds heavier than its predecessor, it manages slightly better fuel economy. However, the numbers of 17/23 miles per gallon look worse because of the government’s new, more realistic system of measuring consumption.

With the RAV4 offering both V-6 and four-cylinder power, the Highlander no longer is available with a four-cylinder engine, although Toyota officials say it could be re-introduced if there is a demand.

There are four versions of the new Highlander: base, Sport and Limited, in front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and Hybrid, in all-wheel drive only.

The latter is part of the upscale strategy. Previously, the Hybrid was available with FWD or AWD. Now, the Hybrid Highlander is closer to the luxury Lexus RX400h, which uses an identical hybrid system.

Despite the fact that the Highlander is all new, longer, wider, taller and bigger inside, the new styling is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It resembles the earlier model and does not attract attention.

With extensive insulation and other sound-deadening measures, the new Highlander is as quiet as a luxury car. It also rides like one, with an all-independent suspension system that is biased toward the comfort side of the spectrum. Yet the handling, though far from sporty, is capable and confident, abetted by new electric power steering.

As Toyota has done in the past, it sent a field researcher in this case, its executive chief engineer Yukibiro Okane out to talk with prospective customers.

The conversations resulted in a clever innovation, with a narrow second-row center seat that can be removed to convert the second row from a bench seat to two captain’s chairs with a pass-through between them. It means that a kid can scramble to and from the third row without flipping one of the seats forward.

When the center seat is removed, it stores neatly in a compartment under the front-seat console. It also can be replaced by a center tray with cup holders.

But as innovative as the designers were with the second row, they dropped the ball with the third row, which is not split. It folds flat in one piece. It means you don’t have the flexibility of sticking one person back there with additional cargo area to the side.

That could become important because, with all the seats up there is only a little more than 10 cubic feet of cargo space. Folding the third row gives you 43 cubic feet, and folding both the second and third rows expands the cargo area to more than 94 cubic feet.

Unlike the third-row seat in the previous Highlander, which seemed like an afterthought, the new one can actually accommodate two average-sized adults, although getting back there takes some athletic ability. Knee room can be improved because the second-row seats slide fore and aft to five different positions.

With the center seat installed in the second row, three adults can sit there, although the center position is a lumpy perch.

Up front, comfort is first cabin, with a 10-way power seat (on the Limited model) and a tilt-and-telescope steering wheel. The instruments have daytime lighting, like that of some luxury cars, though they tend to wash out in bright sunlight.

The Highlander comes with a full complement of safety equipment, including antilock brakes, traction and stability control, brake assist, electronic brake-force distribution, tire-pressure monitoring, and seven air bags. They include a knee bag for the driver and side-curtain air bags for all outboard passengers.

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