Toyota’s all-new Highlander brings together a classical SUV and blends it with luxury comfort, a great drive and an abundance of safety features, and driven by a fuel-efficient hybrid powertrain with intelligent all-wheel drive.
With flexible seating combinations and a two-ton towing capacity, the Toyota Highlander is perfect for your next adventure.
Toyota Highlander Excel Premium
Kerb Appeal
The Toyota Highlander Excel Premium 5 door 7-Seater SUV with its imposing high lines sat on 20-inch alloy wheels looks every bit as powerful as a go anywhere SUV should. When you start the engine, it turns over with a quiet whisper that belies the power available at your right foot.
Inside
Toyota are well known for being able to blend practicability with luxury and the Highlander Excel is no different.
Inside, everything is well put together: the dashboard is thoughtfully set out and easy to use – everything is where it should be. The surfaces are formed of soft-touch plastic, nice to the touch, with this soft touch trim extending through to the rear door trims; an additional nice touch are integrated sun blinds for the side windows.
Toyota certainly haven’t scrimped on equipment with climate controls in the first and second row, adaptive cruise control, front and second row heated seats and steering wheel, keyless entry, digital rear view mirror, an 11-speaker JBL audio system and an electric boot-lid, as well as a long list of active technology that includes ventilated front seats, a head up display and a handsfree tailgate opening function.
Passenger space as you would imagine is more than ample, with all seven passengers having masses of leg and headroom.
Infotainment
The Toyota Highlander has an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system situated on top of the centre console; it’s neat and modern and positioned so you don’t need to move very much, if at all, to check it.
The menu graphics are clear and easy to read when driving and there is an array of shortcut buttons that allow you to jump from one key feature to another.
Sat-nav is standard, a destination address can be programmed using the on-screen keyboard or by using Toyota’s voice command system. Once you’ve entered your destination, the system takes a little while to program a route, especially if you want to add one or more destinations. Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard.
Driving
The Toyota Highlander has a laid-back feel which suits the type of driving and journeys you would most likely be doing in a large SUV with seven seats. It doesn’t roll around and has steering that keeps you fully involved in the driving experience.
General refinement and comfort are very good, the relatively soft suspension smooths out all but the worst potholes, visibility is great for driving around town and makes parking surprisingly easy for a large seven-seater SUV. At motorway speeds the Highlander is happy to cruise along eating up the miles, even when towing a two-ton trailer.
Put the Highlander in Trail mode and take it off road and enjoy how easy it moves across grassy fields and gravel farm tracks; you can appreciate how perfect it is for the trailblazer in you.
Performance
The Toyota Highlander comes with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine coupled to two electric motors – one for the front wheels and one for the rear – that make the Toyota Highlander four-wheel drive without any engine power being sent to the back. It’s not a plug-in hybrid; the system automatically shifts between powering the wheels via petrol or electricity and charging the small battery to always keep a bit of electric power in reserve.
With 246hp pulling a two-ton car performance is good, quick off the mark and builds speed reasonably well. The CVT automatic gearbox can make the engine seem a bit hurried.
If the gearbox feels a bit noisy when flying around at speed as if in sports mode, then it’s perfect for motorway cruising and town work. With no gear changes to worry about it’s super smooth, and if you’re gentle on the throttle you can keep the car in electric-only mode for short distances. This makes the car emit a sci-fi whir to warn pedestrians that you’re coming, too.
Drive gently and you’ll squeeze 38-45mpg out of the Toyota Highlander, pretty good for a seven seat, go anywhere, heavy SUV, that can tow your caravan or boat and trailer on or off road – and it’s good to the environment.
Safety
Safety features include:
- Pre-Collision warning system with day/night detection, alerts the driver and will apply the brakes if necessary.
- Blind Spot Monitoring – alerts driver to any vehicles which may be missed by side mirrors
- Rear cross traffic alert with auto braking – rear sensors identity vehicles approaching from left/right or stationary objects warning driver and brakes applied if necessary.
Conclusion
The Toyota Highlander is a superbly comfortable, go anywhere, do it all SUV, just as happy around town, on the motorway, on the trail, or towing a trailer – perfect for the adventure seeker but just as perfect for taking the kids to school, shopping, or those long-distance journeys. No matter what you’re doing, you will arrive fit and ready for whatever your day involves.
For more on the Toyota Highlander visit Toyota UK
Tagged in Motoring Reviews Toyota