Toyota Highlander review

Toyota’s Highlander moves about town just fine, the SUV isn’t floating across roads on a cloud, the bumps are there, but they’re absorbed well enough that they don’t distract from whatever passengers may be doing along the way. Up front, the Highlander has everything handy that a driver would need, particularly if they’re wrangling a large pack of family members on the daily. This makes chores you’d be using it for less of a hassle, something any head of a household will value immensely.

How’s the hybrid?

Just like the rest of the current Toyota lineup, the Highlander’s hybrid system is smart and unobtrusive, extending the range without need for charging and switching between powertrains without fuss. Thanks to the cabin’s soundproofing, you don’t hear the engine kick on all that much, particularly if you’re using the infotainment system, and the transition is smooth enough that feeling that kick is rarer still.

Do the different drive modes give this car some attitude?

They really don’t, and we mean that in either direction. We don’t have high expectations for any kind of “sport” mode in a vehicle like the Highlander, but they sometimes add a smidge of extra grunt to make up for the car’s overall shortcomings. Yes, you lose a lot of the fuel economy, but that choice is yours to make.

Here, sport or indeed eco mode don’t feel much different at all. The supposedly more aggressive setting doesn’t seem to make the engine more responsive, nor does the softer eco mode feel like its holding things back. Perhaps the differences are found in the fuel economy numbers after extended time in either mode, but we were very hard-pressed to observe any substantial impact.