Hybrid with 8-cylinder power with 4-cylinder economy

Being the owners of a 2001 and 2004 Prius, my wife and I were keen on checking out the 2006 Highlander Hybrid when it came out. On a whim, we stopped at the local Toyota dealer to see if they had one on the lot and were surprised to find they had two fully loaded 4-wheel-drive Limiteds. More surprising was that we drove off with a silver one that day.

I've always have been anti-SUV. I've always thought that a minivan a superior if you need a large cargo and people carrier. As mentioned above our prior two cars were both Toyota hybrids, and while the 2004 Prius is more than sufficient when the wife and I go on extended trips that we frequently take to Cape Cod, there's just not enough room when our nieces come along, which has become more common of late. The Highlander is still the only Hybrid that can carry all of us and our gear in comfort, with possible exception of the Lexus RX400h.

To be honest the only SUV that I've ever really found stylistically appealing is the Lexus RX, so I really had a jones for RX400h. Unfortunately the extra money for the Lexus, the lack of a third row seat and lower cargo space held us back from the Lexus and we settled on the Highlander Limited 2WD as we wanted the Navigation and that was only available on the Limited. We bought the 4WD because it was there, we were able to get a good deal and it solved the logistical problems we were facing getting us all to the Cape in a few months.

We've been very happy with the Highlander. Sure, it's stylistically challenged, but we spend most of our time looking at the interior, which is quite handsome and comfortable.

Exterior:
I admit that this is not the sexiest SUV by any measure, but it certainly isn't the ugliest one either. I generally find Toyota's SUVs, with possible exception of the Rav-4, to heavily favor function over style. The only sexy SUV from Toyota is the Lexus RX(insert number here) and it definitely sacrifices cargo and passenger space to style. Oddly, the addition of the rear spoiler does a lot to improved the Highlander and least from the rear and side.

Entry access is good front and rear passengers. Step in height is low for an SUV. I got side bars to ease access for my elderly mother and mother-in-law, but they turned to be unnecessary. Lift in height for the rear cargo area is also relatively low and there is a strap to aid closing the hatch by the vertically challenged.

Handling:
Driving the Highlander took some adjustment at first. It is much larger then the Prius I had been driving and leaned more in a turn. As with my experience with other Toyotas, I've found that the Highlander handles better with the tire pressure set higher than recommend. Once I pumped up the tires and I adjusted to the body lean, I found I could quite comfortably scare the wife in the turns like I was used to.

Ride and comfort:
While not quite as quiet as my father-in-law's Sienna, I find the Highlander's ride to be quiet and comfortable on any road surface. There is definitely much less road noise than the 2000 Honda Odyssey that the '04 Prius had supplanted. The front and middle seats are comfortable and there's plenty of leg room for the average driver and passenger, though I can see where taller drivers could have issues. The 8-way power driver's seat should mitigate issues that taller drivers might have found with models without a height adjustment. I've driven it more than once on the 8-hour+ trip between Delaware and Cape Cod and felt as little fatigue after such a long trip as I've with any vehicle with exception of the Peugeot 504 I owned years ago. The third row seat is definitely inferior to the one I had in the Odyssey. I would say that it provides on-demand 7 passenger seating for occasional use. It is fine for younger children under any conditions or a couple adults for a short trip.

Power and Drivetrain:
Unlike prior Toyota hybrids, the Highlander was designed primarily for performance. I believe the design was driven by Lexus for the RX400h and applied to the Highlander to spread the design costs across more vehicles. That said, the Highlander is by far the quickest and most powerful vehicle I've ever driven. Need to pass? Done! It is very easy to find the speedometer over 80 MPH after passing a slow vehicle. Need to turn into heavy traffic on the highway from a side street? No worries. Best of all with the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and 4WD it seems almost impossible to break traction on clean, dry roads, so all the power gets transmitted to the road. Because of the independent rear drive motor in the Highlander Hybrid and RX400h, they are the only vehicles I'm aware of that actually accelerate faster with 4WD than with 2WD. Unlike typical 4WD, the electric motor just adds power to the rear wheels where a conventional rear drive only adds drag from the transfer case and drive shaft. Engine noise is nonexistent except under hard acceleration.

Fuel Economy:
Cruising between 65 and 75 MPH typically results in 26 MPG for me. Average economy for the fairly short commute and very short hops between schools has been 24-25 MPG in the warmer months and 23-24 MPG in winter. It really shines driving around Cape Cod with average speeds between 30 and 45 MPH on rolling terrain. There I've seen economy mid 30s on average. Fuel economy can be monitored on the multi-function display on all models as well as the navigation display on models with that option.

Cargo carrying capacity:
Cargo space with the third row seat down is quite good, but falls to more of hatchback space with the third row seat up. I recently loaded ours with 1/2 cord or oak firewood which surely exceeded the load rating. This pretty much filled the cargo area with the rear and middle row seats folded down. While Highlander hunkered down, it didn't complain. I expected to have to baby it back home, but after a short distance I forgot that I had the load back there.

Towing:
I haven't towed anything with the Highlander, though I did buy a hitch to mount a bike rack. While researching this purchase, I discovered a couple gotchas with the Highlander. The first is due to the location of the full size spare (with matching alloy wheel by the way). This doesn't leave much room for a hitch, so compromises of one sort or another need to be made. Third party hitches all seem to be eyesores because of this and the Toyota hitch has a shortened receiver, which could be a problem towing a heavy trailer if it weren't for the 3500 LB limit that exists anyway. The second problem seems to plague all Toyotas in that even "trailer ready" models require a fairly expensive electronic module to tie the trailer lights into the braking system of the vehicle.

Hybrid Synergy Drive:
This is the reason to get the Highlander Hybrid is Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive and the advantages that go with it.
Toyota has been selling hybrid cars since 1997 and have been improving the technology ever since.

One key feature that I quickly came to appreciate is that the gasoline engine only runs when it is needed. This means no engine vibration agitating the driver when stopped or in stop and go driving. It also means that a hybrid gets its best fuel economy when other vehicles are wasting the most gas. I discovered that I was much calmer when I got stuck in traffic with my Prius after I first got it and I believe the lack of engine vibration had a lot to do with it. Watching bars of 99 MPG fuel consumption couldn't have hurt either.

The Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) eliminates gear shifting and provides smooth acceleration that often leads to me find the car going much faster than I thought it was going.

Because the system can draw power to drive the wheels from both the gas engine and electric motor, the engine can be turned to optimize fuel efficiency and minimize tail pipe emissions while still provided a responsive power plant. It also helps that the electric motor is most efficient at speeds that the gasoline motor is least efficient. The electric motors also produce tremendous torque compared to the gas engine and it provides from 0-1500 RPM. The synergy of the combination results in a power plant with the net horsepower of a V-8 gasoline engine and the high torque of a diesel in a clean and refined package.

I'm sure that Toyota could have at least matched the performance of the standard V-6 and exceeded the fuel economy of the Ford Escape by using the same drive train that was used in the Camry hybrid, but there's no way that Lexus was going to put a 4-cylinder in the RX. Since the vehicle is "drive by wire", it would also be nice to be able to choose between a economy and performance mode. Since the drive train is completely under computer control, it would only require some programming to accomplish. There are rumors that Toyota might provide this option on the next generation Prius. I wouldn't be surprised if Toyota starts using cylinder deactivation to increase cruising fuel economy without sacrificing performance in the coming years.

Gadgets:
Toyota decided to leave out most of the wiz-bang gadgets available in the Prius and Camry on the Highlander. No Bluetooth hands-free, voice-activated Nav or Smart Key pushbutton start and you only get the multi-information display with the DVD Nav option. My best guess is that Toyota decided that the target market wouldn't value them, so chose to go with lower cost options. From what I've read online, there are a lot of people disappointed with this decision, myself included.

We got the optional DVD Navigation system with our Limited. The lack of voice activation is no great loss. We learned with the Prius that it has limited value, because of its poor recognition. Maybe it understands Japanese, but it seems to think that you always want a golf course. It is a pity that they couldn't include the Bluetooth hands-free, as we have found that a very nice feature in the Prius. The system works well, covers the entire US, but is a little sketchy in most low density areas. With it you get the touch screen LCD display that is integrated with the JBL sound system and provides more information at a glance than the standard multi-function display.

The JBL sound system is pretty good. It includes twin diversity antennas mounted in the side glass in the rear of the cargo area. This improves FM reception in areas with weak signal and where multipath interference would cause problems. Unlike most units, it includes both a multiple CD changer as well as a cassette player. The later provides a higher fidelity interface for an iPod or MP3 player.

The multi-function display in the instrument console comes on a models. Its various modes allow you to monitor fuel economy, energy transfer and outside temperature as well as the odometer, which is about all I ever use it for as the Nav screen provides more detailed information at a glance.

I've learned to appreciate the heated seats and heated side mirrors included with the Limited model more than I thought I would.

Price Premium for the Hybrid:
A lot is often said about the price premium paid for a hybrid over a conventional power plant and that it takes forever to recover this cost through fuel savings. That may be true if you only consider fuel savings, but there are other factors to consider. Depending on where you live, after state and federal tax breaks a hybrid can actually cost less to buy than a conventional vehicle or at least take out some of the sting. Another thing to think about is that people purchase many options that have no effect or negative affect on operating cost without complaining about the price premium. Adding 4WD to the Highlander Hybrid cost much less than adding 4WD to other comparable SUVs, which reduces the hybrid premium if you want 4WD.

Conclusions:
In all we've found the Highlander Hybrid to be well designed and extremely well built and are very happy with it. It is a pleasure to drive and has an excellent power to weight ratio. Some of the high tech gadgets that we learned to appreciate on the Prius are missing, but you can't have everything. Fuel economy is good for a mid-size SUV, especially when you consider the performance of the drive train. All that said, when the time comes to replace the Highlander, we'll probably be more interested in the hybrid Sienna that Toyota should be releasing in the next year or so. We've come to appreciate the advantages that Toyota's hybrid powerplant provides beyond any fuel savings that we think that the price premium is worth it and wouldn't settle for anything less in the future.