Toyota customers currently wanting the versatility of a large, seven seat SUV have to look towards the bulletproof Land Cruiser. Although absolutely brilliant as an off-road proposition, it lacks some of the refinement of its road-biased SUV rivals.
With that in mind, Toyota looks set to bolster its strong SUV offering by bringing the popular Highlander to UK shores for the first time in its 20-year history. The fourth iteration is built on the same TNGA-K Global Architecture platform as the Camry saloon, as opposed to the Land Cruiser’s ageing underpinnings, meaning its on-road manners are more in-line with what most customers demand from an everyday utility vehicle.
Measuring 4,950mm long, the highlander is able to offer a 180mm sliding range for the second row seats to ensure a spacious third row accommodation for two adults and easy access. At the rear, a kick-sensor allows hands-free access to the 658-litre luggage area. There’s also underfloor storage space, while fully flat-folding the third and second row seats can bring the load capacity up to an impressive 1,909 litres.
The Highlander’s fourth generation full hybrid powertrain features a 2.5-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine with front and rear electric motors. The rear motor provides the vehicle’s AWD-i intelligent all-wheel drive. A high-voltage nickel-metal hydride battery is located beneath the second row seats. Unlike a plug-in hybrid, the Highlander solely relies on regenerative braking and power from the petrol engine to top up the batteries.
Total power output is 241bhp and it offers a WLTP combined cycle CO2 emissions of 146g/km with a claimed 42.8mpg fuel consumption figure. Although not as overtly commanding off-road as its Land Cruiser counterpart, the Highlander features a number of driving modes that juggle to appropriate torque, traction and driving settings to cater for eco, sporty and trail modes, while a separately selectable EV all-electric mode means the vehicle can enter zero-emissions zones in cities by running purely on its battery power.
Toyota engineers have also added a greater number of noise reduction measures to maintain a quiet cabin environment on noisy roads, including the instillation of an acoustic windscreen, silencers in the roof, dashboard and floor, and liners in the wheel arches and load space.
In order to ensure the highlander is competitive with fellow seven-seat SUVs, it also comes equipped with an impressive suite of driver aids and safety technologies, including a Pre-Collision System with active steer assist. Said system can also detect pedestrians in the vehicle’s path by both and day and night, and bicycle riders in daylight. Other features include full-range adaptive cruise control with road sign recognition functionality, lane departure warnings and lane assist tech, as well as automatic high beam.
Toyota is yet to reveal final specification and pricing details, claiming that more information will follow closer to the model’s intended launch in early 2021.
Keyword: Toyota’s massive Highlander hybrid SUV finally comes to the UK