The Toyota Highlander is Toyota’s most popular SUV and has been since the first generation was unveiled. The Inline 4 engine will gener...
The Toyota Highlander is Toyota’s most popular SUV and has been since the first generation was unveiled.
The Inline 4 engine will generate 187 horsepower and 186 lb-ft of torque, while the 3.5L six-cylinder engine will generate 270 horsepower and be either a front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive.
For being a midsize vehicle, the Toyota Highlander has enough power and dexterity to provide an elegant, smooth ride in both the city and along the highway. The Highlander incorporates some innovative driving features, including hill-descent and hill-start assist.
The interior of the Toyota Highlander is designed to seat up to seven passengers, but the third row seating is very small and designed for children primarily. The limited offers an auto-dimming rearview mirror, leather upholstery, dual-zone automatic climate control, a wood-grain interior trim, and a power passenger and driver seats.
As a Toyota product, the Highlander’s quality engineering and emphasis on safety ensures a high resale value. Although it handles well, the Highlander is not the most nimble midsize vehicle on the market.
The good: The V-6 engine propels the 2011 Toyota Highlander Limited forward with ease, and the four-wheel-drive system includes descent control and a snow mode. Navigation integrates traffic data.
The bottom line: The 2011 Toyota Highlander Limited offers a solid, basic tech package in a comfortable, mostly on-road SUV.
In top Limited trim, the options for the Highlander are few. The Limited-trim Highlander cannot be chosen without navigation, according to the Toyota Web site.
That top trim also means leather seats and faux wood trim in the cabin. The navigation system option adds a touch screen below that, with Toyota's familiar cabin tech interface.In some ways, the navigation system feel shoehorned into the Highlander, and not well integrated with the other controls.
The navigation system itself is DVD-based, older technology that Toyota has been using for years. In other Toyota and Lexus vehicles, browsing an iPod library through the car's LCD has been distractingly slow, but Toyota seems to have worked on this problem in the new Highlander.
One undeniable Highlander strength is the powertrain, a typical silky-smooth Toyota V-6 that works well with the five-speed automatic. The Highlander could be a poster child for cars that grow larger from generation to generation. The current Highlander, which debuted in 2008, is four inches longer, three inches wider, and more than 400 pounds heavier than its predecessor.
Whereas the previous Highlander felt reasonably nimble and maneuverable, the current version feels heavy and overgrown. The upshot of the Highlander’s size inflation is that there's a ton of room inside. The Highlander’s party trick is its flexible seating configuration. The fold-flat third-row isn’t anything new, but the second-row certainly is. A slender seat insert can replace the center console, transforming a pair of captain’s chairs into a three-passenger bench seat. Like most family-oriented people movers, the Highlander is tuned for a soft, silent ride. Toyota’s 3.5-liter V-6 is predictably smooth, as is the five-speed automatic. It’s attractive, affordable, versatile, and comfortable.
