What's this?
Right, don't worry; this review isn't going to be riddled with references, as blatant as the ones in the intro or otherwise obscure, to the 1986 fantasy flick starring Christopher Lambert. We've covered that off now. So let's do this the straightforward way: this is the new Toyota Highlander, also known as the Kluger (the Kurgan? Sorry...) in certain global territories, and its debut appearance in this corner of the world for 2021 means it supplants the
RAV4 as the largest SUV, and by extension the largest model outright, that the company sells in Europe. It does not replace the Land Cruiser in Toyota's hierarchy, by the way, as that is a pukka 4x4 with a ladder-frame chassis and locking diffs and serious go-anywhere ability. The Highlander, while four-wheel drive, is nevertheless a monocoque construction sitting on the largest Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform, known as the TNGA-K.
Talking of the RAV4, you can see that the Highlander is very much cut from the same cloth. We'll come onto its technical make-up later in the review but think of it as being akin to the
RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid model, only without either the plug-in bit or bigger lithium-ion battery pack of that related SUV. At almost five metres long and getting on for two metres wide excluding the door mirrors, the Highlander is not purporting to be a '5+2' vehicle of the ilk of the
Skoda Kodiaq, but instead lays claim to full seven-seater status. Indeed, Toyota is going to pitch it as being midway between a
Volkswagen Touareg and a
Volvo XC90 in terms of prestige and desirability. A bold aspiration, we're sure you'll agree.
And one which perhaps explains the bold prices. Aside from the absolutely mega
3.0-litre Supra sports coupe, that PHEV RAV4 introduced us to the alarming era of the 'Fifty-Grand Toyota' and now the Highlander goes on to cement that notion as the new normal. Toyota UK will sell this seven-seater SUV in two specifications, the Excel and the Excel Premium, and neither of them is sub-£50k. The former will set you back £50,595, the latter - tested here - a meaty £52,575 without metallic or pearlescent paint (which was on our test car, for another £925). That immediately makes it look rather dear compared to a
Hyundai Santa Fe or
Kia Sorento, talented rivals both, and somewhat worryingly it's not that far off the base price of an
Audi Q7 either.
However, as we haven't drilled down into the minutiae of what the Highlander might cost on a good PCP deal, it might be able to fight back on the financing score due to strong residual values - and with the RAV4 range already pushing up through the Forties, there really wasn't anywhere else the flagship Highlander could go in terms of its pricing structure. Furthermore, Toyota would cite the fact that its newcomer has a generous specification across the board. The Excel comes with 20-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery with heating in the front, three-zone climate control, keyless entry and go, the eight-inch Toyota Touch 2 (TT2) infotainment, a seven-inch TFT instrument cluster screen, wireless smartphone charging, a powered tailgate, satnav, an 11-speaker JBL premium audio system and a panoramic roof, among more. The Excel Premium goes even further, with its own design of 20s, ventilation in the front seats to go with the heater elements, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, perforated leather trim, a 'kick-to-open' handsfree tailgate, a 360-degree camera, a Head-Up Display and one of those fancy camera-powered 'Smart' rear-view interior mirrors.
All very noble and the Toyota has a clever interior, too. There are cubby holes and storage ledges and stowaway compartments everywhere in the cabin, plus a plethora of charging ports and so on for mobile devices. Each seat in the second row slides forward and backwards by up to 180mm, allowing easy access to a third row of chairs that remain on the small side for taller adults, but which should suit younger folk and, er, those of a smaller stature just fine. Even the boot is decent with all seven seats in play, kicking off at 332 litres and rising to 865 litres then 1,909 litres as you fold each of the rearward-two rows of seats down as you move forward in the cabin.
A shame, then, that the Highlander doesn't quite convince of its upmarket posturing on the aesthetic and interior ambience fronts. On the outside, it looks pleasant. Nothing more, nothing less. Inoffensive. Nondescript. Not hulking, despite a giant 2,850mm wheelbase and a kerb weight of 2,105kg in top spec. But hardly drop-dead gorgeous, either, or imbued with sort of effortless charm a Volvo XC90 exudes. And inside, it certainly doesn't feel a 50-grand machine in terms of the material finishing. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but strange, fake wood in the doors doesn't help matters, that metallic-look bracket-like extrusion on the dash which holds the infotainment screen is totally smooth to the touch when it appears textured to the eye, the actual TT2 system isn't the sharpest operator in the world (lucky you can bypass it with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, then) and is presented on a relatively small eight-inch touchscreen, and the instrument cluster is hardly any different to one you'd find in a 'lesser' Toyota model. There's also some odd switchgear layout, like having the auto high-beam and heated steering wheel functions on a phalanx of square pads down to the right of the steering wheel, alongside another button for the operation of the tailgate and yet another for the surround-view camera. Odd grouping. Anyway, on reflection, we'd have to say a Kodiaq has a nicer fascia and cabin than the Toyota, and the Czech chariot is a good deal cheaper than the Highlander. Hmm.
How does it drive?
Perhaps Toyota is pinning all its hopes on the way the Highlander drives, but again - on first inspection of the plain on-paper stats - we're not blown away by what the big SUV offers. As we said up top, in terms of the separate outputs of its two electric motors and its 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder petrol engine, it matches the RAV4 Plug-In Hybrid across the board. However, where Toyota claims 306hp overall for the smaller PHEV model, in the Highlander its drivetrain peaks at 248hp. It also has a 1.6kWh nickel metal-hydride battery, rather than the 18.1kWh lithium-ion affair of the RAV4, because the Highlander is a series hybrid rather than a PHEV. That means the Highlander doesn't have an official EV-driving range, as it's only design to run engine-off at low speeds, but it does switch the combustion lump to idle quite a lot in urban areas and - not driven very carefully at all - it managed to return 33.6mpg across an 88-mile mixed-roads testing route. So in the region of 40mpg as claimed by the manufacturer doesn't look like it would be a pipe dream for careful, semi-urban-dwelling owners.
Also like the RAV4, there's a electric continuously variable transmission (e-CVT) fitted and the Highlander has AWD-i, which means although there's no physical link between the axles, the various propulsive motors and clever onboard electronic systems ensure that the requisite grunt is going whichever of the four wheels can best handle it. Toyota also makes a point of saying that the Highlander has the lowest centre-of-gravity in its class, steering that is set up to be light yet direct and accurate, contributing to a nimble feel behind the wheel at odds with the SUV's sheer physical presence, and yet the vehicle is fitted with soft springs to provide the sort of easy-going manners that are most befitting of a family-oriented conveyance like this.
It all adds up to a seven-seat SUV that's perfectly proficient in many regards, but outstanding in none. And there are a few bugbears. Such as, without recourse to adaptive dampers or air suspension, the Highlander's 20-inch wheels make for a pretty lumpen low-speed ride. Around town at sub-30mph, the Toyota amplifies too many imperfections in the road's surface into significant disturbers of the peace and comfort of the cabin's occupants. Like so many cars these days, that crunchy nature dissipates at higher speeds, and the ride of the Highlander is accommodating and genial on fast A-roads and motorways. However, despite the increase in sound-deadening around the front bulkhead and in the wheel arches, and the fitment of acoustic-insulating layers in the front glasshouse, the Highlander isn't exactly notably hushed at speed. There's a fair bit of road chatter going on, although wind noise is admirably quelled.
Don't expect much of a pay-off in the form of exciting cornering, as the Highlander doesn't deliver on that front. This is not such an egregious error on the part of a large, seven-seat SUV, as few of them in this class (whichever class that may be, considering the Toyota straddles both the more affordable and more premium sectors with its marketing and placement) are what you'd call 'handling greats', but the Japanese company itself is the architect of its own downfall here. You see, TNGA has revitalised Toyota's products, so that you can get exciting drives out of mid-ranking, prosaic versions of previously dull machines like the
Yaris and
Corolla. Maybe we set our expectations too high for the Highlander as a result, but while it has admirable levels of grip, strong traction and decent performance from its hybrid drivetrain, there's a lot of movement of the body during more spirited bouts of driving (you get plenty of pitch, roll and dive), the steering always remains incredibly light and feel-free, and you will constantly be well aware of the Toyota's significant mass when you're on the brakes. You can hustle the Highlander Hybrid AWD-i along at speed if you want, but there's more of a perverse thrill inherent in such behaviour that pertains to making the SUV operate clearly outside its comfort zone, rather than there being any enjoyment of unearthing a surprisingly well-sorted chassis underneath somewhat unassuming bodywork.
Verdict
We've not exactly waited with bated breath for 20 years for the Toyota Highlander, despite it launching around the turn of the millennium in other parts of the world. Truth be told, we've never felt Toyota had a conspicuous seven-seat-wagon-shaped gap in its portfolio that desperately needed filling, but we can understand why - in the current climate of a ravenously SUV-hungry European car-buying marketplace - the company decided to take a punt with this generation of the Highlander making its way over here for the first time.
The problem with the Toyota SUV is, however, that while it's nicely engineered and perfectly adept at what it sets out to do, it's also wholly unremarkable in almost every regard. Aside from one feature: its astonishing asking price. For fans of Toyota and the marque's 'self-charging hybrid' ethos who have been long hankering after such a big family-moving creation, it's the perfect solution. For everyone else, there are better alternatives available at both lower and higher price points that will tempt you to car showrooms which don't belong to Toyota. Maybe the Highlander needs a dose of the Quickening to give it extra power...*
* =
apologies. We just couldn't resist one last nod to Russell Mulcahy's, um... masterpiece. Yes. Let's call it that.
