Seriously, look at the scowl on this thing. Toyota has gone on this morning about the new Highlander’s sleeker, more angular lines, but the company has so far remained suspiciously quiet about the SUV’s pained grimace. While its new look gives the Highlander a more aggressive stance, don’t be fooled: the name of the game here is (as usual) practicality.
That’s especially true of the Highlander Hybrid, which — in addition to packing between seven and eight people into three rows — is rated for a surprising 34 miles per gallon. That’s a notable lift over last year’s model, which you could typically count on for about 26MPG. Expect a decent selection of horses here, too — the Highlander Hybrid produces around 240HP, which isn’t too shabby for a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine coupled with a pair of electric motors.
If hybrids aren’t quite your thing, though, there’s always the more standard Highlander, with its 3.5-liter Dual VVT-i V6 engine. It’ll definitely give you a little more oomph off the line, but the extra power on demand will come in especially handy if you need to haul around a camper or something. (Then again, you might not be dragging too many campers around when this starts rolling into dealerships this winter.)
