2014 Toyota Highlander AWD V-6

2014 Toyota Highlander AWD V-6 2014 Toyota Highlander AWD V-6
Instrumented Test

The Highlander rolled onto the SUV scene in 2001, giving Toyota a carlike stablemate for the 4Runner, allowing the latter to be more attuned to those buyers who might actually take their vehicles into trackless territory. The Highlander’s bones were adapted from the Camry sedan and included front-wheel drive with the option of AWD, seats for five, and an easygoing persona. When we put it through its paces against two other new-for-’01 utes—a Ford Explorer and a Chevy TrailBlazer—the Highlander prevailed. “Isn’t this what we used to call a station wagon?” we asked. And answered: “Yep. And it works.”

This was before the word crossover became one of the most elastic terms in automotive history. And here we are, 13 years later, contemplating the third-generation Highlander. The fundamentals are essentially the same: front-drive architecture, AWD capability, all-around family-oriented transportation.

But there’s a lot more of it. Compared with the 2001 original, the 2014 Highlander is 6.7 inches longer overall on a wheelbase almost three inches longer than that of the original. It’s 3.9 inches wider, 590 pounds heavier than our similarly equipped 2001 Highlander Limited, and capable of seating seven or eight passengers. Make that barely capable for the rearmost two or thee passengers, but the original Highlander had places for only five.

Growth is unremarkable in this or any other vehicle class. What is remarkable is that for all its added mass, which in turn requires a bigger engine, the new Highlander outperforms its 2001 ancestor in every objective category, including fuel economy.

Power to Weight

Even though the third-generation model outperforms the first in straight-ahead urgency, it lags its immediate, second-gen predecessor slightly when the light turns green. Mated to a new six-speed automatic, the 3.5-liter V-6 output numbers are unchanged—270 horsepower and 248 lb-ft of torque—but weight has increased. A Highlander we tested in 2008 hit 60 in 7.0 seconds versus 7.3 for our 2014 test model. That ’08 Highlander was a front-drive model, whereas this one is all-wheel drive, but that doesn’t entirely account for the 350-pound difference in curb weight.

Some of the generational weight gain is attributable to dimensional increases—2.7 inches longer overall and a half-inch wider—some to selective structural stiffening, and some to effective sound-damping measures. Still, the acceleration of this much heavier Highlander versus the original is noteworthy—a tepid 8.8 seconds to 60 in 2001, 16.7 in the quarter-mile at 84 mph. EPA city mpg ratings for 2001 and 2014 are identical at 18, but the new AWD Highlander enjoys a 2-mpg edge at 24 mpg highway (25 with front drive). We logged a so-so 19 mpg in our testing of the 2014 model.

The Closet Athlete

For all its slightly more manly clothes, the new Highlander is dynamically a traditional Toyota, which is to say quiet, mannerly, and unobtrusive. These are not bad attributes for a family conveyance, and the third-generation model enhances those traits—no surprise there. But there is a pleasant surprise waiting for the driver who has to make an emergency avoidance move or is seized with a need to experience lateral grip and raised adrenaline on a stretch of winding back road.