In the wake of working endlessly in the engine of endless Camrys, Siennas, Highlanders, and numerous different models, Toyota's 3.5-liter V-6 is gradually being guided off stage. In a move normal all through the business, a turbocharged four is replacing the normally suctioned V-6. With the 2023 model year, the Highlander joins the four-chamber club, yet it's a change that Toyota is making as imperceptible as could be expected.
With a drop in chamber include comes a drop in torque, presently 265 horses versus 295 preceding. However, the turbocharger conveys a remunerating help in force, which ascends to 310 pound-feet from 263. In any case, with 4529 pounds to move, the super four resist times, holding lower gears when a burlier V-6 could unhesitatingly upshift. That impression of a dedicated super four is brought into the world out in our testing of an all-wheel-drive Platinum. The more modest motor's 7.2-second 60-mph delays 0.5 behind the number for the all-wheel-drive V-6, and the equivalent was valid with a moving beginning in our 5-to-60-mph test.
In the Highlander, the move forward powertrain offering (at an expense of $1400 in most trim levels) is a four-chamber mixture. With a sum of 243 drive, the gas-electric combo almost paired the speed increase execution of the super four in the hurry to 60 mph. The Highlander cross breed (again with all-wheel drive) was only a tick behind the 2.4T to 60 mph at 7.3 seconds, yet it fell further behind in the 50-to-70-mph breezing through assessment, requiring 5.2 seconds to the super four's 4.7.
Thus, the 2.4 super can't exactly match the V-6 in speed increase yet stays (scarcely) in front of the mixture. The new motor's drivability, however, is unquestionably sound. The super's lift is flawlessly incorporated, and reaction is very straight for a helped four. At low paces on moving landscape when you're simply brushing the choke, some turbocharged motors can flood unevenly, yet all the same not this one. It helps that Toyota coordinates the supported motor with a polite eight-speed programmed as opposed to a CVT as in the Subaru Rising. Additionally, Toyota claims the new engine is good for the same 5000-pound towing capacity as the V-6.
HIGHS: Modern infotainment, composed ride, solid braking performance.
We just wish the engine sounded happier in its work. Once the engine reaches 3000 rpm or so, the four-banger's machinations are less than melodious. It quiets right down when cruising, though, and we recorded 68 decibels at a steady 70 mph, marginally better than the V-6.
The benefit you'd expect from engine downsizing is improved fuel economy, and the 2023 Highlander's gas mileage does improve, just not by a lot. With all-wheel drive, the Highlander 2.4T's EPA estimates are 24 mpg combined, 21 city, and 28 highway, which amounts to just 1 mpg better than the previous V-6 across the board. (The front-wheel-drive version ekes out another 1 mpg in all three measures.) The Highlander hybrid is the real gas-mileage champ, with EPA combined estimates of 35 mpg for all-wheel drive and 36 mpg for front-wheel drive, numbers that lead the field.
Aside from the engine swap, the Highlander's driving experience is largely unchanged. The ride is composed, and the body structure feels solid even when you thwack into a pothole that reveals itself at the last minute. The steering, though, doesn't feel connected to anything beyond the firewall (and switching to Sport mode doesn't help, as that only affects the powertrain). We understand this isn't the type of machine that's likely to be chosen for Sunday-morning canyon carving, but a better-tuned helm would be welcome even in more mundane commuting, such as when you're riding close to the concrete barriers in construction-narrowed lanes. Handling is neither particularly sporty nor clumsy—about what you'd expect from a family-size SUV—and skidpad grip at 0.84 g is in line with competitors. Hit the brakes, and the Highlander hauls itself down from 70 mph in 170 feet, a solid performance (although not quite as good as what we recorded with the 2023 Hyundai Palisade).
Inside the very much completed lodge, the 2023 model year brings a couple of tech refreshes. The Restricted and Platinum get a computerized instrument bunch, and Toyota's most recent infotainment framework makes its introduction here. Standard on the Restricted and Platinum and discretionary on the XSE and XLE, the wide, 12.3-inch touchscreen is roosted high on the middle scramble and flaunts a slack free processor and sharp illustrations. The volume handle is a far reach, and we miss having a tuning handle, yet that is a quick vanishing convenience nowadays. The driver rather interfaces with the sound framework by means of the directing wheel buttons. With such a lot of screen land, we'd likewise prefer to can show various capabilities immediately, however that is just conceivable while utilizing Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, the two of which are remote.
Beneath the screen, the actual environment controls have a decent detachment of capability, making the framework simple to utilize. Furthermore, underneath that is a rack for your telephone, which presently offers remote charging (beforehand the remote charger was clumsily situated in the control center capacity box). As in the past, there's one more helpful rack on the traveler's side of the scramble.
As in all fair size SUVs, the Highlander's second-column skipper's seats are bounty spacious for grown-ups, and purchasers on the other hand can likewise pick a center line seat in four of the six trim levels. The image is less blushing in the rearmost seat, where the low pad powers a knees-up seating position, while legroom goes from passable to practically nonexistent, contingent upon the place of the center column seats. What's more, don't anticipate conveying a lot of baggage with the third line being used. Assuming that you consistently utilize the third column, there are roomier decisions in this section — the Chevrolet Navigate and the Volkswagen Map book, to name only two. Toyota plainly is insightful of this weakness, as it's presenting the more extended and roomier Terrific Highlander for the people who consistently convey a group.
LOWS: Little mileage gains, a piece less spring in its step, squeezed third line.
The current year's motor trade hasn't changed our assessment of the Highlander by a ton. The V-6 was a more grounded entertainer, yet the super four is satisfactory. The 2.4T gets better mileage, yet at the same not much better. We keep on believing that the Highlander half and half, with its heavenly gas mileage, is the best approach. Also, of the Highlander's plenty of trim levels, everything except two of them give you that decision.
them give you that choice.
