Bigger Highlander may still not be big enough
PALISADES, N.Y. -- Bigger, bigger, bigger, Toyota says about the redesigned 2008 Highlander.
The insides grew. Weight is up 300 pounds. Body is four inches longer, three inches wider, an inch taller than the old one.
Power is way up and fuel economy in the gasoline models is better by 1 mile per gallon, remarkable given the additional weight and the bigger engine. Fuel economy of the gasoline-electric hybrid is unchanged (using 2008-model regulations) despite the new size and weight.
Just doing what customers ask, Toyota says.
And, of course, prices are bigger. Gasoline model is up a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars. Hybrids are up a couple hundred to more than $3,000. Even the destination charge is up forty bucks.
Yet the new Highlander remains on the small end of the midsize SUV spectrum. Though wider than the Honda Pilot, Highlander seats fewer, has a little less interior room and a lot less cargo space behind the third row.
Despite the enlarged exterior, which improves space generously for first- and second-row occupants, the new Highlander offers fractionally less cargo room behind the third-row seat than the old one, and slightly less legroom for third-row passengers.
The marquee feature on the new Highlander, standard on all models, is what Toyota calls the Center Stow seat. Clever idea, clumsy execution.
The middle section of the second row seat unlatches and stows in a compartment under the center console between the front bucket seats, leaving second-row semi-bucket seats.
You can leave the gap between them as a kid-size aisle to the kid-size third row. Or you can fill it with a latch-in tray that has cupholders and covered storage.
When the center seat section is removed, it leaves visible slots where its hardware attaches. Looks ugly and unfinished. Even if you snap in the tray to cover the lower attaching slots, there's still an upper slot glaring at you from an unattractive pod on the side of the second-row left seat.
Has an after-market, not a factory-installed, appearance. Still, better to have such a convenience than not. That middle seat is firmer than the left and right seats in the second row, and narrower. But it felt reasonably comfortable in the test vehicles. And the Highlander is wide enough that three, uh, full-grown gents (averaging close to 200 pounds) fit across the second row without serious crowding.
The Center Stow system is one of several features that, however well-meant, fail to prove Toyota's assertion that the interior design theme was "smart." Other not-very-smart items:
• Only the right — passenger's — side of the side second-row seat flops and slides forward to open a path to the third row. If you have your child seat strapped in that spot, which is common, you can't open the aisle. Third-row access becomes more difficult.
• A pull-down strap has been added to the tailgate, for people who can't reach the raised gate itself. But the strap is small and narrow and you have to fuss with it to open it wide enough to get your fingers in and use it.
• The third row — still only marginally useful even for kids, despite the Highlander's bigger size — continues to fold as a single unit. You can't flop half of it down to expand the scarce cargo space while leaving one spot for a small fry to sit. Toyota says its surveys show that people want third-row convenience, and it's easier to fold or erect a single seat back there than it would be dealing with a seat split in two. And the studies show that people seldom use a split third row half up and half down, Toyota says.
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