2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Le V6 Awd | 2017 Electric Cars - Automotive News

2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Le V6 Awd_2017 Electric Cars

2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Le V6 Awd | 2017 Electric Cars.Low gas tolls have begotten hard time for composites. Even today's most efficient gas-electrics--the Toyota Prius, the Kia Niro, and the Hyundai Ioniq--don't pencil against less efficient but much cheaper nonhybrid counterparts in the same general class. And those are composites that surface 50 mpg. The Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV is in an even tougher spot, given that its EPA ratings are only a few mpg better than a regular Highlander's.

Updated for 2017 together with the rest of the Highlander lineup, the composite, as before, weds a V-6 engine to a 167 -hp motor/ generator to power the figurehead wheels, with a second 68 -hp electrical motor fitted to the rear axle supplying on-demand all-wheel drive. The engine, however, is brand-new, and for the first time is shared with the nonhybrid Highlander. It's now direct introduced and manufactures 295 horsepower and 263 lb-ft of torque, improvements of 64 ponies and 48 lb-ft over the previous model, nudging the hybrid powertrain's total production( taking into account both electrical engines) from 280 to 306 horsepower.

The Math 

Of the four Highlander hybrid prune tiers, the locate LE model boasts the highest EPA ratings: 29 mpg blended, 30 mpg municipal, and 28 mpg street. The chassis for the other three( includes the Limited tested here) are each 1 mpg lower. Either practice, in comparison with the all-wheel-drive V-6 Highlander, the hybrid's EPA approximates are only better by a few mpg. Our real-world gasoline economy was even less affecting, at 23 mpg overall--just 4 mpg better than the last nonhybrid Highlander we tested, a 2014 model that had the previous, less-efficient V-6 engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. With its new V-6 and eight-speed automatic, the current account likely would restrict improved efficiency gap significantly. In our 75 -mph highway fuel-economy measure, this latest Highlander hybrid attained 26 mpg--exactly the same as a nonhybrid 2016 Highlander V -6--or 1 mpg worse than its EPA highway rating and no better than some of its nonhybrid peers, such as the Mazda CX -9.

If there's a silver lining, it is that the Highlander's hybrid cost fee is smaller than most. The entry-level LE is merely $2130 more than an all-wheel-drive, V-6-powered Highlander LE; on the XLE trim, the hybrid's cost penalty is only $1350, whereas the Limited and Platinum composites are $1620 dearer than their gas-only counterparts. Oh, and this composite( thanks to the updated, most powerful V-6 engine) is the quickest Highlander we've ever tested, contacting 60 mph in 7.0 seconds flat. That's 0. 6 second quicker than the old-time hybrid and 0.3 second quicker than the pre-refresh criterion Highlander with the previous V-6 engine.

Still, we'd save the money and precisely buy the nonhybrid model, which too benefits from a traditionally bred driving know. Accelerate quickly in the composite, and the V-6 and electrical engines combine for a sort of mooing soundtrack as the engine revs to its power crest and stays there while the transmission participates the optimum drive ratio.

Despite the hybrid's AWD setup, there is noticeable torque steer as the figurehead wheels fight for acquire during hard acceleration. Up to about 30 mph, the hybrid seems spry and quick; above that fast, the sense of acceleration ebbs as the electrical engines lose wind and the V-6 shoulders more of the burden. This isn't only surprising; according to Toyota's weight chassis, the battery-assisted Highlander Limited composite is 310 pounds heavier than an equivalent nonhybrid.

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Dynamically, the three-row Highlander is unexciting, with lifeless guide, rarely floppy mas flows, and heinous restraint tone. Toyota has yet to figure out how to transition smoothly from regenerative braking--wherein the electrical engines act like mechanical restraints, converting kinetic energy into electricity--to conventional friction restraint via the restraint rotors. The upshot is vague and changeable response from the restraint pedal, although the hybrid's actual check intervals are par for this class.

A Regular Three-Row Show 

Powertrains aside, the hybrid follows the general Highlander script as a skillful genealogy hauler. All patterns reap cosmetic updates for 2017, including a wide-mouth grille, more LED lighting accents front and rear, and a generally classier impression overall. The cabin's forum is high quality and handsome, and we like the wide shelf that covers most of the lower hyphen and is helpful for accumulating daily detritus. Demerits involving the touchscreen's length from the driver( it's an easier contact for the front fare) and the stubby audio and HVAC knobs that are nearly flush with the encircling face and therefore difficult to grip.

The Limited tested here, together with the top-end Limited Platinum model, comes with a pair of second-row "captains chairs" and a third-row bench, but buyers can opt for three-person benches in both sequences to seat eight in total on the LE and XLE. The Highlander's second sequence renders abundance of space, plus fore/ aft and recline adjustments--although the seats have a rather low cushion--while the cramped third sequence is insufferable for anyone but small children. Usefully, the third sequence, when folded, assembles a clean-living ramp between the cargo storey and the fold-flat second-row chairs, so we are capable of slide caskets or other heavy pieces in without snagging cargo on anything.

At $ 46,154 with alone extra-cost storey matteds and body-side moldings, the Limited you see here isn't unreasonably expensive for a nicely equipped mid-size three-row crossover. Every 2017 Highlander now rises standard with forward-collision threat, automated disaster braking, and adaptive sail self-restraint, and every prune above the locate LE also has blind-spot monitoring. The Limited computes heated and cooled front seats, 19 -inch wheels, and more chrome exterior prune in addition to the sunroof, power front seats, power liftgate, and leather tushes( vinyl in the third sequence) that the XLE brings.

So the Highlander hybrid is every bit the practical and useful three-row genealogy crossover that its gasoline-powered sibling is. And therein lies the rub: There's no compelling reason to pay extra for it or to deal with its drivability quirks. The big fuel-economy increase is unlikely to be of much interest, extremely when gas is so cheap.

Source : Caranddriver.com