Video: 2008 Toyota Highlander

Typical of most mid-size SUV's these days, you've got a little bit larger grill, a little crisper, more angular headlights, and a little bit more angular hood. As you move around to the side, the 19 inch wheels on our limited grade test model, fill out the wheel wells nicely. The side mirrors are a little more aerodynamic, which Toyota says increases fuel efficiency. In back the Highlander arguably looks more Japanese than ever. All but the base model come with an independently opening glass hatch. Nice thing about this is that with a lot of models, when you open the actual lift gate hatches kind of flaps up there in the wind and the Highlander, when you open it, the hatch reconnects with lift gate. So when you close them, everything comes down as one piece, Three rows of seats can accommodate up to seven passengers in just about every Highlander. Behind the third row seat, there's only about 10 cubic feet of room, which isn't very much even for a midsize three row SUV. So you can see this is a pretty small bag and you throw it here, it pretty much takes up almost the width of the area behind the third row seat. Up front, the Highlander's interior looks a lot like that, of the redesigned Camry with a dashboard that sort of flows toward the center controls. The plastics on the dashboard are hard to the touch, but they look good from a distance and they seem to befit a car of this price range. Soccer moms and dads will appreciate the abundant storage options. You've got four cup holders up here, and two bottle holders in the side doors. The cup holders in the center are adjustable for drink size. So that 44 ounce big gulp can certainly fit in here. There's also a lot of storage in the center console, which is fairly wide and quite possibly one of the biggest glove compartments of all time. All Highlanders come with a standard 3.5 liter V6, it's the same engine you'll find in the Camry sedan, as well as the Sienna minivan and the RAV4 SUV. It's pretty robust. It makes 270 horsepower and matches to a standard five speed automatic transmission. We found that it had plenty of power for passing and it should prove enough for most moms and dads. For additional information on this car or any other go to cars.com and our blog kicking tires.