Video: 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander Review: How Grand Is It?

Now it's potentially a confusing addition because the Highlander already exists. It's a very well-known SUV, one of the best-selling ones out there, but think of this as a super-sized Highlander because the Highlander is actually pretty small as far as space behind the third row and third row roominess. This being bigger than the Highlander actually just makes it kind of normal-sized with the bigger SUVs in the class, like the Volkswagen Atlas and the Honda Pilot. And there's actually a lot to like about the Grand Highlander, so let's check it out. (upbeat music) The Grand Highlander's overall exterior dimensions are about the same as an Atlas or a Pilot, and where you most see the benefit is really behind the third row. So we performed standardized cargo testing, and in our testing, the Grand Highlander is top of the charts for cargo space behind the third row. And there's more behind the third row here than just a lot of space too. I think this is a really slick integration. There's a cargo cover on this version, and it stores underneath the cargo area. So if you don't want to use the cargo cover, which it's actually pretty frequent if you're putting a lot of stuff in here that's a little taller than where that cargo area cover sits, you don't have to leave it in the garage, you can store it underneath. And then also, we are testing the Hybrid MAX version, which is the top powertrain and it's a hybrid, and it has this extremely powerful 1500-watt outlet. Now most outlets you'll see in SUVs, minivans, or trucks are only gonna be 400 watts, so you have a lot more power there, and the goodness continues. There is a good amount of cargo room when the seats fold. There's about as much space as a Hyundai Palisade or a Kia Telluride. So really, if you're an SUV shopper and you're looking to maximize space behind the third row, the Grand Highlander has a lot to offer. Space behind the third row is good, but also, the third row's pretty good too. I wouldn't say it's as comfortable, and access isn't as good as in the Volkswagen Atlas, but it's really near the top of the class. And then, also, having three seats back here is just kind of silly because as soon as you install like a booster seat back here, it overlaps the seat belts, and then the seat belts are hard to access. So, like most, I would consider this two seats back here as far as comfort. But other than room, there are some nice features. There's lower latch anchors on the passenger side third row, which is good for car seats if you have to put one back here. And then also, I like that the climate vents, air comes out of the roof instead of lower or like in the back of the center console. And that's good, especially in the second row. One of my kids is still in a rear-facing convertible. So when the airflow is coming out of the back of the center console, when the vents are in the back near the floor, I just don't feel like a lot of that airflow is getting to her. So with the vents in the ceiling here, you can point them down at a kid who's facing the opposite direction. So really like that. And overall, the outboard seating much more comfortable. You don't really wanna sit here. So here's the twist, the Grand Highlander and it's Hybrid MAX form, it's fast. There are three available powertrains, and the Hybrid MAX is the most powerful at 362 horsepower. 362 horsepower in a Highlander, now that's truck territory, and few 3-row SUVs offer that kind of power in a non-luxury family 3-row SUV. We actually clocked zero to 60 miles an hour in 6.15 seconds in sport mode. And that's a little quicker than the claimed 6.3 seconds. But either way, this is faster acceleration than anything you'd experience in this class outside of a Ford Explorer ST or a V8-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee L. Now the powertrain is made up of a 265-horsepower, turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood, and making up the rest of that power are a pair of electric motors. There's one up front, and then there's an independently powered electric drive motor in the rear that creates electronic all-wheel drive. So there's no physical connection between the front and rear wheels. And this is a really trick powertrain because even though the engine pairs with a six-speed automatic transmission and, you know, six gears is on the low end of what new cars are offering, the torque from the electric drive system really fills in the gaps and offers seamless torque and acceleration delivery to make for one heck of a engaging driving experience in terms of acceleration. One of the things I thought was especially interesting was just the noise that it makes. And, you know, I don't know if it's actually coming from under the hood or if it's augmented, which is actually a good thing because it works, and to me, it sounds more like a big displacement V6, like a four-liter V6, something kind of trucky instead of an electrified four-cylinder. (car whirring) All in all, I was really surprised by how quickly the Grand Highlander Hybrid MAX accelerates. And one more thing to note, this isn't a plug-in vehicle. It does not have all-electric range, so whether that's good or bad depends on what you want. You don't have to fool around with chargers, and on the other end, well, you don't get any EV range, but its acceleration is impressive. And what makes it even more impressive is that you're getting that maximum power and acceleration on regular 87-octane gasoline. Like any car, the Grand Highlander has some quirks, but I don't think they're deal-breakers. For all the power that it has and acceleration, I did expect slightly better body control. Something like this doesn't need to be a proficient handling vehicle, but it was a little sloppy for how fast it actually moves. And then just normal ride quality, it's not rough, but when you hit an impact, you hear it and you feel it. So it would've been nice, just a little extra refinement there. Another quirk is the digital instrument panel. Now these are great. An automaker has an infinite number of possibilities in design choices and information that they can show you. So what you have in the Grand Highlander in front of you is a bit confusing. It's actually chaotic. There are a lot of different colors and icons, and there's some things that look familiar, there's some things that don't look familiar, and overall, it's somewhat anxiety-inducing because you have these three panels that are configurable, and I couldn't find something that felt really comfortable to use. What I was most perplexed by in the Grand Highlander was a feature called PDA, Proactive Driving Assist. Now, when I was driving, the car was braking by itself, and you could see that because there's a little indicator on the dashboard where brake lights are popping up, and it was also steering by itself. And this was strange because it was outside of an emergency situation and outside of adaptive cruise control, where I would expect the vehicle to semi-autonomously drive itself. But because I wasn't in those modes and it wasn't trying to avoid anything, I was really thrown off by the car braking and steering by itself. It was almost like I had a backseat driver who was actually taking the controls of the vehicle. So it took some digging in the owner's manual, but that feature is called PDA, Proactive Driving Assist. And I wanted to show you how to turn it off and how to modify the settings because it's not that clear. And you can do that in the center settings menu of the digital instrument panel. The PDA displays where you can turn it on and off, and then you can also hold the Okay button and get the Settings. The settings are Sensitivity. Then a bunch of acronyms, SA, DA, and OAA. And it's not clear what those actually do, so you have to dig in the owner's manual to figure that out. SA is Steering Assist, DA is Deceleration Assist and OAA is Obstacle Anticipation Assist. But I wouldn't worry about that because I would just turn it off. So the Grand Highlander, it's bigger, but is it more expensive? Yes, of course it is. It's a lot more expensive. Versus a regular Highlander, you're looking at $44,000 for your XLE trim level. And a lot of that is because the Highlander comes in more affordable, more sparsely equipped trims versus the Grand Highlander, which is better equipped. And if you take a Highlander and go up to the XLE trim level and have similar features, well, the Grand Highlander is still more expensive, closer to about $1,000 difference. And I think for an extra $1,000, you really are looking at getting the value especially if you need space behind the second row. If you want more third-row comfort and more cargo space behind the third row, it's not only better than the Highlander, it's near top of the class overall. So the Grand Highlander, definitely gonna be worth that extra money. To learn more about the Toyota Grand Highlander, be sure to read my full review on cars.com. (upbeat music continues)