Highlander Hybrid delivers power, city mileage
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With a city mileage rating of 27 miles per gallon and lots of room inside, the 2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid could be just what soccer moms are looking for to taxi the team around town.
Like many hybrids, the Highlander gets better mileage in the city than on the highway. In fact, the mileage on the highway — 25 mpg — just barely beats the regular front-wheel drive Highlander, which gets 24.
The difference is in city driving, where the four-wheel drive hybrid version gets at least 9 miles more out of a gallon of gas than the two-wheel drive Highlander. That’s primarily because the Highlander Hybrid uses Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive System, which cuts the engine off at red lights and can propel the vehicle on battery power alone up to about 20 mph, depending on the charged state of the battery.
The versatility and city mileage in the Highlander Hybrid make it an attractive choice for people who need more room than, say, the Prius. My test vehicle had a second row with two chairs and a folding console as well as a third row seat that easily folded into the floor for more storage space.
Powering the Highlander Hybrid is a 3.3-liter V-6 engine and a high torque electric motor/generator that brings the total output of the drivetrain to 270 net horsepower. I found the combination totally sufficient to power the SUV in the city and on the highway. In fact, the Highlander Hybrid engine was downright peppy and delivered whenever I called for power.
Two modes of operation — ECON and EV — are controlled by switches on the console. The EV mode allows the driver to operate the car on battery power alone at low speeds and under light acceleration. The ECON setting smoothes out the throttle response. But when you put the pedal to the metal, the Highlander Hybrid automatically switches to acceleration mode.
Instruments and gauges help the driver keep track of fuel usage, and a Hybrid System Indicator on the left side of the dash lets the driver know through a series of white dashes how much gas is being used during acceleration. A monitor on the center of the console can be set to show what method of power — gas or electric — is being used.
It was a good thing, too. Often, I couldn’t tell whether the gasoline engine was running without looking at the monitor. The monitor also served as the screen for the vehicle’s backup camera, but I found the screen too small to effectively see what was behind the car. It’s fine for watching out for kids and bicycles, but I couldn’t use it to back into a tight parking space.
From a safety standpoint, the test hybrid got five stars’ worth of protection for everyone except the front seat passenger in frontal and side crashes. The car got four stars for passenger protection in a frontal crash.
The Highlander Hybrid I tested had a long list of amenities and had a base price of $34,700. It also had the optional Popular Package Plus, which added a power liftgate, an upgraded sound system and XM Satellite Radio. A front dual-zone climate control system with steering wheel controls added $375 and an automatic rear air conditioning system tacked on $785.
With the $745 delivery charge, the as-tested price of the Highlander Hybrid was $40,800. It may be a bit steep, but it’s an awful lot of car for the money.
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