New Toyota Highlander could be the best 7 seater on the market;Toyota Highlander Review & Road Test

The Toyota Highlander is Toyota’s large premium SUV built for the American market, with seven seats and more of an on-road focus & now thankfully, this fourth-generation model is available in Europe and the UK. Over here, the Highlander sits comfortably between the smaller RAV4 and the mighty Land Cruiser. This puts it head to head with some very strong, family-friendly competition, including the Skoda Kodiaq, Kia Sorento, Land Rover Discovery and the Volvo XC90. There’s even competition from within the Toyota brand, namely the Lexus RX L, which is more powerful and even more luxurious but much higher-priced than the Highlander. The Highlander’s 2.5-litre power unit is impressive. It’s the most powerful 'self-charging' hybrid fitted to a Toyota yet with 244bhp which gets you to 62mph in just 8.3 seconds, not bad for a car weighing over two tons.There’s none of that diesel rumble either, and in the cruise the Highlander can boast almost total silence with only a small amount of wind and road noise. Unfortunately, the transmission is a CVT which means when you put your foot down with any vigour the Highlander tends to rev to the max and stay there like its about to blow up. This is a self-charger hybrid and not a plug-in, and Toyota claim up to 39.7mpg on the combined cycle, and over a long, mixed test route we felt this was highly achievable. The Highlander offers comfort over handling, though the ride isn’t quite as soft as something like a Land Rover Discovery, however, it does deal extremely efficiently with even the largest potholes. The Toyota Highlander is fit for purpose, its comfortable to drive, has incredible refinement, impressive economy and tons of space for all inside. Its a decent addition to Toyota’s range, offering those who want to remain with the brand a seven-seater that’s cleaner, greener and less rough and ready than the diesel Land Cruiser option, plus its a lot cheaper than the Lexus RX L. THE PLAYER is the World's leading Men Only Bookazine (hard backed magazine), YouTube Channel and website. Published quarterly, the 200+ page bookazine is called THE PLAYER, containing in-depth reviews and opinions from our team of experts, with articles and features written by some of the world's top journalists who have unparalleled access to the fastest, rarest, most exotic and exciting big boys toys. Subscribe to THE PLAYER Bookazine for FREE here: https://theplayer.co.uk Donate Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr... Donate Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=42105654 Full written article can be found here: http://theplayer.co.uk Twitter:   / _the_player   Instagram:   / theplayer.co.uk   Facebook:   / mrandiejones   Website: https://www.theplayer.co.uk