The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander adds another three-row SUV to its line-up that fits between the smaller Highlander and the larger truck-based Sequoia. It features styling closely related to the RAV4, with a wide stance and crisp lines. Three powertrains are available including a non-hybrid turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder, a hybrid 2.5-liter four-cylinder, and a hybrid turbo 2.4-liter four-cylinder. The turbo hybrid packs 362 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, and the non-turbo hybrid delivers more than 30 mpg in combined fuel economy. It's quite spacious inside, comfortable and solid handling. The vehicle featured in the video is a high-trim Platinum with the base, 265-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder and all-wheel drive.
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Transcript- This is the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander. This is the larger sibling to the regular Highlander and marks the largest unibody or car-based three-row crossover in Toyota's lineup. And compared with the regular Highlander, the styling is a bit different. It's a little bit closer to the RAV4 than the Highlander with more angular, more aggressive lines, especially along the sides. You've got this distinct crease that goes up and into the window line.
And besides the styling, it's also quite a bit larger than the regular Highlander. The overall length is 6 and 1/2 inches longer than the regular Highlander and it's about 2 inches taller and wider. Besides being larger on the outside, that equals quite a bit more room on the inside, which we'll show you when we open it up.
Popping open the back of the Grand Highlander, we'll show one of the main improvements over a regular Highlander. And that's the cargo space. Behind the third row, you get a little more than 4 cubic feet of space more than the regular one for a little bit more than 20 in total.
Folding down the seats, you get a little bit less than 58 cubic feet of space. And then folding down the second row, you get just under 98 cubic feet of space. And that total number with all the seats down is a little more than 13 cubic feet more than a regular Highlander.
Additionally, the Grand Highlander has pretty solid towing numbers. The maximum towing capacity is about 5,000 pounds. One of the other advantages of the Grand Highlander's additional size compared with the regular one is passenger space. The second row is as comfortable as you would expect for most three-row SUVs.
But what really pays off is third row space. Getting in is pretty easy. Just pull the paddle on the back of the seat and that slides forward.
Plus, there's a very low step in at the door. So a quick climb into the back, slide the seat back. And while it's not the most spacious third row, it is still tolerable for like full-size adults even with full-size adults in the second row too. Plus, for additional comfort, the back seats have recline adjustment, making this a pretty pleasant place to be.
Now that we've moved up to the front seat, we can talk about how there's a lot of space up here. Head room, knee room, leg room, it's very comfortable. Feels fairly wide. Seats are decent. Wouldn't mind just a little bit more thigh support from the base, but for the most part pretty comfortable.
This is a Platinum trim, which gets you all kinds of niceties like both a 12.3 inch infotainment screen, as well as a 12.3 inch instrument screen. You also get wireless charging, multi-zone automatic climate control. And also, you get faux wood trim, which at a glance looks all right.
But upon touching it, it's very obviously fake and a little bit disappointing. So that's not necessarily one of the appealing things about the Platinum. But all of the extra features, some of which we've mentioned, are a perk of the Platinum.
This particular model is equipped with multiple drive modes as well. It's got eco, sport, mud and sand, rock and dirt, and normal. These, like in many other vehicles, affect things like throttle response, gear selection, traction control, ABS, those various things depending on the situation. For instance, it might be a little bit more lenient on traction control settings with the mud and sand or rock and dirt things to allow a little bit of tire slip in order for you to get through slippery situations.
Something that we do like about the Grand Highlander is that for climate control, we have a wide array of physical controls, both knobs, toggle buttons, regular buttons, all make it really easy to use the climate control. And of course, we're always glad to see an actual volume knob. On top of lots of cargo space, you have a variety of little bins all throughout the Grand Highlander, including this little tray up here, which is very handy for like leaving a phone, since you've got a USB-C charger right next to it. You've got a couple of cup holders and a bin down in here, as well as a tray and wireless charging.
The passenger gets their own cargo space in the center console, which is not accessible from the driver's side. And then there's a very deep center console compartment. It's quite deep, but not particularly wide.
The seats in the Grand Highlander are generally pretty comfortable. They've got good thick cushioning, pretty decent lumbar support. There's just a hint of bolstering.
Obviously, it's not a sports car, but you know enough to keep it comfortable. I wouldn't mind just a little bit more thigh support for being kind of long legged. And in this Platinum version they are heated and ventilated and, of course, the power adjustable.
Now, under the hood of the Grand Highlander, you have the choice of three different engines. This particular one has the turbocharged 2.4 liter four cylinder. It makes 265 horsepower and 310 pounds feet of torque. It's also coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission and your choice of either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
Fuel economy wise, it gets between 22 and 24 miles per gallon combined. That makes it the least efficient, but we still like it for its copious torque and its fairly smooth transmission. We also appreciate that the Grand Highlander has significantly better sound deadening than the regular Highlander, making this engine, which is normally a bit thrashy, much quieter.
Available as an option is a regular Hybrid model. This is one of two hybrids and this one uses a naturally aspirated 2.5 liter four cylinder and an electric motor. It's available with front or all-wheel drive and it has a CVT. This engine gets impressive fuel economy with between 33 and 36 miles per gallon combined, but it is fairly noisy. And it's a bit slow as it has a lot of vehicle to pull around.
At the top of the range is the Hybrid Max that combines the turbocharged engine here with larger electric motors and a six-speed automatic transmission. That one doesn't do as well fuel economy wise. It's about 27 miles per gallon combined. But it makes an impressive 362 horsepower and 400 pounds feet of torque, making it a very quick option, but also slightly more efficient than this gas engine model.
Well, thanks for joining us for this video and be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Comment down below what you think of the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander. And be sure to check out autoblog.com for even more information about this and various other three-row SUVs.
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The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander adds another three-row SUV to its line-up that fits between the smaller Highlander and the larger truck-based Sequoia. It features styling closely related to the RAV4, with a wide stance and crisp lines. Three powertrains are available including a non-hybrid turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder, a hybrid …
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