2011 Toyota Highlander Overview Change Vehicle

This 2011 Toyota Highlander overview explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2011 Highlander, and includes Toyota Highlander safety, reliability, and fuel economy information.

One of America’s favorite midsize crossovers is hitting dealers’ lots with a fresh appearance and a host of changes. It’s the 2011 Toyota Highlander, which debuts revised front and rear styling for gas-powered versions and a distinctive grille for the hybrid trims. Inside every example is a third-row 50/50 split-bench seat, and a more generous array of standard and optional features has been spread over the entire lineup. The four-cylinder SE model has replaced the Sport and its standard V6. Rounding out the major updates is the Highlander Hybrid’s adoption of a powerful 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine as part of its gas/electric powertrain.

Toyota offers the Highlander in regular and hybrid versions. The former is available in three progressively well-equipped trims, starting with the aptly named Base, which might surprise shoppers with its healthy list of standard features. Among the items you’ll find on every Highlander Base are 17-inch alloys, keyless entry, automatic headlights, and the usual assortment of electronic convenience features, such as power windows and door locks. Buyers will also enjoy a reclining second-row split-bench seat with a stowable center section, a two-passenger third-row seat, an auxiliary audio jack, and cruise control. Noteworthy options are limited to heated mirrors and a tow package.

Last year’s mid-level Sport trim has been replaced by 2011’s SE, pumped up with content including a power moonroof, roof rails, fog lights, a handy power tailgate, and leather upholstery. Further differentiation from the Base model comes via heated front seats with power adjustments for the driver, Bluetooth hands-free calling capability, a cargo cover, and other desirable features like XM satellite radio, a USB port, and a rearview camera. That assortment of amenities is impressive on its own, but buyers can pay extra to equip their new ride with a touch-screen navigation system, upgraded JBL audio and XM’s real-time NavTraffic feature.

The top-dog in the lineup is the Highlander Limited, which is set apart from its lesser siblings with 19-inch alloy wheels, heated mirrors, a triple-zone climate control system, push-button ignition, perforated leather upholstery, and a power-adjustable front passenger’s seat. The Limited’s interior is also decked out with woodgrain trim, but if you want a rear DVD entertainment system you’ll need to check out the options list.

For those who want an extra dose of efficiency with their crossover, the all-wheel-drive Toyota Highlander Hybrid is one to consider. Like the regular version, this gas/electric variant is available in Base trim, though the collection of standard features has been fleshed out a bit more with fog lights, a push-button ignition system, a power driver’s seat, rear climate controls, and a rearview camera. A Hybrid Limited model is also offered, equipped with the same amenities found on the gasoline-powered version.

Power for the Highlander Base and SE comes from a 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine that puts out 187 horses and 186 pound-feet of torque, all of which is directed to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. The EPA suggests drivers will average about 20 mpg in town and 25 mpg on the highway.

That decent little engine is not available with all-wheel-drive, an attractive feature only offered with the Highlander’s available six-cylinder engines. The first is a 3.5-liter V6 boasting 270 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque, but, unlike the four-cylinder, output is handled by a five-speed automatic transmission. In front-drive guise, expect to burn through a gallon of gas every 18 miles in the city, or 24 miles on the highway. Opt for a four-wheeling Highlander and you’ll see efficiency of 17 mpg around town and 22 mpg on the freeway.

Highlander Hybrid models also use a 3.5-liter V6, though ratings of 231 horsepower and 215 pound-feet of torque are less impressive. Until, that is, you learn that net horsepower actually comes in at 280. The extra ponies are served up courtesy of three electric motors, which join a nickel-metal hydride battery pack and regenerative brakes in constituting the hybrid system. Despite the added weight of the hybrid components and standard all-wheel drive, this relatively green crossover is expected to average 28 mpg, regardless of whether you’re scooting around town or bopping down the Interstate.

We’re starting to feel like a broken record, but that’s what happens when you review a crossover vehicle that has been named one of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Picks for four consecutive years. And even with 2011’s revised testing and scoring methods, the Highlander has earned an overall rating of 4 out of 5 Stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Found among the Highlander’s assortment of safety features are antilock brakes, stability control, seven airbags including one for the driver’s knee and curtains for all three rows, hill start assist and downhill assist (on AWD models) technology, and a rearview camera (standard on SE and Limited).

Like safety, the Highlander has earned a positive reputation for reliability, one that remains solidly intact in 2011. While not quite as impressive as the excellent ratings we’ve seen in recent years, Consumer Reports’ and J.D. Power and Associates’ predictions of above-average dependability are certainly nothing to complain about.

Revised styling provides the 2011 Toyota Highlander with a more polished look than we saw last year, and the loss of a Sport model that wasn’t terribly sporty in the first place should cause no more than a few fits of despair amongst shoppers. What’s more interesting is the expanded availability of the four-cylinder; given high gas prices, the timing is right, but the fuel-economy divide between that engine and the V6 has narrowed to within one mile-per-gallon (highway rating), making that 2.7-liter mill appear more like a less powerful (and less desirable) alternative rather than a clear choice for the efficiency-minded.

By Thom Blackett