Put simply, hybrid technology improves a vehicle's fuel efficiency by combining sustainable electrical power with the power of a traditional, low emissions internal combustion engine. Less fossil fuel burned means less harmful emissions. To date the hybrid partnership has been a safe and dependable one. In fact, Toyota's Prius hybrid sedan is fast becoming a f
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| Toyota's Prius hybrid sedan is fast becoming a favourite among taxi owners due to its durability and thriftiness. (Photo: Toyota) |
avourite among taxi owners due to its durability and thriftiness. If there is a down side to hybrid, it's predicting the battery's longevity in every possible usage scenario. In addition to lifespan, ensuring that batteries used in hybrid vehicles are safely and responsibly disposed of is logistically mind-boggling. But this isn't a critique on battery recycling programs. It's a review of the hybrid '06 Toyota Highlander, so let's get on with it.
Toyota has equipped the hybrid Highlander with the same cutting-edge technology that powers its Lexus luxury division's RX 400h. This is a "full hybrid" design, which means it is capable of operating exclusively in gasoline or electric modes, as well as a combination of both. As with the RX400h, the Highlander hybrid's core powerplant is a 3.3-litre (202 cu in) 24-valve, DOHC V6, featuring Toyota's Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i). The effective output of the combined gas/electric arrangement is an impressive 268 horsepower. Toyota markets its performance as being comparable to that of a V8 engine SUV, while delivering the economy of a four-banger. Regardless of how it's characterized, the punch of Toyota's hybrid Highlander is in deed impressive. Toyota touts a 0 to 100 km/h time of only 7.4 seconds, and I believe it. The mid-size SUV may not snap necks off-the-line the way a
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| As with the RX400h, the Highlander hybrid's core powerplant is a 3.3-litre (202 cu in) 24-valve, DOHC V6, featuring Toyota's Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i). (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
HEMI-powered Grand Cherokee might, but look out, once it's rolling it doesn't hold back. Passing power is also impressive for an SUV, and thanks to an electronically controlled, continuously variable transmission (E-CVT) the Highlander's gas engine remains in its sweet spot throughout a run for the roses.
Although the hybrid powerplant is very civilized and well refined operationally, I didn't find it quite as smooth and quiet in the Highlander as I did in the Lexus. It functions identically in both vehicles, but the added sound deadening materials and higher quality carpets, plastics, etc, give the Lexus a little more polish. In the Highlander, the 3.3-litre V6 announces its presence with slightly more growl when asked to kick out a dose of grunt. A little more road noise is evident in the Highlander as well, but again that's to be expected - the extra loonies (greenbacks) needed for Lexus ownership buy more than just an upscale nameplate.
