Best Car Models & All About Cars: 2012 Toyota Highlander

2012 Toyota Highlander

What's New for 2012

The Toyota Highlander sails into 2012 unchanged.

Introduction

Crossover SUVs just like the 2012 Toyota Highlander owe their attractiveness to the canny mix of traits they gift. The simplest of the bunch handle like cars whereas delivering the family-friendly features and boundless utility that made their truck-based SUV forebears such hot tickets back within the day.

In many respects, the Highlander gets this formula simply right. It feels spry touring and is easy to drive, with particularly brisk acceleration from the V6 engine. On hand are all the amenities you'd expect from a solid family hauler, starting with a quiet, roomy cabin that seats up to seven passengers. Whereas the Highlander's third row is a smaller amount spacious than that of some rivals, it is easy to achieve thanks to a nifty 40/twenty/forty-split second row with a removable center seat that facilitates walk-through access. This crossover also has fuel potency to its credit, with both the inline-four and V6 delivering spectacular mileage.

Still, this segment is extremely competitive, and the 2012 Toyota Highlander is not the sole pick to strike a compelling balance. General Motors offers a trio of crossovers -- the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia -- that have a size advantage. If you wish a bigger crossover with a roomier interior, anybody of those three will be a higher match. Other solid bets include the muscular Dodge Durango, the athletic Mazda CX-nine, the distinctive Ford Flex and therefore the upscale Ford Explorer. These rivals are actually worthy, except for many shoppers, the Highlander's versatility and friendly disposition will no doubt make it an ideal alternative.

Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options

The 2012 Toyota Highlander may be a seven-passenger crossover offered in base, SE and Limited trim levels. The connected Highlander Hybrid is reviewed separately.

The entry-level Highlander comes equipped with seventeen-in. alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, cloth upholstery, a 40/20/40-split-folding second-row seat that both reclines and slides fore and aft, a 50/50-split-folding third-row seat, air-conditioning (with rear controls), a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel and a six-speaker CD sound system with an auxiliary audio jack.

Step up to the SE and you get a sunroof, a power liftgate (with a separate glass hatch), roof rails, foglamps, windshield wiper de-icer, twin-zone automatic climate management, leather upholstery, an eight-means power driver seat, heated front seats, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, cargo space-mounted releases for folding down the second-row seats, a back-up camera and an upgraded audio system (optional on base) with satellite radio, a USB port and Bluetooth connectivity/streaming audio.

The Limited adds nineteen-in. alloy wheels, additional chrome exterior trim and power-folding/heated outside mirrors with puddle lamps. The cabin additionally gets upgraded leather upholstery, tri-zone automatic climate management, keyless ignition/entry, a 10-means power driver seat, a four-way power passenger seat and wood-grain accents.

The Highlander's options list varies by trim level and region, however those offered include a towing prep package, an upgraded JBL sound system (with six-disc CD changer and subwoofer), a navigation system (includes the JBL sound system but with a four-disc CD changer) and a rear-seat DVD entertainment system.

Powertrains and Performance

The 2012 Toyota Highlander is accessible with a choice of two engines. The bottom model will be had with a 2.7-liter inline-4 engine that puts out 187 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. EPA fuel economy estimates are 20 mpg town/twenty five mpg highway and 22 mpg combined.

Optional for the bottom and SE and commonplace for the Highlander Limited could be a 3.5-liter V6 that's rated at 270 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque. A 5-speed automatic and front-wheel drive are customary; all-wheel drive is optional. A Highlander Limited AWD tested by Edmunds sprinted from zero to sixty mph in simply seven.5 seconds, that makes it one of the quicker crossovers traveling. With front-wheel drive, the Highlander V6 returns EPA estimates of eighteen city/24 highway/twenty combined; adding all-wheel drive drops these numbers to seventeen/22/nineteen. Properly equipped, a Highlander V6 can tow up to 5,00zero pounds.

Safety

The Highlander comes standard with antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, facet-impact airbags for front seat passengers, full-length aspect curtain airbags, a driver-aspect knee airbag and active front head restraints. Hill-start assist is additionally customary. All-wheel-drive models conjointly gain hill-descent management.

In government crash tests, the Highlander earned an overall rating of 4 stars (out of a potential five), with four stars for frontal crash protection and 5 stars for aspect-impact protection. In tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Highlander received "Good" ratings (the best attainable) in both frontal-offset and facet impact tests.

Interior Design and Special Features

The 2012 Toyota Highlander features one in all the better-looking cabins within the segment, and this is especially true of the high-of-the-line Limited model. Gauges and controls boast a acquainted and simple layout, creating then a cinch to use. The cabin conjointly offers superb visibility from most angles.

There's no lack of house in the front- and second-row seats, however legroom is cramped in the third row, and as such, it's appropriate only for younger kids. Models just like the Flex fare higher in this regard. On the plus aspect, the Highlander's second-row bench slides fore and aft to alter the ratio of legroom to cargo capacity, and also the seat additionally reclines for larger comfort. This seat's unique 40/20/forty-split design, which has a removable center section that stows neatly in a very special compartment beneath the center console, makes it straightforward to access the way-back bench even with a try of kid automobile seats strapped into the second row.

When you've got cargo to haul, the Highlander offers ninety five.4 cubic feet of house with the second- and third-row seatbacks folded down. It's a sturdy figure and better than several competitors, but GM's full-size crossovers supply even a lot of.

Driving Impressions

When it involves driving dynamics, the 2012 Toyota Highlander is one in all the more well-rounded decisions in its segment. You get good handling from the totally independent suspension, and also the ride quality is surprisingly swish. Being a touch smaller than other larger crossovers, the Highlander is easier to maneuver, particularly in tight parking lots. The light-effort steering additionally helps here, though it's rather numb and uninspiring compared to some of its rivals.

The Highlander grows even additional appealing with the three.five-liter V6, because of that engine's strong acceleration; the V6 moves the 4,00zero-pound crossover with a briskness that makes this Toyota seem smaller than it is. The fact that this powertrain is additionally among the most fuel-economical in the class is an additional bonus. The four-cylinder engine gets slightly higher fuel economy, but we tend to would not suggest it for anybody except the most frugal-minded, given the sacrifice created in terms of performance.

2012 Toyota Highlander