Yahoo Autos 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander First Drive Review: 'Grander' in size, power and price
WAIMEA, Hawai'i -- The three-row SUV segment is one of the most hotly contested in the industry, and it's growing in more ways than one. Not only is the number of entries increasing, so too is the number of size offerings: we're seeing a split between smaller three-rows and larger ones. Toyota's sole entry, the Highlander, has been on the smaller side of that divide through multiple generations, and although Toyota has said that was just fine for its loyal customers, clearly there was room (pardon the pun) for something bigger. That something would be the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander.
Despite the name, the addition of "Grand" doesn't just signify some added inches tacked on behind the rear wheels of a regular Highlander like an old Grand Caravan or the Lexus RX L. It uses the same TNGA-K platform, but it's lengthened and widened for Grand Highlander duty. It's about 6.5 inches longer overall and 2 inches wider and taller.. The entire design is unique, including an exterior that looks more like an extra-large RAV4 due to its straight edges and hard creases. The Grand Highlander is also more refined and offers an excellent, exclusive powertrain that makes the SUV arguably even better than the standard model and a strong contender among the growing group of large three-rows.
Importantly, the Grand Highlander's additional exterior size translates to the interior, cargo space being the most obvious improvement over the standard Highlander. Behind the third row, there's 4.6 more cubic feet of space at 20.6, which on paper at least, represents the difference between one of the smallest and biggest volumes. Behind the second row, there's 57.9, an increase of 9.5 cubes. With all the rear seats down, total space reaches 97.5 cubic feet, amounting to a 13.2 cubic-foot increase.
Passenger space improves, too, mostly for the third row. It's still not huge, but now adults can occupy every row without the risk of the rear passengers launching a revolution against the bourgeois front passengers. Third-row access is also impressively easy with the sliding seats and a lowered floor that extends behind the second row for easy step-in. In fact, every position is easy to access, particularly the driver and front passenger seats with the low floor and tall roof. Plenty of space in every direction and generally plush seats keep the front two rows quite comfy, though the tall, wide center console and front wheel well intrude into the front row's knee- and foot room. Still, it’s not a major problem, just a little odd for such an otherwise spacious SUV.
Besides the extra space, the Grand Highlander has a revised interior design. It's a little more conventional, but still has trademark Toyota features like the shelves in the dash and up-to-date touchscreen infotainment system. For better or for worse, there isn't a huge difference in interior quality from the base models to the highly specified versions. They're all put together well and have soft, quality plastics. Higher trims have attractive leather options and some upholstered dash panels, but some of the painted plastics and faux wood trim don't feel nice enough to justify the pricing, particularly when several competitors rival entry-level luxury SUVs.
