10 New Toyota Grand Highlander Features Worth Getting Excited About

A brand new addition to Toyota's lineup for 2024, the Grand Highlander is a new SUV with a familiar nameplate. It's more than simply a scaled-up Highlander, however, with a host of upgrades and new features to justify its higher asking price. It's aimed squarely at buyers looking to comfortably transport a family and their luggage, and offers more space than many other SUVs in its segment.

SlashGear spent some time with the 2024 Grand Highlander last year and came away impressed, highlighting the SUV's hybrid powertrain and third-row space as standout features. The Grand Highlander isn't cheap and offers a middle ground between budget-oriented three-row SUVs and those from more premium German manufacturers. It's far from a compromise, however, offering a range of trims to tempt buyers away from both budget and luxury segments. Now that the rollout of the Grand Highlander is in full swing, here are its most exciting features.

The Grand Highlander's styling doesn't rewrite the industry rulebook, but it looks as sharp as any other SUV in its segment. Toyota says that the car is "inspired by the Highlander shape," but put the two side by side and it's unlikely you could mistake one for the other. The Grand Highlander's gaping grille is one of the largest seen on a Toyota SUV, although it's still far from BMW-level polarizing for now.

Beyond that, the Grand Highlander is fairly conservative in its exterior appearance, with squared-off proportions and tail lights that share similarities with other Toyota SUVs. There are very few exterior differences between trims, with only the top-spec Hybrid Max trim seeing notable changes. For their extra cash, buyers get two-tone wheels with black accents and a unique set of bumpers. Dual exhaust tips are also reserved for the top trim version of the Grand Highlander.

Of course, no-one will be buying the Hybrid Max trim purely for its styling. Instead, the trim's headline feature is the 2.4L turbocharged four-cylinder engine and electric motor, which churns out a combined 362 horsepower. As a result, its acceleration is impressive for a midsize SUV, with the Hybrid Max capable of 0-60 mph in 6.3 seconds. The mid-tier, 245-horsepower hybrid four-cylinder powertrain reaches the same speed in 7.8 seconds, while the base spec gas engine takes 7.5 seconds. The 265-horsepower gas engine is slightly more powerful than the standard hybrid.

In Hybrid Max form, the Grand Highlander can tow up to 5,000 lb, while the standard hybrid only manages 3,500 lb. Even without a trailer to contend with, the car is on the heavier side, weighing close to 5,000 lb. That added weight is more obvious when cornering, with SlashGear's reviewer noting that the car's handling on twistier roads can't match its brisk straight-line performance.

All-wheel-drive comes as standard on the Grand Highlander Hybrid Max and is available as an optional extra for all other trims. The setup of each system varies according to the engine it's paired with — the base-spec gas engine gets what Toyota calls Dynamic Torque Control AWD, the most conventional of the bunch, mainly designed to provide extra traction.

The standard hybrid gets Electronic On-Demand AWD, which performs a more diverse range of roles. Alongside its standard traction-enhancing duties, the system is also designed to improve fuel economy and boost acceleration off the line. The electric motor is tasked with driving the rear wheels, but the system can revert to front-wheel drive to improve fuel economy when the extra traction isn't needed.

The Hybrid Max trim gets the most complex all-wheel-drive system, which Toyota calls Full-Time Electronic AWD. Both the gas engine and a front-mounted electric motor can deliver power to all four wheels, but there's also a second electric motor that powers the rear wheels only. Unlike the standard hybrid, the Hybrid Max doesn't have a front-wheel-drive mode, with power distribution ranging from 70:30 to 20:80 between the front and rear wheels.

The trio of powertrains available within the Grand Highlander range offer significantly different efficiency figures, with the standard hybrid being the most frugal. According to the EPA, it should achieve a combined 36 mpg, with 37 mpg expected in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. The Hybrid Max's added power seriously dents its efficiency, achieving 27 mpg combined (26 mpg city and 27 mpg highway), while the gas engine offers the lowest combined rating with 24 mpg (21 mpg city and 28 mpg highway).

EPA figures are one thing, but they don't always match real-world performance. During testing, SlashGear's Grand Highlander Hybrid Max returned 22 mpg overall, several mpg short of the claimed figure. This data was skewed somewhat by the test route, which consisted mostly of city driving, but even then, it seems that you'd need to drive carefully to consistently achieve Toyota's claimed figures.

Up to eight seats are available in the Grand Highlander, although anyone wanting the maximum number of seats will have to make one compromise. The three-seat second-row bench can't be optioned with the Hybrid Max powertrain, with only the standard seven-seat layout available. With seven seats, the second row consists of two captain's chairs, and with eight, the second row becomes a bench.

Interior space is one of the biggest advantages of the Grand Highlander over other three-row SUVs. While the rearmost row of rivals is often best suited for children, the Grand Highlander offers enough headroom and legroom to make transporting adults on long journeys a palatable option. The front and second rows also have plenty of space, even for passengers with especially long legs or tall backs. Aside from performance differences, this is the biggest selling point of the Grand Highlander over the regular Highlander. While drivers who only ever need to transport children in the back row could save some cash and opt for the smaller car, the Grand Highlander is the superior choice for carrying large groups of adults or teenagers.

As well as being generously sized for passengers, the Grand Highlander also excels at carrying their cargo. With the second and third rows folded down, the car offers an impressive 97.5 cubic feet of storage space, and with just the third row of seats flat, there's 57.9 cubic feet of space on offer. With all the seats folded up, there's still 20.9 cubic feet of space, which Toyota says equates to around seven carry-on suitcases.

These figures remain the same across all trims — unlike some other SUVs, this hybrid powertrain doesn't eat into the car's cargo capacity. There's also a large number of storage bins and cubbies dotted around the cabin, alongside plenty of cup holders — in fact, there are more cupholders than seats. From the largest items to the smallest ones, there isn't much that Toyota hasn't accommodated with the Grand Highlander.

Not only is the Grand Highlander capable of shuttling a family and their luggage anywhere they need to go, but it will also take them in comfort. While the base-spec trim misses most of the niceties, the higher trims of the Grand Highlander are well-appointed. Buyers of the Limited and Platinum trims get leather-trimmed seats with 10-way power adjustment for the driver and eight-way adjustment for the passenger, and Platinum trims get heated and ventilated front and second-row seats.

The Hybrid Max powertrain also brings suede accents to the upholstery alongside a bronze finish for parts of the interior trim. With Platinum trim, a panoramic moonroof comes as standard, alongside a head-up display for when you're on the road and puddle lamps for when you've arrived at your destination. Limited and Platinum buyers also get larger 20-inch wheels, while XLE buyers have to make do with 18-inch wheels.

The same infotainment system is fitted across all Grand Highlander trims, headed by a 12.3-inch touchscreen but also controllable through voice commands. To make full use of those voice commands, however, you'll need to opt into the Drive Connect service, which also bundles in navigation. The car comes with a one-year trial to the service as standard, but after that, it's only available through a monthly subscription. For those who don't feel like paying the fee, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are available as standard.

The car also offers a built-in AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot with 4G connectivity, but much like Drive Connect, this is only available through a subscription. A one-month trial is included with the car. An 11-speaker JBL audio system offers drivers the opportunity to listen to music from their streaming service of choice or from SiriusXM, the latter of which is available under a three-month free trial subscription. The Integrated Streaming service provides smartphone-free streaming options for Apple Music and Amazon Music, but not for Spotify.

Toyota has earned a reputation for competitive safety tech, and the Grand Highlander continues that tradition. All cars come with blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert as standard as part of Toyota's Safety Sense 3.0 package. Also featured in the package is a pre-collision warning system that detects pedestrians, alongside a lane departure warning and steering assist. Cruise control is available at speeds above 20 mph, with the latest version of Safety Sense also adding automatic lane centering and a wider choice of following distances for cruising in traffic.

In case of a medical emergency, a driving monitoring system is standard and can slow the vehicle down to a standstill. It will only kick in after the driver is sent multiple audible and visual warnings to check if they're paying attention. An improved road sign assist system also feeds information to drivers about a wider range of signs than before.

The 2024 Grand Highlander starts at $43,320 for the base-spec non-hybrid XLE, rising to $45,020 for the hybrid XLE. The Limited trim with the standard Hybrid powertrain increases that figure to $48,110, with a range of further trims available culminating in the $58,475 Hybrid Max Platinum. Nearly $60,000 for a Toyota SUV is a considerable investment, and only a few thousand dollars off the price of the base-spec Sequoia. For the extra cash, the base Sequoia offers superior towing capacity and an even more cavernous interior, but less of the luxury features available with the top-spec Grand Highlander.

There are plenty of cheaper three-row SUVs on the market, one being the Grand Highlander's smaller sibling, the Highlander. However, the larger car's third-row space sets it apart from the rest, making it a worthwhile investment for those needing more interior space than a standard midsize SUV can provide but who don't want to make the leap to a full-size SUV.