Toyota doesn’t want its all-new 2014 Highlander
to be painted with the same “Mom Bomb” brush that’s ruined sales of
minivans. So for 2014, Toyota’s wrapped its huge-selling crossover SUV
in more-angular sheetmetal designed to attract more dudes. There’s also a
bolder grille that’s slightly reminiscent of the brutish snout of the
full-size Tundra
pickup, as well as prominent chrome eyebrows, which sound like
something Lady Gaga wishes she had but are in fact far more tame. The
wheels are bigger, too, with the base rollers going from 17 to 18
inches, and they sit beneath more-muscular wheel flares. Wider by 0.6
inch and longer by 2.7 inches, the new Highlander indeed strikes a
somewhat more macho pose versus the outgoing 2013 model, although it
stops short of providing a Hummer-like hit of testosterone.
Inside, the Highlander’s interior has been “Avalon-ized”
with more soft-touch materials on the dash and doors. Toyota admits to
tooth-and-nail competition from Korean nameplates invading the lower end
of the mid-size crossover segment, so the Japanese firm has stirred in
more features and refinement to move the Highlander a bit closer to Lexus RX350
territory. Toyota also says it stiffened the Highlander’s body,
especially in the roof and B-pillar area. Finally, it says it made a
point of making the 2014 model quieter, adding a new acoustic
windshield, a thicker front dash-panel silencer, and under-carpet sound
deadening.
Newfound Stash Space
From the extremely useful yet also supremely boring department comes a
new dashboard “shelf” above the glove box running from the passenger’s
door to just above the driver’s right knee. It’s handy for stashing
cellphones, parking/toll tickets, handcuffs, and other detritus. The new
tambour-top front console is a deep, 24.5-liter well that’s capable, as
Toyota demonstrated, of holding 38 12-ounce cans of your favorite
beverage. The HVAC controls have been simplified, and there’s a new
optional panoramic sunroof as well as a heated steering wheel and
heated-and-cooled front seats. A new eighth airbag lives—hopefully
permanently—in the front passenger-seat cushion, and there’s a long list
of new nanny-style tech including auto high-beams and blind-spot, rear
cross-traffic, pre-collision, and lane-departure warning systems.
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