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2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 8/2/2005
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VULTURE PEAK, Ariz. -- This sandstone peak towers over pancake flats of Arizona's Sonoran Desert west of Phoenix, where Toyota fences 12,000 acres of sand and cactus to ring a vast hot-weather vehicle test facility known as Toyota Technical Center USA.
Tracks at the TTC include a high-speed banked circuit ten miles around, pothole-dented city streets, water troughs and a sea of asphalt for a skid pad, plus a maze of sand and gravel paths through desert used for off-road maneuvers in all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicles.
It's on those slippery sand and gravel trails at TCC that Joe Bacal, an expert off-road test driver, pushes Toyota AWD vehicles to limits of the laws of physics.
For one high-speed romp across the desert, we're riding shotgun to Bacal with seatbelts and crash helmets strapped tightly as the professional driver tosses a revolutionary new Toyota SUV sideways at 60 mph in order to demonstrate Toyota's advanced vehicle stability control system, labeled vehicle dynamic integrated management (VDIM).
This computerized device -- which coordinates the anti-lock brake system (ABS) and brake assist (BA) with a vehicle stability control (VSC), traction control (TRAC) and electronic throttle control (ETC) systems -- can actually anticipate a vehicle control problem and then go to work automatically to remedy the problem through electronic brake and throttle restraints.
As if working by divine guidance, the sideways-sliding SUV smoothly moves around to a forward -- and safe -- trajectory without needing input from the driver.
This extraordinary feat of wheel control works flawlessly in a vehicle that's also extraordinary as Toyota's first hybrid-powered SUV.
Toyota bills the SUV as the Highlander Hybrid. It's a hybrid gas-electric treatment of the mid-size Highlander SUV for the Class of 2006, bringing the exuberant acceleration of a V8-powered vehicle but the miserly fuel economy of a four-cylinder compact.
Highlander Hybrid employs the complex Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) powertrain which Toyota developed over the past decade for the hybrid Prius sedan.
For the SUV, however, the HSD system is more extensive -- and far more powerful -- than the one in Prius.
It combines an efficient but strong 3.3-liter V6 gasoline-powered engine modified from the Highlander with a pair of high-voltage and high-torque electric motors. One motor turns the front wheels and the other one works so many power accessories as well as cranks up the V6 engine, then manages transmission ratios and even recharges on-board batteries.
The HSD controls all energy produced by these plants and applies it directly to the front wheels in infinitely variable measures through an electronically-controlled continuously variable transmission (CVT).
Sum of all powertrains is the equivalent of 268 hp.
The dual-cam V6 alone produces 208 hp at 5600 rpm plus torque of 212 lb-ft at 5600 rpm.
The electric motor that turns the front wheels makes 123 kW, or the equivalent of 167 hp at 4500 rpm plus torque of 247 lb-ft between zero and 1500 rpm.
And for the all-wheel-drive (AWD) edition of Highlander Hybrid, there's a third electric motor aboard to drive the rear wheels as the intelligent HSD varies torque distribution electronically front and rear, depending on traction conditions.
That third motor generates 50 kW, or 68 hp at 4610-5210 rpm with 98 lb-ft of torque at 0-610 rpm.
Supplying electricity to run the motors is a direct-current nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery tucked beneath the cabin's second-row seat.
Highlander Hybrid never needs to be plugged in for recharging, as would a purely electric vehicle, because the electric motors also work as generators when the wagon coasts or brakes. The motors/generators capture the kinetic energy of heat from brakes and transform it into electricity that's returned to the battery for a recharge.
Net effect is a driving range which may exceed 500 miles and fuel economy numbers up to 33 mpg but with no detectable sacrifice of engine power for off-the-line accelerations or passing in the quick lane.
In fact, this hybrid feels high-powered when you put your foot in the pedal -- it's quicker even than the gas-fired V6 Highlander.
And the AWD version acts awesome in slippery off-road spots, as demonstrated by Joe Bacal's expert driving on the desert trails at TCC.
Although the technology motivating Highlander Hybrid is incredibly complex, the wagon looks and rides and drives like a conventional crossover SUV.
Externally, the styling for Toyota's hybrid SUV varies only slightly from a conventional Highlander.
Up front there's a revamped grille and fascia added with larger air intake vents and round foglamps. Lamps on the tail change to high-visibility light-emitting diode (LED) assemblies. And 17-inch alloy wheels mount on the hybrid SUV with 225/65R17 tires.
Highlander's structure is a unitized framework derived from a sedan oriented with a front-wheel-drive (FWD) format, plus car-like mechanical components that eliminate hassles associated with truck-based SUVs.
With a long wheelbase and squatty stance, the design sets up a people-friendly interior environment that's as easy to enter as a passenger car, meaning you don't have to hike yourself aboard as with taller truckish wagons.
A spacious cabin carries four doors for passengers and flexible seating on three rows for a seven-person capacity plus cargo space in a back bay with liftgate added.
Many safety systems are aboard, including side curtain-style air bags set above front and rear side doors plus frontal air bags for front buckets and large seat-mounted side air bags to cover a rider's torso, abdomen and pelvis.
A disc brake mounts on each of the four wheels with all managed through a new electronically-controlled braking (ECB) system.
Even the rack and pinion steering device goes electric with an electronic power steering (EPS) boost.
And the computer-controlled VDIM vehicle stability controls show up on the list of standard equipment.
Toyota sets price points for the Highlander Hybrid at $37,890 for FWD and $39,290 with AWD.
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| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 2006 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID Specs |
| Description: |
Mid-size hybrid crossover wagon |
| Model Options: |
Mid-size hybrid crossover wagon |
| Wheelbase: |
106.9 inches |
| Overall Length: |
185.4 inches |
| Engine Size: |
DOHC 3.3-L V6, Magnet 650-v Electric Motors |
| Transmission: |
CVT/electric |
| Drive: |
Rear/front drive, FWD, AWD/electric |
| Braking: |
ECB/4-disc, ABS/EBD/BA/VSC/TRAC/VDIM |
| Airbags: |
2 (front), 2 (side), 4 (side curtain) |
| Gross Weight: |
5675 pounds |
| Towing Capacity: |
3500 pounds |
| Gas Mileage: |
city/hwy. FWD: 33/28 mpg AWD: 31/27 mpg |
| Price: |
FWD: $ 37,890 AWD: $ 39,290 |
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