- The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander debuts at this year’s Chicago Auto Show as a long-wheelbase version of the standard three-row Highlander crossover.
- This fills a gap above the regular Highlander (being 6 inches longer) and below the body-on-frame Sequoia SUV.
- It’s not just it’s size, though — the Grand Highlander also brings new styling and a more potent engine configuration to the equation.
- The “Hybrid Max” powertrain, simliar to what debuted in the new Crown sedan, provides up to 362 horsepower, making this Toyota’s most powerful crossover to date.
- Pricing and availability for the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander will be announced this summer.
The field of plus-sized three-row CUVs is expanding, and the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander is the latest into the fray.
In 2022, Toyota sold a staggering 222,805 Highlanders, easily making it one of the most popular three-row family haulers on the market. Demand is growing for bigger, more spacious cars like the Jeep Grand Cherokee L without resorting to a three-row body-on-frame SUV, though, and the new Grand Highlander aims to cash in on the craze. Much like the Highlander itself was an evolution of Toyota’s lineup — particularly being its first hybrid SUV — this long-wheelbase version brings some new tricks to its debut at this year’s Chicago Auto Show, for those who want or need more than the standard Highlander offers.
Naturally, your first expectation for the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander is a substantial size increase over your “everyday” Highlander. In fact, this model is 6 inches longer, riding on a 4-inch longer wheelbase. That offers up a more spacious third-row seating arrangement, as Alex checks out in TFL’s debut coverage below. Toyota notes this car’s mission to “prioritize comfort in all three rows”. The larger footprint also translates to cargo volume, where this Grand Highlander manages up to 98 cubic feet with the seats folded (16% higher than the 84.3 cubic feet you’ll get with the regular model). Like all of Toyota’s current crossovers, this latest addition rides on the TNGA-K platform.
Unlike Jeep’s long-wheelbase Grand Cherokee, the Grand Highlander debuts with a different front and rear fascia than its closest sibling, sporting a look that brings it closer to the current RAV4 with an angular front clip and a new rear end from the fourth-generation Highlander that’s been in production since late 2019. The smaller car may well get a styling update to match its larger brother soon enough, but for now the two are visually distinct from each other, at least on the outside.
Two familiar powertrain options…and one that’s completely new to Toyota’s CUVs
Because this is still closely related to the Highlander, you’d expect this larger variant to house similar engine choices. To a large extent, you’d be right, including both units currently available on the standard model. The base 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder (new to the Highlander for 2023) carries over, as does the naturally aspirated, 243-horsepower 2.5-liter hybrid model. Both of these powertrain options are available in either front-or all-wheel drive configurations. Toyota did not state the expected fuel economy for the Grand Highlander Hybrid, but the standard model clocks up mpg ratings in the mid-30s.
The major addition to the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander lineup, though, is the performance-focused Hybrid Max powertrain. Similar to what launched with the new Crown, this range-topping hybrid system puts out a substantial 362 combined horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. That’s nearly a 100 hp increase on the base motor, not to mention the Hybrid Max makes this sizable three-row crossover capable of a 6.3-second 0-60 sprint. It’s no Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, sure, but that’s a respectable figure for what is, at its core, a sensible family rig. Unlike the other two engine options, the Hybrid Max also comes standard with all-wheel drive.
All three powertrains do get Toyota’s usual drive mode system with Eco, Normal and Sport modes. AWD versions of the Grand Highlander also get Multi-Terrain Select, though, with three additional modes (Mud & Sand, Rock & Dirt and Snow).
Looking inside the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander
From the second row forward, the new Grand Highlander’s interior is expectedly similar to the standard model, with a few subtle differences. The center console gets a few tweaks, moving the wireless phone charger a bit (where it’s available) and offering up an electronic gear selector. The 12.3-inch infotainment display is the same as what you’d also get in the standard Highlander, though Toyota changed up the bezel a bit and moved the volume knob over to the driver’s side from the passenger side. Engineers didn’t completely leave passengers in the lurch, though, as they now get their own USB-C port, next to a tray where they can stow their smartphone or tablet while charging it up.
Across all three rows, the 2023 Toyota Grand Highlander gets seven USB ports and thirteen cupholders, so everybody should be covered on a long road trip. Other noteworthy conveniences include a heated steering wheel and hands-free power liftgate on Limited and Platinum trims, heated and ventilated second-row seats on the Platinum trim and a 1,500-watt power outlet on the Limited and Platinum Hybrid as well as the Platinum Hybrid Max trims.
Trim walk
The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander trim walk comprises three levels familiar to Toyota shoppers over the past several years: XLE, Limited and Platinum.
Base XLE models come with 18-inch alloy wheels, leatherette upholstery, heated mirrors, 7- or 8-passenger seating (with a second-row bench or captain’s chairs), 2nd-row sunshades, wireless charging, a garage door opener, auto-dimming rearview mirror and standard Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 driver assistance tech. The 12.3-inch infotainment screen sporting the automaker’s latest software comes standard across the whole Grand Highlander range.
The Limited adds more quality-of-life content like a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, power-folding mirrors, genuine leather seats (heated/ventilated on the front row and heated on the second row) and a heated steering wheel, as well as ambient lighting and LED daytime running lights and fog lights.
At the top end, the Platinum adds even more creature comforts. You get a panoramic moonroof, head-up display, puddle lamps, a 360-degree Panoramic View Monitor and a digital rearview mirror. Toyota also adds in front cross-traffic alert and a Traffic Jam Assist system, offering some steering, braking and throttle input in slower speed driving situations.
Toyota offers an available 4G Wi-Fi hotspot on a subscription basis with a 1-month trial, as well as a 1-year trial to its Remote Connect app. Using your smartphone, that allows you to lock and unlock the car, activate the headlights and start the car. Safety Connect (the SOS button), roadside assistance, and other baseline programs offered through Toyota Connected Services are available on a 10-year trial from the date of purchase.
Pricing?
One piece of information we don’t yet have is pricing for the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander lineup. However, the standard three-row Highlander XLE currently starts around $43,000. You can expect the bigger version to start higher than that — possibly in the mid- to upper-$40,000 range — with the Platinum Hybrid Max heading well north of $50,000.
Toyota will announce official MSRP figures and availability this summer, with the bigger Highlander officially hitting showrooms later in the second half of 2023. We’ll give you more updates as soon as we have that information.
For now, check out Alex’s coverage from the 2023 Chicago Auto Show world debut below:
