2012 Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid

These days, life can be filled with challenges. Fortunately, the 2012 Toyota Highlander is filled with solutions. Its versatile and spacious interior offers comfortable seating for up to seven, and amenities for everyone. It provides a wide array of advanced safety features to help you take care of all your passengers. It delivers responsive performance, while achieving remarkable fuel efficiency. And as you might expect, Highlander also offers you Toyota’s legendary reliability. All this, wrapped in a sleek, handsome exterior. You can even get one with the eco advanced technology of Hybrid Synergy Drive. But Toyota Highlander shines especially brightly when it’s filled with one thing in particular: your family.



Whether you decide to go with the 2012 Toyota Highlander or the 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, you’ll be driving a vehicle you can feel good about. In addition to their different approaches to power, each model also has its own distinct styling. But the choices don’t stop there: Highlander is available with either 2 or 4 Wheel Drive and with a 4 or 6 cylinder engine. Looks like Highlander has thought of everything.


Transporting seven people is one thing; making sure everyone enjoys the ride is quite another. Remarkably, Highlander does both. The seats are engineered to offer both comfort and versatility. Gauges are easy to read and controls are readily at hand. The available entertainment system is designed to provide plenty of fun and flexibility. You might just find that when it comes to spending quality time together, the sit-down family dinner has met its match.Highlander’s available Smart Key System offers you an added bit of convenience. When you approach the vehicle with the Smart Key fob in your pocket or purse, the interior illuminates automatically. The doors unlock when you touch either front door handle, the power liftgate opens with the touch of its handle, and the engine starts with the push of a button.


If the scenery isn’t grabbing their attention, rear passengers can while away the miles by watching movies or playing games on the available rear-seat DVD entertainment system3 featuring a 9-in. display. Better yet, with wireless headphones, they can enjoy their entertainment without distracting the other passengers. As with every Toyota, our engineers made sure that Toyota Highlander’s buttons, knobs and switches are logically placed and easy to use.

The 2012 Toyota Highlander Limited’s and 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited’s convenient Smart Key System with Push Button Start is a perfect example. On Limited and Hybrid Limited models, the driver can extend the cushion on the perforated leathertrimmed driver’s seat with the push of a button. There’s nothing like a little extra thigh support to further ease the journey. Parents will appreciate Highlander’s standard conversation mirror that allows them to make eye contact with those in the secondand third row seats. Located above the rearview mirror, it also conceals a storage compartment for sunglasses.

Whether you’re taking the gang to hockey practice or helping your eldest move into their college dorm, Highlander is up to the task. Within moments, the second- and third-row seats fold flat, opening up 95.4 cubic feet of cargo space1 for all sorts of bulky items. And there’s stadium seating to enhance the sense of space for those in the second and third rows. So no matter what you’ve brought along for the ride passengers, cargo or both Highlander handles it all with ease. A perfect example of Highlander’s incredible versatility is its Center Stow system. Beneath the center console, there’s a Center Stow seat you can pull out, lock in place between the second-row captain’s chairs and fold open. Or replace it with the Center Stow console to hold drinks and smaller items.


With the three-zone automatic climate control system and air filter found in Limited and Hybrid Limited, every occupant can ride in total comfort. The system offers dual zone climate control in the front, a separate second-row control panel, and vents for the second and third-row seats, so everyone can optimize their own cabin environment. A growing family’s gear comes in all shapes and sizes. That’s why Toyota Highlander offers as standard equipment a 50/50 split third-row seat. This versatile feature allows you to transport long or unwieldy cargo, while still allowing you to take up to six passengers.

Highlander’s 50/50 split third row seat makes seating for seven not only possible, but also comfortable. The second-row seat reclines, slides and features armrests on the outboard seats. Plus, the passenger side has a one-touch lever that allows you to fold and slide the seats forward to make access to the third row that much easier. With the available power liftgate, there are two convenient ways to access the roomy cargo area. When loading bulky items, open the entire power liftgate. Or, if you just have a small item to load, pop the available lift-up glass hatch. Either way, you won’t need to use a key.

 2012 Toyota Highlander all around smart performance is due in part to a technology called Dual Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i). This advanced system knows precisely how to adjust the valve timing to optimize the engine’s “breathing” and maximize performance. So whether you’re passing on a hill, tooling around town or just sitting at idle, Highlander always delivers high marks in power, efficiency and reduced emissions. The 4-cylinder and V6 models of the  2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid earned an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle II (ULEV-II) rating. This designation means the Highlander produces extremely low average amounts of smog-forming emissions compared to new cars of the same model year.

Highlander’s fuel-efficient 2.7-liter 4-cylinder engine uses Dual VVT-i to help generate 187 hp and 186 lb.-ft. of torque. Dual VVT-i precisely times the opening and closing of the engine’s intake and exhaust valves to maximize power while reducing its fuel consumption. When coupled with a 6-speed Electronically Controlled automatic Transmission with intelligence (ECT-i), this engine allows Highlander to get an EPAestimated 25 highway mpg rating. Drivers interested in more power should go with the available 24-valve V6. The powerful engine uses a Double Overhead Cam (DOHC) and Dual VVT-i to deliver 270 hp and 248 lb.-ft. of torque with an EPA-estimated 24 highway mpg rating.

With an EPA-estimated 28 city/highway mpg rating1 and a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) rating,  2012 Highlander Hybrid is engineered with future generations in mind. While you may be familiar with its environmental attributes, you may not know that it also offers the same level of performance as the non-hybrid V6. In fact, its gasoline engine and Hybrid Synergy Drive produce an impressive 280 net horsepower. Altruism has never been so much fun. Highlander Hybrid’s handsome instrumentation panel not only conveys your speed, but also indicates your driving mode and driving economy. When conditions permit, Hybrid Synergy Drive will seek the most efficient power source. In EV mode, Highlander Hybrid cuts the gasoline engine and uses its rear electric motor, saving fuel while reducing noise and emissions. EV mode is designed for situations where you’re driving at very low speeds for short distances, such as pulling cautiously out of a crowded parking garage.

For more economical operation in normal driving situations, 2012 Toyota Highlander Hybrid offers ECON mode. By pressing the ECON button and then applying the accelerator, you can modify throttle response to help reduce fuel consumption. ECON mode can also help when you’re accelerating in low traction situations, like on snow-covered roads. Highlander Hybrid is a testament to the success of our hybrid technology. Far from being a drive system reserved for smaller cars, Hybrid Synergy Drive has demonstrated that it’s an effective and efficient system for nearly any regular consumer vehicle. Highlander’s advanced Hybrid Synergy Drive powers the vehicle in different ways depending on demand. Sometimes the vehicle is propelled solely with the gas engine, sometimes with just the electric motors, and sometimes with both. In addition to providing many standard gauges, such as the speedometer, Highlander Hybrid also features a hybrid system power meter that lets you know when the system is charging and shows electric power consumption.

From initial light or moderate acceleration to low speeds, Toyota Highlander Hybrid is powered solely by the high-torque electric motors. When driving under normal conditions, Highlander Hybrid is powered by the gasoline engine and is assisted by the electric motors as needed. During heavy acceleration, the gasoline engine is used while the battery supplies increased drive power to the electric motors. When slowing, the gasoline engine begins to shut off and the electric motors convert momentum into electricity, storing it in the HV battery. When 2012 Highlander Hybrid comes to a stop, its gasoline engine shuts off to conserve fuel and reduce emissions.

When it comes to driving, Toyota doesn’t accept the old adage that what can go wrong, will. Real safety involves anticipating trouble and then avoiding it. That’s why every Highlander is equipped with a suite of active safety features known as the Star Safety System. Of course, in the event trouble proves unavoidable, Highlander is also equipped with a host of passive safety features, such as seven airbags,1 crumple zones and advanced seatbelts. To help compensate for a loss of traction while cornering and help prevent sideways slipping, Highlander utilizes Enhanced VSC. The system adjusts engine power, braking and steering torque-assist control to help the vehicle follow the direction it is being steered. Using advanced braking technologies, TRAC is a traction control system that helps control wheelspin when starting or accelerating on a slippery surface. TRAC is supplemented by the Enhanced VSC’s steering torqueassist control to help maintain appropriate driving force during straightline acceleration and to offset left or right pull.

The standard Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) on Highlander is a key active safety feature. Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) helps optimize the distribution and amount of brake force between the front and rear wheels, based on driving conditions and vehicle load. EBD also distributes brake force between the left and right wheels during cornering to help maintain vehicle control. Brake Assist (BA) is designed to detect whether the driver is attempting a panic stop, and if so, applies increased braking power. At speeds greater than five miles per hour, when the accelerator is depressed first and the brakes are then applied firmly for longer than onehalf second, Smart Stop Technology is designed to help the driver bring the vehicle to a complete stop. Brakes slow a vehicle down by using friction to convert kinetic energy into heat. If the brakes get too hot, they can become less effective, a phenomenon known as brake fade. The front brakes on 2012 Highlander employ a ventilated disc design, helping to better dissipate heat and providing confident stopping power.

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