The 2023 Toyota Highlander has received comprehensive updates to keep it competitive against worthy rivals like the Kia Telluride and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Highlander has always occupied the middle ground in Toyota’s SUV lineup. It’s slightly larger than the RAV4, but its unibody TNGA-K platform is more refined than the ladder-frame Sequoia. It has three-row seating for a middle-sized family, but it has the skimpiest third row in its class. The 2023 Highlander remains part of the fourth-gen variant introduced in 2020, and it’s the first Highlander to get a standard four-cylinder engine.

2023 Toyota Highlander: What’s New"

Say goodbye to the outgoing Highlander’s smooth and venerable 3.5-liter V6 with 295 horsepower and 263 lb-ft. of torque. The 2023 Highlander has a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder with 265 horsepower and 309 lb-ft. of torque. The new and smaller engine has 30 less horsepower than the V6, but it has 46 more lb-ft. of torque (a 17 percent increase) to compensate.
The engine downsizing also means better emissions numbers, and Toyota claims the blown four-banger spews out 50 percent less NOx and CO2 than the V6, which is a good thing. And as proof that the new four-cylinder engine bodes well with the Highlander’s 4,134 lbs. curb weight, Toyota estimates 24 mpg in the combined cycle, the same as the outgoing Highlander V6. Front-wheel drive remains standard, while all-wheel drive with dynamic torque vect...