wordplay by Greg Bloom

2006 Toyota Highlander LTD – Hybrid 4WD-I V6 SUV
vs.
2006 Lexus LX 470 - 4WD 4.7 Liter V-8 SUV

One is named for the culmination or result of a cross between two genus or species… a whole different animal. The other… Toyota Motor Corporation’s newest bad @$$ answer to, well, whichever competing manufacturer wants to step up really. A couple of go-wherevers took to the streets of Denver and gallivanted over Vail Pass to beautiful Singletree, an upper echelon suburb just west of Avon, with me at the helm.

If you had asked anyone, including myself before I had the chance to sample the Toyota Highlander, or any hybrid for that matter (it was my first), we each would have thought, “This is a great idea and I’m all for saving the planet and utilizing alternative sources of energy, but… a hybrid SUV? How’s that thing going to gather any speed or power at all unless it’s on a downhill grade?”

I sure felt like a horse’s patootie when my curiosity had me flooring the Highlander’s “one on the right” going down Speer toward Cherry Creek, then again as I passed cars heading up the foothills past Morrison (home of the greatest amphitheater in the world) a day later. Me? A horse’s patoot? Twice? Wow! Sure enough I couldn’t tell any difference between the power of the Hybrid Highlander and the BMW X3 SUV I sampled months before.

There are simple facts which dictate how we operate, react and decide in any given circumstance. Here we have the following: Toyota has been making trucks that last forever…for forever. Then there’s the Hybrid Synergy Drive System and the Electronically Controlled Continuously Variable Transmission in the Highlander which put it in a category all its own… a friend to Green Peace and big saver on the contents of your billfold. These facts, along with not an ounce of noticeable power loss, put the Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV in the “no-brainer” column of cars I would buy.  Makes sense.

On top of that same column rests the awesome vehicle that left my 4th of July weekend in the top 3 long weekends of all time, simply for the luxury, spaciousness and convenience of each and every feature that make up this $70,000 dream-mobile. Lexus was developed because the Japanese loved the luxury, power and stamina that Germany emitted through their pride-n-joy, Mercedes Benz. Who was to stop them? They make everything else to a “T” and the results are statistically more affordable than European products. 

This V-8 LX470 is no different, save the price. No matter. I’ll put this up against any full size SUV in every category. There are too many features and extras to list. Just know that including the rear-view camera, which illuminates for you what’s behind the vehicle as soon as the shifter hits reverse, Lexus offers any and all of the best, most luxurious convenience and safety features on the market today. If you are able to make sense or sensibility of paying $70k for your next vehicle, don’t short yourself or your family. This is my second no-brainer in this special SUV ONLY August issue.