2008 Sport/Utility of the Year Contenders

It's easy to imagine the Highlander as a student who's been cramming for this exam for years, its guidance counselors (product planners and engineers) scrutinizing our SUV-of-the-Year criteria to find any opportunity for improving their protg's scores. Indeed, almost every impression it makes seems worthy of mention in the winner's feature.

On superiority, the upgrades to an already solid vehicle are all laudable: more passenger and cargo space, myriad new features easily controlled via a user-friendly knob-centric dash, and a new standard 3.5-liter V-6 delivering 270 strong horses that can tow up to 5000 pounds. Hybrids get standard all-wheel drive and new economy-boosting features.

In the significance category, Toyota's marketing efforts have helped make the Highlander a segment sales leader. With models ranging from front-drivers with cloth seating for five, to leather-lined Limited seven-seat Hybrids, Toyota caters to a wide slice of the SUV-buying (and tree-hugging) public, earning big points in this category.

In terms of value, the much improved Highlander starts at just $27,245, or $620 more than last year's entry V-6 model ($1680 up on the unlamented four-banger). Top Limited Hybrid models tiptoe over the $40K mark. It's not cheap, but Toyota's sterling reputation for quality, reliability, and resale delivers strong bang for the buck.

And yet, like a brown-nosing teacher's pet, the Highlander failed to become bosom buddies with any of our editor-voters. Drop the hammer, and you get impressive 7.3-second acceleration to 60 mph, but instead of begging for more, the engine moans a baleful wail that sounds like it's complaining. Bend it into a curve, and the tires howl in protest while generating a decent 0.74 g. Despite the "Sport" badging on its flanks and its ability to generate decent numbers on a track, it's no jock. All the audible and tactile signals it sends discourage enthusiastic driving as if such behavior were akin to smoking in the boys' room.