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Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Toyota Highlander Hybrid

3943 messages, Last post on Nov 02, 2009 at 9:19 AM
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The profit equation isn't magical. Here's food for thought... People are under the assumption that the CVT is more complicated than an automatic transmission. (That's because it is so different.) In reality, it is actually quite a bit more simple. That simplicity costs less. The engine itself is smaller than usual. That results in a lower cost too. The front-end of the car is shorter than usual too. That's an obvious rather large savings. The speedometer likely represents a savings as well, believe it of not. No self-contained high-precision moving parts required like in a traditional design. It's just a dumb LED (that looks really impressive via optical tricks). The dashboard is an obvious cost reduction. Eliminating all the mechanical parts and using just by-wire interfaces instead is cheaper. (You can thank the computer & music industries for that!) I wonder what else Toyota did. Hmm? They allowed their engineers to build components from scratch, sparing no expense during the research phase. That's rarely an option with normal new vehicle design. Automakers like to reuse parts. But with HSD intended to replace the current infrastructure, this was a special case. Creating entirely new parts for reuse later is viewed upon as a way to save money in the long run too. Needless to say. Toyota had lots of opportunities to help them achieve a profit with Prius (and HSD). JOHN |
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Well... glad to hear they are making a profit! That just ensures that they will put more HSD models into production. Any thoughts on the design of the 2005 Hybrid HL. Do you think it will look like the standard HL or they going to do all the futuristic "tricks" that they did with the Prius? If not, will the cost be significantly more? |
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| I think you can look at the RX 400H to see the variation in the normal vs. hybrid model. You can tell the 400H is based on the RX 330, but it has some additional styling characteristics, surely to differentiate it. | |
| This 2005 HL is exactly what I've been waiting for. I wonder how early Toyota will begin accepting orders for them? | |
| a few months before official launch for current Prius owners to "buy up" into the next Hybrid line. I'm predicting a late summer introduction in 2004. | |
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Go to http://www.wieck.com Click on "Public" Type in "Highlander" for the search and you should get a good collection of photographs. Here's information that Toyota has provided on the new model. http://www.toyota.com/about/news/product/2004/01/04-3-hibridhighl- - ander.html Looks like in "early 2005" the hybrid version will go on sale with about 270 hp and "significantly better" mileage than a compact sedan. |
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It seems that a 19 gallon tank getting 600+ miles (I used 625), yields HWY (I'm sure what they mean by 600+ miles) of almost 33 MPG. Too get 2 MPG over 27.6 combined, the City MPG MUST BE at least 26MPG! 26/33 MPG 270 HP 0-60 in less than 7 seconds? DrFill |
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Seeing what I am sseing from the Detroit Auto show, it looks like this is the SUV for me... Let me know if anyone has heard anything about pricing and when available to order. WOW... V6 engine... 270 hp... room for 8... and approx. 30 mpg in mixed driving... WOW!!!! |
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At the press conference, the Toyota spokesman said the Highlander Hybrid is due to arrive "around this time next year", i.e. January 2005. I was relieved to see very little exterior/interior/options change from the '04 - which I just bought! Although I'm very interested in owning a hybrid vehicle, I'll wait until Toyota does a refresh - maybe '07 or '08? |
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| I would expect a fully loaded Highlander to be about $2000 higher than a non-hybrid which would put the cost at about $37,000. And do not expect any discounts during the first 12-16 months. Do all concur? Starting to get out of my price range and will probably stick with my Honda minivan fully loaded for about $30,000. | |
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