TopSpeed’s Best Mid-Size SUV In 2024: Toyota Grand Highlander

Summary

• Toyota Grand Highlander named best mid-size SUV of 2024 by TopSpeed’s experts due to its spacious third row, ample cargo capacity, and family-friendly features.
• The Grand Highlander offers multiple powertrain options, including gas-only and hybrid, and comes with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 as standard on all models.
• Despite tough competition from models like the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Kia Telluride, the Grand Highlander stands out for its reliability, fuel efficiency, safety features, cargo space, and convenience amenities.

With 2024 now underway, we’re already looking ahead at the best cars on the market in 2024. The SUV segment remains heavily saturated, but one SUV in particular has received our vote for the best mid-size SUV of 2024: the Toyota Grand Highlander. Between its gorgeous design, usable third row, massive cargo capacity, and stunning interior design, it’s hard to find a more rounded package on today’s midsize SUV market.

That’s not to say the competition isn’t tough. In deciding our pick for the best midsize SUV of 2024, TopSpeed’s group of experts rated models like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Kia Telluride, and the Mazda CX-90, among others. In the end, however, our team of experts gave the Toyota Grand Highlander the stamp of approval, and there’s a lot of good reasons for it.

In order to determine the best vehicle in this category for 2024, our in-house experts have voted on a number of factors, including but not limited to value for the money, performance, and expected reliability and safety. The aggregate review score you see in the display card below is indicative of the average score (rated 1-10) between these factors and is based on real-world experience. Further information regarding our methodology of rating vehicles can be found on the TopSpeed’s methodology page.

Why The Toyota Grand Highlander Is The Best Mid-Size SUV Of 2024

Toyota has been missing for some time a three-row crossover from this segment that prioritizes functional space without sacrificing efficiency. Infused with decades of brand equity and reliability, the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander is our choice for the best mid-size SUV for 2024 because it offers multiple powertrain options, both gas-only and hybrid, straight-forward design language, Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 standard on all models, and class-leading cargo space with room for an adult-sized third row.

We value vehicle reliability greatly, and Toyota is lauded for being one of the most reliable automakers in the industry. Consumer Reports gave the 2024 Grand Highlander a predicted reliability score of 69/100. This means Consumer Reports expects the vehicle to be more reliable than other new cars. The Grand Highlander only fell behind the veteran Palisade, which received a predicted reliability score of 73/100. Predicted reliability tends to be lower for cars initially launching or after receiving a complete redesign since there is no prior data on that specific vehicle available at that point. The standard Toyota Highlander received the highest score in the segment of 75/100, which shares many of the same equipment and powertrain options as the Grand Highlander, for context. In addition, Consumer Reports ranks Toyota as #2 of all 30 car brands in terms of new car reliability.

In terms of powertrains, the Grand Highlander is one of only a few mid-size SUVs that doesn’t offer a V-6 engine. There is one gas-only engine and two hybrid powertrains available for the 2024 Grand Highlander. Toyota believes that performance and efficiency aren’t mutually exclusive, with each powertrain option producing a healthy amount of power without sacrificing fuel economy in the process.

The Toyota Grand Highlander is arguably the most spacious and comfortable three-row midsize SUV on the market today, and the deal is even sweeter when you pair that with Toyota’s legendary reliability. – Robert Moore, Managing Editor, TopSpeed.com

Design-wise, the Grand Highlander bridges its cars and crossovers engineering with styling cues from its body-on-frame SUVs. The front fascia is 4Runner-like, and the liftgate and taillight draw inspiration from the current-generation Sequoia. It’s a no-nonsense approach, visually speaking; it doesn’t distract buyers with extreme curves and angles and pushes focus toward the capability and practicality of the vehicle that speaks for itself.

Safety, seating, and cargo capacity also stood out to us in the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander. The Grand Highlander gets Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, the automaker’s suite of active safety technologies and advanced driver assistance systems, as standard on all trim levels. There is room for seven or eight passengers, depending on the configuration of the second row, and up to 20.6 cubic feet behind the third row.

Performance Specifications

The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander offers three powertrains; both gas and hybrid, and both front-wheel drive (FWD) and all-wheel drive (AWD). A 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four is the base engine option and is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. It’s the sole gas-only engine, producing 265 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, and can move the Grand Highlander from zero to 60 in around 7.5 seconds. According to the EPA, this engine is good for up to 24 miles per gallon (MPG) combined.

A 2.5-liter inline-four hybrid powertrain is the mid-grade option. Shared with other Toyota hybrids like the Camry, Avalon, RAV4, Highlander, and Sienna, the 2.5-liter powertrain in the Grand Highlander puts out 245 combined net horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque and gets the Grand Highlander to 60 in about 7.8 seconds. Mated to Toyota’s electronically controlled continuously variable transmission, the 2024 Grand Highlander hybrid yields up to 36 MPG combined.

Toyota’s newest hybrid powertrain is called Hybrid Max. First introduced on the all-new 2023 Toyota Crown, the Hybrid Max powertrain combines a 2.4-liter inline-four cylinder with a front electric motor and rear wheel eAxle for standard AWD. In the 2024 Grand Highlander, this powertrain generates 362 net combined horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque and can go from a stop to 60 in about 6.3 seconds. Driving the wheels is a six-speed direct-shift automatic transmission that returns up to 27 MPG combined.

Best Features Of The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

• Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 standard on all models
• 20.6 cubic-feet of space behind the third row; 97.5 cubic-feet total
• Gas and hybrid powertrain options
• Seven USB-C ports and 13 cup holders across all three rows
• Room for seven or eight passengers, depending on second-row configuration
• Standard 12.3-inch infotainment display

Toyota offers many features on the Grand Highlander as standard, something many of its competitors fall short of. Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 is standard on all models. It includes a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, lane departure alert with steering assist, full-speed range dynamic radar cruise control, lane tracing assist, road sign assist, automatic high beams, and proactive driving assist. That said, a fully loaded Grand Highlander hits $61,870, which means you can go fully loaded while still remaining inline with pricing of competing models.

There is up to 97.5 cubic feet of available cargo space within the Grand Highlander, with 20.6 cubic feet behind the third row. The Grand Highlander can accommodate seating for seven or eight passengers, depending on whether buyers elect captains’ chairs in the second row or a 60/40-split bench. Across all three rows there are seven USB-C ports and 13 cupholders; up to two 1,500-watt power outlets are also available on upper trim hybrid models.

Toyota’s Audio Multimedia infotainment system with 12.3 inch display is standard on all Grand Highlander grades. It houses connectivity and convenience features that can be activated by touch or voice controls. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are wireless-compatible through the Grand Highlander’s infotainment system.

The Runners Up

We compared the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander against several competitors, including the Ford Bronco, Hyundai Palisade, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Kia Telluride, and Mazda CX-90. We concluded that while the Grand Highlander isn’t the cheapest contender, it offers the most compelling package where its competitors fell short in terms of reliability, fuel economy, safety, cargo space, and convenience amenities.

The 2024 Ford Bronco is a unique competitor in its own right. While it’s intended to be more for off-payment than mall-crawling, the Bronco is considered a mid-size SUV nonetheless. The Bronco has more cargo space behind its second row than the Grand Highlander’s third row, but its total cargo space measures 52.3 cubic feet compared to the Grand Highlander’s 97.5 cubic-feet. While the Bronco does offer a turbocharged inline-four-cylinder engine option (and a V-6), it delivers significantly less fuel economy than the Grand Highlander’s 2.4-liter turbo engine.

The 2024 Hyundai Palisade has been one of the best-selling mid-size SUVs since its release in 2020. The Palisade was refreshed in 2023 with updated styling and improved technology. Despite this, we didn’t feel it was enough to overtake the Grand Highlander in our comparison. The Palisade offers good bang for your buck, especially with its standard active driver assistance safety features, but it only offers one engine option, a V-6. In addition, it offers less cargo space behind the third row and has a smaller third row for passengers than the Grand Highlander.

Kia’s Telluride suffers a similar fate as the Hyundai Palisade in our mid-size SUV comparison. It’s not as premium as the Palisade, but it does get similar driver assist features as standard. The 2024 Kia Telluride starts at a lower price than the Grand Highlander, but it only offers one engine option that is not as efficient as any of Toyota’s offerings. It also has the same cargo and third-row space limitations that the Hyundai Palisade has.

The 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee, while offering both a two-row and three-row model, doesn’t achieve the efficiency levels the Grand Highlander does. The Grand Cherokee gets fewer standard active safety and driver assistance features than the Grand Highlander, and offers less cargo space behind the third row in the Grand Cherokee L model. In Consumer Reports reliability ranking, the Grand Cherokee came in dead last in the segment.

Like the Grand Highlander, Mazda’s CX-90 is also new for 2024. The all-new 2024 Mazda CX-90 is marketed as more luxury-leaning than its mid-size competitors. It offers nearly identical active safety and convenience features to the Grand Highlander as standard (sans automatic high beams). However, the CX-90 still can’t beat cargo space and third-row seating space in the Grand Highlander. What the CX-90 does offer that the Grand Highlander doesn’t is a plug-in hybrid powertrain. The other engine option is a turbocharged inline-six-cylinder engine. Consumer Reports ranks the CX-90 only slightly behind the Grand Highlander with a predicted reliability score of 67/100. The CX-90 might be the Grand Highlander’s toughest competitor in the mid-size segment, but we felt the Grand Highlander still bested Mazda’s new SUV overall.

Final Thoughts And Predictions For 2024

The 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander takes our award for best mid-size SUV of 2024 for several reasons. We felt that offering a full suite of active safety and convenience features as standard across all grades, efficient powertrains that don’t sacrifice performance, the most max cargo space among its competitors, with plenty of space for adults to sit in the third row and to put their stuff in the trunk, stood out to us the most against the other mid-size SUVs we ranked it against. Although the 2024 Grand Highlander’s MSRP starts slightly higher than the rest of the pack, it’s a small premium to pay for Toyota brand equity and reliability to dole out in spades.