Sorry to repeat this message from another thread, but I think it's important for folks to know. Buyer beware!!
Oh my gawd! We finally got some snow in MN. I just found out that my wife's $36,000 2006 Highlander Hybrid is 100% absolutely useless in powder snow. This thing will leave you stranded!!!! Do not buy one of these if you will ever need to drive off the pavement!!! I knew from reading the owner's manual that the Highlander Hybrid is not to be considered an off-road vehicle. And I used to be OK with that, that's why I have a Chevy Silverado 4WD and it's awesome in deep snow. But this weekend I pulled that Highlander Hybrid into a parking lot that had about 8" of medium-weight snow (not fluffy, but not slushy either, good snowball making snow). And the vehicle instantly came to a complete stop!! Stepping on the gas pedal had NO EFFECT. The engine will not rev up, no power is applied to the wheels, and it just sits there like a freaking boat anchor!! What a horrible piece of crap!! This vehicle will leave you stranded if you ever try to drive in anything that will cause wheel slippage such as medium depth snow, loose sand, gravel, etc. In such a situation small 2WD drive cars would be able to keep going and you will be left stranded in your nearly $40,000 piece of Toyota crap!! I just called the service manager at the Toyota dealer and complained and she said "But it's unusual to drive one of these in 8" of snow". Bull crap! Our cul-de-sac often has that much snow in the event of one of our increasingly rare MN snowfalls. These things need to have a mode where you can shut off the Traction Control system, even if that puts you only into front-wheel-drive-only mode.
Tires seem to make a huge diference on these vehicles. I trashed the OEM tires before delivery and had a set of Nokian WR's installed. They are an M/S, all season tire, that is winter rated - has a snowflake. I live in the mountains of western NC, and on occasion, we get a fair amount of snow. I have a steep gravel driveway, and so far, I've had no problem. Evidently, the secret is don't start the tires spinning, and keep momentum up. I must admit, I haven't tried it in 8" of snow; I think 5 or 6 has been max, and so far so good. BTW, mine is an 06 Hybrid, Ltd, 4wd, with 19k miles. My only complaint has been the Nav. system - it's a laugh. The $700 Garmin Street Pilot I had in the 4Runner was vastly better.
Cheers, Pat
Last edited by kullenberg; 02-26-2007 at 05:31 PM.
Tires really cannot solve the problem I experienced. This was a level, paved parking lot with 8" of semi-wet snow on it. As soon as I entered that 8" of snow I came to a stop. I think the traction control system actually takes away whatever momentum you have because if any wheelspin is sensed it applies braking to prevent further wheelspin. Theoretically I might have been able to keep moving if I had a lot of momentum upon entering the snow. But you can't always have momentum going for you. Eventually you need to turn, slow down, or stop for some reason. My experience felt like running out of gas, the vehicle just slowed itself down and stopped, totally ignoring any driver input from the gas pedal. Very disappointing. I think the non-hybrid Highlanders have a button to turn of the Traction Control, but I fear that mode is missing from the Hybrid.
Tires really cannot solve the problem I experienced. This was a level, paved parking lot with 8" of semi-wet snow on it. As soon as I entered that 8" of snow I came to a stop. I think the traction control system actually takes away whatever momentum you have because if any wheelspin is sensed it applies braking to prevent further wheelspin. Theoretically I might have been able to keep moving if I had a lot of momentum upon entering the snow. But you can't always have momentum going for you. Eventually you need to turn, slow down, or stop for some reason. My experience felt like running out of gas, the vehicle just slowed itself down and stopped, totally ignoring any driver input from the gas pedal. Very disappointing. I think the non-hybrid Highlanders have a button to turn of the Traction Control, but I fear that mode is missing from the Hybrid.
Actually my 02 ltd does not have a button to turn off the trac. I also have to agree with you that Highlanders are totally crap in deep snow( in slow speed)........due to its over-working traction control system, even with my winter tires dont seem to help in deep deep snow. Like what you said, it just cuts the power out and it will stop. Just to compare, I took my 94 4cyl Previa 4wd (no trac control) and went through the same road with no issues at all. Sure it spun here and there but it pushes through the snow.
Lesson here is " Dont buy any Toyotas with Traction control system" Their VSC or new VDIM is great but their TRAC really sux.
We got another 11" of snow yesterday, even deeper in places where it blew, and much deeper at the entrances to some of the unplowed parking lots due to a snow plow drift. Last night I did some more testing, purposely trying to get the HiHy stuck. Bottom line is if you can keep the thing moving you will be alright. Keep momentum going. If for some reason you get stopped in deep snow, the thing will not let you scratch your way out due to the hyperactive traction control system; in such a case it acts like it's dead. The HiHy has tons of horsepower, but it will not allow you to apply it in a low-traction situation. I still wish it had a switch to turn off the traction control. This morning the snow was even deeper and just for comparison I went into some bad places with my Chevy Silverado 4x4. The difference is dramatic. For real 4-wheeling there are lots of times you need horsepower and wheel spin to get through, especially when you must navigate a corner or around an obstacle in deep snow. A real 4x4 will let you build engine rpms and with wheel spin throw snow (or mud) like crazy. The HiHy will have none of that. So its 4-wheeling capability I give a grade of C compared to a 4x4 SUV on which you can turn off traction control. For all other purposes as an SUV with 7-passenger capability and pretty good gas mileage I give the HiHY an A. If I lived in CO and wanted an SUV that is capable of getting to the ski areas, 90% of the time you will be OK. I would buy a set of tire cables that you can put on if the conditions get really bad, and then I think you would be OK for 95% of situations.
It also has a ton of torque from the electric motor which doesn't help the situation. If the HiHy had less torque, you might be able to handle it (or TRAC might be able to better handle it).
What tyres is it running on?
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I too had concerns about the capabilities of the 4wd HiHy but was relieved during a couple of trips to Snow Shoe WV and other ski resorts over the winter. It actually did OK. Not great but acceptable. Granted, it's not going to plow through a foot of snow but from a dusting to 4 or 5 inches it worked as expected for me.
I too was almost stuck in mud about 1" deep last week. I was on a dirt road that became covered with mud due to spring thaw and the Highlander hybrid just slowed to a crawl. Nothing the driver can do but steer. Pressing the accelerator will not increase engine speed one bit. After 5 minutes of idling along, (about 50 yards) the road became more solid and I was moving again after that. I can't find any way to turn off the traction control. Maybe if I pulled that fuse?
My highlander v6 2wd was packed with 7 people and some baggage. We went off roading in this muddy area for the heck of it.
Well i should have known it was a bad idea before going into it but once it was in i was just crapping myself...
anyways i turned off trac control and behold the godly wheelspin...
we were kind of stuck. Then i decided to turn trac back on.
Amazingly with it on, i simply floored it and the computer did the rest. We barely got out.
The hihy may eventually incorperate some sort of mode selector where you can choose gas only. the 4wd HL doesnt have the capability to disable trac control, but even in slick conditions it will attempt to move, unlike the hihy that just sits there...
Its a waiting game to see what toyota wants to do with this camry on stilts.
I grew up driving in snow, I enjoyed the challenge of taking vehicles that do not drive well in snow, like a Mazda Miata, I have never been stuck.
Today I took our 08 HH into the snow, we turned on a downhill road with about 5 inches of snow on it. While slowing down the traction control system shut the power off to the wheels and I was unable to control the car and it slowly slid into a snow bank.
Once I was stuck in the bank, the reverse (trying to go up hill) would not engage, the tires may turn a little and then all the power shut off.
I was able to clear the snow from the tires, get it moving forward with a little power and the second the traction control kicked in the car power shut down and it slid back into the bank.
I ended up having to take my floor mats out of the car and used them for each wheel and slowly inched it forward out of the snow bank and onto the hill.
The this is a pile of sh*t in the snow, a 2WD Miata is better than this huge POS boat.
BUYERS: Do not buy these if you want to drive in the snow or tow something heavy that needs to be backed up.
My rating of the HyHi in the snow is a solid "8" (first experience so I won't give it a "10")
I live in Kentucky and we just got the mother of all storms and over two days received 11.5 inches on snow. I made it to work BOTH days with NO PROBLEM. I wasn't running any races so I drove at a "reasonable" speed for the conditions.
I was admittedly a little "concerned" after reading the issues, concerns and warnings that are posted in this thread - but the HyHi performed absolutly FLAWLESS. Too add to this, the streets in my subdivison are NOT plowed - so I had ~18" FROZEN ruts to nagivate through and around this morning - again with NO issue.
I bought a set of chains for my front wheels (08 HiHY) but have not tried them yet. Has anyone got experience with chains? I'm planning to go to Tahoe next weekend.
We still took our '09 Highlander Hybrid to Tahoe over President's Day Weekend. Locals will know there was a lot of snow that weekend. We did not have any problems and did not use chains.
Heading back down the pass, there were maybe only 3 times that the dash indicator light briefly flickered when it was losing traction at about 30-45mph - but it was totally manageable and we passed numerous other vehicles completely spun out - including one upside down.
It may just be me, but one other thing we noticed is that the "coast" speed of the Highlander Hybrid is slower than a normal SUV. When we took our last SUV down the hill, it had less friction and would gain speed pretty quickly - and thus require frequent braking. With the HiHybrid, we didn't have to brake that much - likely because even the coasting charges the battery a little and has to generate friction to do that. Not a negative at all, but was interesting.
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Highlander Hybrid a boat anchor in the snow!!
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