Well, for father's day my wife humored me and agreed to come on a trip to Lake Arrowhead for some 'light' off roading. We ended up on a trail with mostly quadrunners and dirtbikes. We came across a few other vehicles, a tricked out jeep and an Expedition 4X4.
The Highlander with the 4wd-i is no joke off road. Even with the OEM tires it does an INCREDIBLE job at getting up and over deep rutted roads, rocks, off camber trails and even water. We crossed an 18" creek and she didn't falter at all, just kept on pulling.
The online Toyota statement says the Highlander is 'designed to handle most off road environments.' Then the next statement is that 'the 2wd and the 4wd-i are not meant for off road use.' Hogwash...
I had a Prerunner Tacoma and while it had more ground clearance and was only 2wheel drive with a locker it couldn't handle anything compared to this Highlander.

Results: my wife wants to go back out again (She had a blast) and if anyone in SoCal is interested in seeing what their truck can do let me know and I'd love to come out.

ps: it was funny to watch the mpg go up to 99.9 on some downhil stretches of trail...I wonder how that Expedition did?

How far off the ground are the electric motor and components? I would be careful crossing creeks.

basically the batteries are encased in some kind of rust-proof, coated, block type thing with a thin plastic cover protecting from the underside.
As long as you don't sit in water for a prolonged time, I don't see how it could be effected. To that end, if you 'sit' in water you're going to encounter different problems; tranny, brakes etc...
The batteries seem very well insulated from the outside environment. The biggest off-road issue would be hitting a rock that ruptures the casing. That...would be bad.
: )

Have to agree with Dirty Hybrid. The electric bits really aren't the worry in murky water. It's the mechanical parts you have to keep an eye on.

And after all, we drive in the rain all the time. Plenty of water gets everywhere up underneath the car.

Pictures!! I'd love to see the HSD symbol on it's side...not the truck, ha, ha.

Great to hear that it's a capable full-hybrid (in the very real sense of hybrid off-roading).

Cheers,

Curt.

'04 Seaside Pearl #7. Fumoto oil drain, mudflaps, rear bumper scuff protector & rear warn system, compass mirror, EV mode button, 8" subwoofer in right rear cubby & 6" subs under seats, power lumbar in the front seats, Coastaletech hitch w/ Aspen bike/snowboard rack. iPod2car, 2 amps, Alpine component speakers, and DVD video, solid 47 MPG @ 70000 miles.

Woo hoo!!!


I wanted to take the highlander off road, but since toyo put out that warning , i have been afraid. We are going to have to try it!!!!!

Hey, I wonder how much taller tires would foul up the complicated controls??
I don't suppose anyone has installed, or is considering installing, taller tires?
I'm guessing that it won't foul up the actual hybrid systems(they will just assume that the extra load -at such a low tire speed,is from an uphill), but it will change what the ABS and skid control "see". Still, they will probably work "OK"-not like they engage very often anyway.
Someone needs to put bigger tires on.Luck,Charlie

charlie

I dont know what that clearance will do the the wheel well. I guess if you want to go the 9 yards and jack up the suspension. There are tons of people here with mechanical experience that may be able to help.

Yeah, I thought of that, maybe put 31's or 32's ha ha... but if you look in the rear wheel well the coil suspension sits at an unusual angle and rests about 1 inch from the top of the tire.
Also the larger the tires and or wheel you add weight and that may foul up the efficiency (*sp) of the hybrid system.
I figure i'll just put on more aggressive tires of the same size...in 40K miles.

The only concern I would have would be for the HiHy's battery pack. The battery pack in the FEH is in the cargo area's floor making its top the floor for the cargo area. Thus protecting it from anything under the vehicle. Ford even states it is very capable off road. There are pictures posted in the Shared section of the FEH's area where someone took their FEH off road. He/She even put larger tires on it.

Where is the battery pack located on the HiHy?