When Toyota redesigned its compact RAV4 SUV in 2006, it was, all of a sudden, not so compact anymore. Its new dimensions put it into close competition with the first-generation Highlander being sold alongside it - so it was clear a new Highlander was on its way - but when?

A partial answer came earlier this year at the Chicago Auto Show when the 2008 Highlander was revealed, but this new model never made it to the Canadian auto show circuit. That makes the preproduction hybrid version that Toyota brought to Ottawa for the launch of its cross-country Hybrid Tour, the first 2008 Highlander to make it onto Canadian soil for public viewing.

Not that there was much wrong with the original Highlander (aside from its lack of personality), but this new one appears to be a big improvement over the first-gen model. Most notably, it's much larger, both physically and visually, with attractive, if not particularly distinctive, styling compared to competitors in the rapidly ballooning mid-size crossover class.



Toyota wasn't letting journalists drive this preproduction car, but encouraged journalists and the public alike to poke around in it as much as we liked.

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