Toyota Sequoia still viable

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By Frank Aukofer SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Despite their waning popularity in an era of escalating fuel prices and environmental awareness, full-size sport utility vehicles still are an important and-for sellers and manufacturers-profitable part of the American marketplace.

They are many and varied, and none so far has succumbed to the perceived new realities. On the contrary, they continue to be upgraded to enhance their appeal.

A case in point is the 2008 Toyota Sequoia, which competes against a host of truck-based SUV giants, including the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada, Dodge Durango, Land Rover LR3, Chrysler Aspen, Hummer H3, Infiniti QX57, Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Yukon Denali, and the Lincoln Navigator, not to mention Toyota's own Land Cruiser and Lexus LX.

Introduced in 2001, the 2008 Sequoia gets a new chassis, body and interior, along with an optional 381-horsepower, 5.7-liter engine linked to a six-speed automatic transmission.

When it made its debut, some questioned the wisdom of Toyota introducing a big SUV when it already had the Land Cruiser. But the Land Cruiser is a purposeful-and expensive-vehicle that is designed to go anywhere, any time. It is what you might pick if you wanted to travel around the planet, including over trackless terrain, in relative comfort.

The Sequoia, on the other hand, was intended to compete against the big American SUVs, which emphasize on-road towing and cargo-hauling capabilities, albeit with available four-wheel drive for occasional duty off road. In that respect, it is much like its garage-mate, the Toyota Tundra pickup truck, which takes on the big pickup trucks from Dodge, GMC, Ford and Chevrolet.

In fact, the Sequoia makes use of some of the same technology and hardware as the Tundra. It also had substantial input from Motoharu Araya, the chief engineer, who gained a degree of fame when he bummed around the country to learn what Americans wanted in a minivan, then plugged that knowledge into the Toyota Sienna.

Toyota says he did the same for the Sequoia, including living with an American family that owned a full-size SUV so he could better understand the way they used their vehicle. The result, Toyota officials say, is a machine that has been optimized for utility and capability.

Make no mistake, however. This is a huge truck, more than 17 feet long and weighing nearly three tons. It can tow up to 10,000 pounds and carry 1,350 pounds of passengers and cargo. As a result, the tested all-wheel drive Limited model manages just 13/18 miles to the gallon on the government's city/highway fuel consumption cycle.

The Sequoia comes in four versions, each with rear-wheel drive or full-time all-wheel drive, with a base 4.7-liter V8 engine that delivers 276 horsepower.

All-wheel drive models offer five drive modes: Two-wheel drive, low and high range four-wheel drive with a locked center differential, and low and high-range all-wheel drive with the center differential operational.

Still, Toyota says the Sequoia is not intended for serious off-road duty. Most of the development work went into mimicking a highway-oriented limousine, and it succeeds.

On the road, the interior is library-quiet, with scant wind and mechanical noise, and road noise only on harsh surfaces. The front seats are flat, with little lateral bolstering, but they offer support and comfort for long-distance cruising.

There's seating for seven or eight people, depending on whether you order a bench or bucket seats in the second row, with a third-row seat that can actually accommodate three average-sized adults.

The second-row bench offers comfort similar to that of the front seats, except that the center position, which also houses a big center armrest, is less comfortable.

Handling is that of a big, modern truck, which is to say it takes a bit more planning and slower inputs on curving roads. But it tracks straight and true on the highway, and contributes little to driver fatigue. The suspension system is independent all around, which contributes to an acceptable highway ride.

A rear load-leveling air suspension system improves the ride. It is standard on the top-of-the-line Platinum version, which is priced at $53,060, and optional on the mid-level Limited ($45,910) and entry-level SR5 ($34,835). With options, the tested all-wheel drive Limited had a suggested sticker of $55,535.

The 5.7-liter engine offers more than adequate power for virtually any circumstance. But with three tons or more to move, it is challenged sometimes, and the six-speed automatic transmission occasionally hunts as it tries to find the right gear for the moment.

The Sequoia offers a host of family-friendly features, either as standard or optional equipment. They include stability and traction control, side-curtain air bags, anti-lock brakes with brake assist and brake force distribution, a navigation system, backup camera, rear-seat entertainment, laser cruise control that automatically maintains a distance from the car ahead, a power rear hatch, a motorized sunroof and a towing package.

However, the entertainment system cannot be operated from the driver's seat, so with the kids strapped in back, a stop somewhere is needed to change a CD.