Toyota Highlander

wwest · January 2003

And snow is snow, SURE!

Hard frozen ice makes absolutely perfect, smooth, roadbeds around Anchorage in the dead of winter. Start warming the surface ice slightly come spring and things change dramatically, slippery than....

But to address your example directly, with all four on ice, roughly equal traction all around, the VC very likely wasn't even in the "loop" at all. So unless the ice was so hard frozen it wasn't slippery I would assume all four wheels were whirring away, spinning, on the slippery stuff with the center open diff'l doing exactly as its design dictates.

Are you saying the rear end slowly "drifted" around as the whole vehicle gained forward momentum?

Or did it try to swap ends before any real forward momentum was attained?

(And by the way, the depth of the snow doesn't become an issue until it's deep enough that the undercarriage doesn't clear. It's the density of the snow, say packed to the point wherein your tires ride mostly on the top, that really impacts your traction coefficient.)

The latter case is an attribute of excess RWD torque vs front, the other is likely just the luck of the draw, or possibly torque steer (unlikely) if the rear swung out to the left.

But the real bottom line reality of the matter is an AWD with 50/50 F/R torque distribution has neutral steering, no substantial over or understeering tendancies. Even Toyota or Lexus will tell you that the rear torque can NEVER exceed that available to the front in these vehicles, RX and HL.

The most rational or logical explanation would be that you had all four tires spinning rapidly ("accelerating quickly{?}on ice") and one of the rear wheels hit a high traction "spot".

scanner · January 2003

Was considering the tires you mentioned, but can't bring myself to replace the OEM tires until they are thoroughly worn out.

Like you said before, why doesn't Toyota offer some real tires to begin with?

BTW, ever find out what was causing your noise when wet? Roof rack perhaps?

scanner · January 2003

Heard I was supporting terrorism. :-)

tidester · January 2003

Heard I was supporting terrorism. :-)

You evil people can join the discussion here: Are SUVers Unpatriotic? ;-)

tidester, host

svtcobraconv · January 2003

I am sort of thinking the same thing, waiting until the Integrities are worn out. Problem is we drive the HL primarily on summer trips and less than 10,000 miles annually. In fact, have not driven it in the past month at all. But I think back to our '92 Sable that had General touring tires (can't remember the exact tire line name), - we were so dissatisfied with them and actually had a few unsettling instances of poor stopping traction. We put on Goodyear Regattas and it was a night and day difference. I hate to have something happen to the HL (and us!) that could have been prevented by spending a few $ on better tires. Yeah, Toyota should use better OEM tires.

I will problably look for that noise again when it warms up. Middle of winter does not offer a lot of rain in Wisconsin. Not much snow this year either.

macmac · January 2003

A question for those who are changing there own oil in there Highlanders. What brand of oil and what grade of oil (5w-30, 10w-40...)
Thanks

hawkeye70 · January 2003

I use Mobil 1 10W-30 in our '01 V6 and am quite happy with it. I change the oil at 6k mile intervals, and the oil still appears quite transparent and light colored. I put the used oil in my old Accord as make-up oil, as it leaks a quart every 1500 miles. The cost difference between dino oil and snthetic oil really isn't that much if you lengthen the drain interval. For me, it costs $24 per change with synthetic vs. $20 for 2 changes of dino oil in 6k miles.

wwest · January 2003

Mobil 1

Since the advent of WIDE viscosity range multi-viscosity oils and moving away from MT I have paid little attention to which viscosity grade I use.

rollin00 · January 2003

Awchan13 correctly observed AWD oversteer. And WWest is, as usual, partially right. While troque distribution is normally 50/50 with the HL AWD, weight is biased significantly to the front. With wheels relatively straight, the front has more traction. With front and rear spinning against equally slippery surfaces, the rear will try to come around. Just as with RWD, with anticipation, this is great fun and very useful.

phrosut · January 2003

Toyota recommends 5W-30 so that is the wight of synthetic I'm putting in, mostly to keep the warranty police from having any gripes.

I'm just now at about 4000 miles since new and have ordered 5W-30 from Amsoil and filters from Romania Toyota and will install at 5000. From then on it'll be 7500 mile changes, again only for warranty purposes. Normally I'd go 10 to 12 thousand between changes using synthetic.

I've used synthetics for over 25 years and tried almost every brand. ANY synthetic is so much better than ANY dino oil that I've found preferring one brand over another to be a moot point. That said, tho, I prefer Red Line and Amsoil but will use Mobil 1 or any other without any qualms. From what I understand, Castrol Syntec isn't actually a fully 100% synthetic oil anymore but I'd still use it. I've found little difference in performance between full synthetics and blends. During the decade I owned and drove trucks cross-country (late seventies to late eighties) I did quite a few comparison tests between types and found, as I said, ANY synthetic is so far superior that brand seems to matter little.

On another point: that siren/whistle that occasionally we hear at under 5mph has been becoming more frequent and isn't coming from the speakers as I had originally thought. I can't believe it's air "whistling past a wheel seal", but maybe the seal itself is squeaking on the surface it rides on. If the car weren't so dang quiet it wouldn't even be heard. It's not very often it happens so there's no chance of getting a service writer to hear it yet.

toyotaken · January 2003

sorry about taking so long to get back to you. I was off friday, so didn't get to read your question until now.

rollin actually had a very good description of what happens with the HL. The front wheels have quite a bit more weight over them, so often have better traction. In most driving situations, the HL has 50/50 distribution of power. So, handling is neutral. With the somewhat open center differential, it allows the front wheels to travel farther while turning which allows it to be in AWD all of the time.

The AWD system differs from "full-time 4wd" in that it doesn't have a "low-range". Also, it is less heavy duty, so not designed for off-road use. You cannot lock the Center differential either, so there is no way to lock the power distribtion 50/50 front and rear which also limits its off-road ability. The benefits are that it is more compact, so it doesn't have to sit so far off the ground and the MPG is better as it is more efficient than most "full-time 4wd systems".

Hope this helps.

Ken

wwest · January 2003

Awchan13 described being on a slippery surface with all four and accelerating QUICKLY.

Now, once moving forward, evenly slowly, if s/he reacted to the wheel spinning event by lifting the throttle, ever so slightly (or maybe his VSC/Trac{***} system did it for him??) as the acceleration rate "slowed" I could see the forward weight bias causing the rear to come around.

But please, except driver induced, or a strictly random event (such as one spinning rear wheel "grabbing" momentarily), in which case "slide" could have been left or right (and NOT very FUN!) under what circumstance would the rear attempt to overtake the front in the described case?

*** VSC/trac would have likely prevented the event altogether.

kybill · January 2003

Thanks for the response. At this point, I'll just take the real world view that regardless of HOW it works, it DOES work. It's cold, but clear in Cinci, so it may be a while before I need to worry about road conditions again. But, so far, it's done well.

My only real concern is that the Bengals may get a real football team some day. If that happens, it will be a COLD day in hell and worse here. I just hope the HL is up to it!!!! :-)

wwest · January 2003

kybill, nippononly,

The T&C's NORMAL mode is 90/10 F/R.

The RX, and assuming HL equialency, are NORMAL 50/50 F/R.

Unless the differing F/R final drive ratio of the RX and HL somehow affects this 50/50 F/R ratio, entirely a possibility as the driving dynamics of my 00 and 01 AWD RXes would seemingly indicate, they have/had a LOT of torque steer, an inordinate level IMMHO for a 50/50 F/R torque split.

The MY2000 T&C, Caravan, & Voyager FWD & AWD Service manual is laying here, open, on my desk within my reach as I type this.

Chapter 3, page 17, left column, 10th line from the bottom "Under normal level road, straight line driving, 90% of the torque is allocated to the front wheels".

The Chrysler's rear driveline pinion gear is driven by a ring gear directly attached to the front diff'l carrier/body. Except for the "substitute" functionality of the VC, inline with the rear drive, there is no center diff'l. The input drive to the front diff'l also directly drives the transaxle's rear output shaft.

Looks simple, but it really isn't, because the Chrysler engineers did their homework and wanted to make the T&C truly AWD, unlike the marketing (with the full cooperation and support of the beancounters), true decision makers, at Toyota/Lexus.

The T&C's VC is designed to react quickly to disparate wheelspin F/R and will actually increase the F/R torque coupling coefficient dramatically, resulting in something very close to a 50/50 mode within milliseconds.

But with that quick action and high coupling coefficient comes another problem, a problem which Chrysler overcame by going beyond the "simple hack" type VC (ALWAYS "flaccid") in the HL and RX. They added an over-running clutch.

Chapter 3 page 17, right column, third paragraph from the bottom "The overrunning clutch allows the rear wheels to overrun the front wheels during a rapid front wheel lock braking manuver. The overrunning action prevents any feed-back of front braking torque to the rear wheels".

But an overrunning clutch used in this manner prevents the vehicle from being AWD in reverse. So Chrysler's engineers went the extra mile again.

They added a "dog-clutch" to lock the over-running clutch when in reverse gear.

Seems extreme, or extremely complex, in comparison to the SIMPLE HACK type VC used in the HL and RX.

I don't have the RX service manuals right here at hand at the moment, they're at the office, workspace, where I have an engineer developing a fix for the windshield fogging, defog/demist, and wintertime human comfort climate control problems. I have both the 00 and 01 shop manuals, but only one copy of the transaxle manual since it didn't change from 00 to 01.

THe HL and RX actually have center diff'ls, mounted within the transaxle case along with the front diffl. All three, front, center, and rear diff'l are of the open type. In 01 when VSC/Trac became standard on the RX the rear LSD option was dropped.

In the HL and RX the VC is mechanically connected across the two output shafts of the center diff'l. There is no over-running clutch nor is there a dog-clutch.

Once I had done my "shade-tree" testing of the 00 AWD RX and then later the 01 to verify my own impression of the lack of AWD functionality in this vehicles I was basically satisfied. Lexus was pedaling a product touted as AWD when it really wasn't.

Then upon reading the Chrysler materials and discovering what was/is really needed to use the VC method to achieve AWD functionality I felt my conclusion that the RX lacked AWD functionality was fully confirmed.

Absent the overrunning clutch in the design the HL and RX VC AWD implementation can NEVER work without putting the passenger's lives at stake. So that's why the formulation of the VC fluid in the RX and HL is such that it doesn't quickly increase the coupling coefficient. And even once it does begin to "thicken" (effectively)it never increases the torque coupling ratio to the rear beyond about 25% as was indicated on the 4 wheel dynamometer testing I funded.

rphillips2 · January 2003

I just checked under my oil fill cap on my Highlander and discovered crusty black deposits on the top of the valve cover. They will easily flak off with a screwdriver blade. It looks like the oil was cooked until it formed crusty deposits. I have 30K on the vehicle and the oil has been changed by Toyota dealers every 3000 miles. I'll stop by my dealer next week and see what they have to say. Anyone else have any crud under their caps?????

cliffy1 · January 2003

That is normal. Very normal.

rollin00 · January 2003

Without shop manuals or dynamometer time, I'm still enjoying the AWD on my '02 HL for the second winter in the lake effect paradise of W. MI and during frequent trips to Upstate NY.

My previous vehicle was a '99 Rodeo with part-time 4WD that offered somewhat better capabilities in extreme conditions. But for my purposes, the HL is a near perfect compromise. Just upgrade to Michelin Cross Terrains and adjust to the soft brake pedal feel.

Thankfully, most things a vehicle does are "driver induced" . I'll continue to accelerate quickly, spinning both front and rear when I choose on ice, snow, and slush as other FWD or RWD vehicles search for traction. I enjoy using the power induced oversteer to negotiate slippery corners, as my well trained right foot performs the stability control and traction control functions.

wwest · January 2003

As I already stated, power induced oversteer, STRICTLY, will result in random results, no predictability of which way it will "break".

You said your circumstance was with the steering wheel centered when the rear started to come about.

But yes, if you want to power slide around a right hand turn then feel free, turn the wheel to the right while applying power, when the rear breaks loose and starts to swing out to the left then modulate the steering position to hold the line you want.

Not so easily done with AWD (common complaint about the new Porsche C4 and C4S, especially with PSM), practically impossible with FWD, and a piece of cake with RWD.

Personally I wouldn't even have trusted my reflexes at 25 years (62) doing this intentionally on the slippery surfaces you describe.

Your's is an 02 HL and you didn't get the VSC/Trac option?

megawattblues · January 2003

To exand a bit on Clffy's post...

If you were to go thru the trouble of removing your valve cover (don't), you will notice that there is a baffle attached to the area underneath the oil cap.

This creates a sort of "dead zone" that doesn't allow recirculation of fresh, slung oil to the oil cap. The small amount of oil that does get/stay there, just kinda bakes eventually.

Down on the camshafts, etc., you will most likely notice that everything inside looks nice and clean, with a coating of oil that looks nothing like the crusty junk on your cap.

I went thru this last year on our '97 Camry, when the "sky was falling" regarding sludge. Pain in the rear just to get a little piece 'o mind.

Too bad you can't open the oil cap, look inside & see a couple lobes of a camshaft, like you can on a lot of other cars.

The Camry had 80K on it then, it's well into the 90's now.

skyreb · January 2003

For many months I have read (until I became weary with the detailed discussion) about the HL'ers AWD.

My purpose in writing is to speak to all those, like myself, that are not into serious 4x4 events.

I live in the north woods of New England where, lately, it snow almost daily; I have a very steep drive; I have no intention and certainly hope my HL will never be offroad; lastly, I have no interest in the technical aspects of the AWD system.

Now, with that having been said:
I greatly admire the HL's handling ... far superior to the Ford Explorer I traded in; I like the peace of mind that should it begin to snow while away, I will be able to handle the snow until the plow arrives; I like taking it skiing, where the lot is frequently icy or snow filled; I like knowing I can get up my drive (my FWD Acura frequently cannot), requiring me to get out, shovel, spread sand, and nurse it into the garage. I like knowing when my wife is out alone, she will not have problems. I find my 2001 HL stable, sure footed, comfortable, and efficient. What more could one ask of a vehicle?

rphillips2 · January 2003

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like a reasonable explanation.

wwest · January 2003

Then don't go outside in the wintertime.

I think I'll go up to the pass this weekend and take some videos of all the HLs and RXes trying to get around, mostly unsuccessfully, in the ski area parking lot.

And yes, I would agree that the "handling" aspects, road manners, of the HL, and certainly the RX, over-shadow the Ford Explorer by a tremendous margin.

If it's any help I only became interested in the technical aspects when I gave up my 92 Jeep Cherokee Limited (RWD, AWD & 4WD) for a MY2000 AWD RX and started to suspect something just wasn't quite right.

kybill · January 2003

For me, it's white flag time on the whole AWD vs 4WD issue. The horse is dead. Thanks for all the input, though.

stever · January 2003

Good idea! Any diehards can continue in the Toyota 4WD systems explained discussion.

Steve, Host

brad_22 · January 2003

I'm just catching up on posts now. What was that comment about a K&N filter causing problems with the the airflow sensor?

cmuniz · January 2003

Trust me....that whistling noise is coming from a loose wheel seal. I was afraid my dealer would not hear it either, but they took it in and fixed it without question. I recommend that you take it in , tell them what you think it is and ask them to check it for you . They can do it while they have it on the rack for an oil change if necessary. It apparently is an easy thing to spot if you jack the car up and look at the wheels. You should be able to hear which wheel it's coming from and point them in the right direction. If they refuse to even look at it, I would go to a different service department. My dealer's mechanic told me it was not a serious problem, but something that should be fixed. There is more than one person on this forum that has had this fixed.

scanner · January 2003

I checked under my oil cap and it said I won a free Highlander.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-)

wwest · January 2003

Loosely woven K&N filters gain inordinately higher filtering efficiency by coating the material with oil, not a precise process by any means. At high intake airflow some of the oil is moved downstream and then coats and contaminates the mass airflow sensor.

Many dealers will charge for the resulting needed repairs or MAFS cleaning since it's an aftermarket modification that created the failure.

tidester · January 2003

I checked under my oil cap and it said I won a free Highlander.

Did you read the fine print? Mine says "void where prohibited!" ;-)

tidester, host

bill01923 · January 2003

The AWD system works great in the snow and ice. I can see where there could be a scenario where all 4 wheels have no traction at all (like romping on a frozen lake in the rain, why would be your issue). The TC system would probably cut engine power and apply braking possibly leaving you stranded. I would try the old technique of lightly applying the parking brake but who knows. I'm very sure that it's great in deep snow and very icey conditions.
We also have a Honda Pilot and it's good but I like the Highlander's AWD better overall. The Pilot does however have a lock setting which is great in extremely low traction conditions but I'm not taking either one on a lake to try it out.

I've also had a K&N filter for years without any problems (not on our HL). There can be a problem with oil coating a cold cathode MAFS if you put too much oil on the filter. Just how much is a good question (that's why I don't have one now).

awchan13 · January 2003

When you discovered that the tires were rubbing, did you put spacers in? If so, what size and how much were they? Just trying to prepare myself if I run into the same problem in the future.

To whom ever is interested, when I accelerated, I did not turn the wheel one way or the other initially, I had to later in order to compensate for the slide. There may have been a slight road tilt down to the right. I did not release pressure on the gas, and I do not have VSC.

wwest · January 2003

On the 18th of December of 90 we had one helluva snow storm here in the Seattle. My wife happened to be away from the office as snow began to fall and by the time she started her return trip (85 Jeep Cherokee Limited) the roads were already blocked with stalled vehicles. By quiting time she had only made it as far as a parking lot about five blocks from the office.

So I chose to walk the five blocks and then drive home. Northup Way just west of 140th has a very slight incline and lots of vehicles were having a tough time getting up enough momentum to get up and over the rise.

I must have pushed 5 or 6 cars along, on foot, just enough to get them started and on their way. Another person joined in to give me a hand and in just a few minutes we had the "jam" mostly cleared.

Then along came a guy in a BMW with California plates. We pushed him to get him started up the hill but sure enough as soon as he felt the car losing traction, slowing, he tried to accelerate.

After about the third time I remember standing by his window coaching him that the proper thing to do when the car started to slow from loss of traction was to let up on the accelerator slightly to allow the tires to regain traction.

The other person and I made several more tries to get him started up the slight incline but all we got for our trouble was a lot of burned rubber odor to breath.

Having VSC/Trac dethrottle the engine when the tires lose traction (and the operator doesn't have the sense god gave a piss ant) isn't really a bad thing. It doesn't leave you standed, but it does (hopefully) teach that a little finesse in handling the footfeed can go a long way, and get YOU going along!

modernm · January 2003

Hi everyone,

I am new here and I need your inputs

We have a 01 honda odyssey which I really hate due to all the problems and low built/material quality you all probably heard.

Does anyone here who has both odyssey and Highlander can tell me what are the differents between these two interm of noise, ride comfort, brake and built/material quality.

Thank you

btw I know I made a $30k mistake after first month of odyssey purchase.

paul172 · January 2003

Hi everyone,

I am trying to replace the stock front and rear speakers on my 2002 HL and having great difficulty removing the door panels. I'm sure somebody has already tried to do this. Please let me know how to remove these panels and any other tips I need to know to get the job done.

Many thanks

brad_22 · January 2003

Luckily, I had already ordered the spacers before rotating the tires, which caused the rubbing (I had planned on getting larger tires anyway).

I got 30mm spacers, which fit my new tires (255 width) just fine with room to spare. With the 235s that you have, you could probably get by with 10mm spacers. Any wider and you run the risk of the top of tire hitting the fender on large bumps. I forgot how much they cost - check out ECS Tuning for details.

cliffy1 · January 2003

Wwest, are you still rattling on about one of the two times in the past 15 years that you needed 4WD?

For those who are unaware, Wwest did admit that he has only needed 4WD on two occasions. This should be kept in mind when listening to his opinions about AWD and 4WD.

nimrod99 · January 2003

I was wondering if there are any opinions to which is better for a V6 HL, octane 87,89 or 91?.

Also - does the HL "learn" the style of driving in an algorithim in the engine / fuel injector control computer. I heard that some cars keep track of various inputs (driving style etc). If so - does the computer have a moving average, or does one have to "reset" the computer if you change your driving style

thanks

tidester · January 2003

cliffy,

Thanks for relieving our guests of the burden of forming their own opinions. Shame on wwest for participating in the exchange of opinions, ideas and information.

Imagine the chaos that would ensue here if we didn't have your editorial rants on who is acceptable and who is not. Come to think of it, let's try the experiment - keep your opinions of others to yourself and stick to the topic then we'll see what happens.

Actually, that's not a suggestion! :-)

tidester, host

cliffy1 · January 2003

I thought it was a valid point. Look at it this way: If I spent day after day posting very long and technical treaties' on... say the benefits of a 15 degree wing on the back of an MR2 for road racing and how Toyota was out of their mind for marketing a racing car with an inferior 12 degree wing, would you be interested in how often I raced? If I made such an effort to describe in minute detail every advantage of the 15 versus the 12 for racing and how much better the down force was for racing, wouldn't you assume I was a racer? What if 10 other people who actually race the MR2 posted their experiences and were to contradict me? Would you be interested to learn that I had only raced on two different occasions in the last 15 years? Wouldn't that be "on-topic?" If not, I digress.

stringfellowh · January 2003

Despite 11th hour fillibustering by some members, the growing consensus seems to indicate that maybe we should revisit 'awd/4wd' at a later date. How about when something actually goes wrong with the system..like a thrown driveshaft or leaky seal? In the meantime, maybe we could expound a bit on some service procedures that will be of benefit to all HL DIYers, like driveshaft bolt re-torquing. Finally, wondering if anyone has had any success with the hitch mount Yakima(or other brand) bike carrier. Thanks.

cmcardle · January 2003

I have the Thule Expressway 994, and really like it. Carries 4 bikes without them hitting each other or the vehicle, and the lock is substantial enough to be a pretty good deterent/ hinderance. Also, when tilted down, you can still open the tailgate.

You can probably beat this price, but here's the manufacturer's website.

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/product.asp?dept_id=8&sku=994

hsvillage · January 2003

I enjoy reading cliffy1's posts because he usually comes to the point and is versed on more than one subject. I cant say the same for wwest, the first few times 4wd/awd was interesting but after 15 or 20 versions it does get a little tiresome. I will defend to the death wwest's right to bore us but I dont have to read his posts. In my opinion cliffy1 has added a lot to the HL site and I didn't think he was ranting or trying to censor anyone in #7643. Of course that is just my opinion.

megawattblues · January 2003

I bought the thule 944 with 2" receiver mount, along with a Hidden Hitch 70777 class 3 hitch receiver. Works great. I can take the whole thing off in less than 1 minute.

The 944 doesn't have anything to keep the bikes from hitting each other - I just use a bungee cord thru the frames. Also, there is no chance of vehicle contact (with this setup, at least).

tidester · January 2003

Wouldn't that be "on-topic?" If not, I digress.

If you have technical issues with any other members please take it up with them. What bothered me is a tirade against any poster given in the third person. As such, it will be viewed as some kind of vendetta against an individual.

That each of you make salient and worthwhile points is not at issue. Just don't put them in the form of personal attacks. Members can read (or not read) what you and others write and draw their own conclusions.

tidester, host

nimrod99 · January 2003

I was wondering if there are any opinions to which is better for a V6 HL, octane 87,89 or 91?.

Also - does the HL "learn" the style of driving in an algorithm in the engine / fuel injector control computer. I heard that some cars keep track of various inputs (driving style etc). If so - does the computer have a moving average, or does one have to "reset" the computer if you change your driving style

thanks

megawattblues · January 2003

I think the manual states something like 87 is fine, but you can use 91 for extra performance. I don't think one is any "better" for your car than the other.

In my area (CT), the choices are 87, 89, and 93 octane. I DO think that 89 is a rip-off, though. The slight increase in octane doesn't justify the the unproportional jump in price.

With my old turbo Volvo, I would sometimes mix 87 & 93 to get somethimg like the 91 octane that car required. Easier to just put in 93 though!

I use the 87. It runs fine - no pinging. I'm pretty sure the ECU adjusts the ignition timing accordingly - hence, the supposed better performance from premium. But I really can't tell the difference!

One thing, I notice for sure is the decrease in my around-town mpg during the winter from about 20mpg down to around 18. Longer cold-start enrichment times, coupled with that lousy MTBE additive, I reckon.

As far as the computer learning goes, I'm not much help here, other than I remember reading on one of these forums of disconnecting the battery to reset to defaults.

wwest · January 2003

If I provide a response/explanation?

Since I have been misquoted it seems only fair.

The two incidents cliffy1 refers to were the only two times I needed to use snowchains on ALL FOUR WHEELS. My response of the time was the joke about the horrible waste of money by the USAF purchasing ejection seats/parachutes that NEVER get used (hopefully).

There is no way I could know how many times I "needed" AWD.

bill01923 · January 2003

I find a big difference in octane and run 91 all the time (93 is too expensive). It runs fine on regular but there is a distinct difference in available power with premium.
I'm not sure about the ECU adjusting but it sure does seem to, or I'm adjusting to it.

landdriver · January 2003

See posts 297, 298, 299 and 301 in discussion "Toyota Highlander Owners: Accessories & Modifications;" let me know if you have any questions these don't address.

skyreb · January 2003

I submit a complementary note about the HL's manners in the snow. You respond do not take it in the snow. WHAT?? DID YOU READ MY NOTE?? I LIVE IN THE SNOW!! I write that I appreciate the way in which it handles snow in the parking lot at the ski resort. YOU RESPOND DO NOT TAKE IT INTO A SKI LOT. Man I am not easily provoked, but I have had enough of your negative, argumentaive responses where none is required. It is not required that you dispute every nice thing said about the HL!!

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