Click the Highlander for a high-res gallery

Toyota unveiled the second generation of their Highlander crossover last February at the Chicago Auto Show and it followed the all too familiar pattern of bigger, wider, heavier. Fortunately it didn't grow a whole size class the way some vehicles have. The conventional version of the Highlander went on sale during the summer while the hybrid launched in late October. Recently a new Highlander hybrid in the up-market Limited trim turned up in the AutoblogGreen garage just in time to provide transport to a string of holiday parties in Detroit.

The Highlander is the largest crossover in the Toyota lineup, almost matching the dimensions of the body-on-frame 4Runner. Unlike the 4Runner, the Highlander is a unibody configuration with a transverse mounted engine. The default configuration is front-wheel-drive but the test example had drive to all four wheels in combination with Toyota's hybrid synergy drive system. Read on after the jump to find out what the new Highlander is like to live with.