Ford Explorer vs Toyota Highlander

The Ford Explorer and Toyota Highlander are great for families. Both SUVs offer tons of space, a comfortable interior, and smarty safety features. Which one is right for you, though? Energy Country Ford put this Ford Explorer vs. Toyota Highlander comparison together to help families in Port Arthur and Nederland, TX, decide.

Performance Specs

The Ford Explorer offers a smooth ride and lots of power under the hood. It gives you four versatile engines to choose from. The base powertrain is a 2.3L EcoBoost 4-cylinder that gets up to 300 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque.

Next, there’s a 3.0L EcoBoost V6 that offers up to 365 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque. If you want an SUV that feels like a sports car, you can go with an enhanced 3.0L EcoBoost V6 that delivers 400 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of toque.

The Ford Explorer also offers an efficient V6 hybrid powertrain. While its fuel economy will come in handy when you’re running errands or taking family road trips, it can also get up to 318 horsepower and 322 lb-ft of torque.

With all that power, the Ford Explorer can haul some extra cargo. It can tow up to 5,600 pounds, so you can hitch a camper or a boat to your SUV.

The Toyota Highlander only offers two engines. Unfortunately, neither of them provides the same sort of capable drive. For example, its 3.5L V6 can only get up to 295 horsepower and 263 lb-ft of torque. It also offers a hybrid, but it can only produce 186 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque. These powertrains limit the Toyota’s towing capacity, too. It can only tow up to 5,000 pounds.

Interior Dimensions

Both the Ford Explorer and Toyota Highlander come with three rows of seats and lots of storage space. The Ford features more ways to relax, though. For starters, it gives you 43 inches of legroom behind the wheel. Passengers in the back seats can also stretch out, with 32.2 inches of legroom. On the other hand, the Toyota Highlander can feel bit cramped with 42 inches of front legroom and only 27.7 inches in the third row.

Each SUV also offers lots of space for your things. With 18.2 cubic feet of cargo room, the Ford Explorer’s trunk can hold a lot of bags and boxes. Power-folding third-row seats are available to help you load more, too. With the second and third rows down, you’ll have up to 87.8 cubic feet of cargo room.

The Toyota Highlander can’t carry quite as much cargo. It has a smaller trunk, with 16 cubic feet of space. Unfortunately, power-folding seats aren’t available. Plus, once you do fold the seats down, you’ll only have 84.3 cubic feet of cargo room.

Safety Features

The Ford Explorer is also prepared to keep you and your family safe. It gives you peace of mind with lots of intelligent driver-assistive features. For example, Ford Co-Pilot360™ comes standard on every Explorer. It helps prevent accidents with the following features:

• Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking
• BLIS® (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross-Traffic Alert
• Lane-Keeping System
• Rear View Camera

While the Rear View Camera can help you back into a parking spot, Active Park Assist 2.0 can actually park your SUV for you. Just find a big enough space and it’ll automatically guide your SUV in safely.

The Toyota Highlander also comes with lots of driver-assistive features. It even includes its own rear camera system. However, it doesn’t have anything that can park your SUV for you.

Test Drive a Roomy SUV

Visit Energy Country Ford to learn more about our Ford Explorer vs. Toyota Highlander comparison and take a test drive. With lots of safety features, storage space, and powertrains to choose from, it’s a great fit for families in Lake Charles, LA.