You’ll need sunglasses when we pull up in the Toyota Highlander Bronze Edition. It glimmers with bronze trim pieces that allow this SUV to stand out. However, is the 2022 Toyota Highlander Bronze Edition worth the extra cost? 

How much does the 2022 Toyota Highlander Bronze Edition cost? 

You can get started with the 2022 Toyota Highlander Bronze Edition for about $44,080. This price may seem steep initially, but the Bronze Edition builds upon the Toyota Highlander Hybrid XLE trim, providing tons of value. 

The 2022 Highlander XLE trim starts at $42,555, so it’s only about $1,525 for the pretty bonze upgrades. In our experience, people either love or hate the bronze accents. 

We won’t share the negative comments, but the people who like it appreciate it for standing out and remember the older gold editions. Also, some fans are sad that it doesn’t have even more bronze accents like on the grill or badges. 

The Highlander XLE kicks off the party with a sunroof, roof rails, heated seats, simulated leather upholstery, an eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat, lumbar adjustment for the driver’s seat, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a wireless phone charger pad, 7-inch digital gauge cluster display, and second-row window shades. 

Then the Bronze Edition adds 18-inch bronze-colored wheels, illuminated bronze door sills, bronze interior accent stitching, unique graphite-colored seats, and exterior/interior bronze accents.  

Our favorite features include the bright accent stitching that helps the interior pop and the illuminated door sills that provide light in dark parking lots. 

How does the Highlander Hybrid Bronze Edition perform? 

The 2022 Toyota Highlander Bronze Edition doesn’t have any mechanical upgrades, but the larger wheels could impact its ride quality. However, the Highlander we’ve been driving is incredibly smooth. 

Plus, the interior is quiet. You only start to notice a tiny bit of wind and road noise at highway speeds. But the engine produces a loud droning pitch while accelerating or going uphill. It sounds like an older diesel-powered SUV. 

The 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine is paired with two electric motors to generate 243 hp, which is a respectable amount of muscle. But according to Edmunds, it accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in about 8.2 seconds. This speed is adequate but not necessarily exciting. 

Switching from Normal to Sport mode provides a noticeable increase in the acceleration response to spice things up, though. 

Is adding AWD to the Highlander Bronze Edition worth it? 

Yes, equipping the 2022 Toyota Highlander Bronze Edition with AWD is an excellent move. We doubted the Highlander’s off-roading capabilities only to discover that we were wrong. 

The Highlander Hybrid has plenty of torque for powering over obstacles and dominating the mud. It went up steep inclines after Hurricane Nicole dumped tons of water on the trails. It didn’t slip, slide or struggle. 

Also, it comes with a Trail Mode. It adjusts the torque and speed to provide more control at lower speeds. It has an 8.0-inch ground clearance which is a great start. 

However, we wouldn’t mind seeing a Highlander model come out with a suspension lift, skid plates, beefy all-terrain tires, and more driving modes. 

We’re enjoying our week with the 2022 Highlander Hybrid, and the Bronze Edition is worth it if you like the way it looks. Stay tuned for our full review.